Penn State wrestling officially signs two top-10 recruits for 2020
The future of Penn State wrestling got even brighter Wednesday when two of the top recruits in the Nittany Lions’ 2020 class made their commitments official.
Bergen Catholic product Robert Howard, ranked No. 4 overall in his class by FloWrestling, and No. 7 Beau Bartlett, of Wyoming Seminary, both inked National Letters of Intent at their respective high schools on Wednesday.
“I think that signing my NLI was really a dream come true,” Howard told the Centre Daily Times. “It is one thing to verbally commit somewhere, but that isn’t legally binding. It feels really good to be legally bonded to the best wrestling team in the country.”
Penn State comes in with the No. 3 recruiting class for 2020, according to FloWrestling, and joins No. 1 Oklahoma State as the only programs to snag two top-10 wrestlers. Virginia Tech came in at No. 2.
The Nittany Lions also have commitments from No. 85 Matt Lee of Mater Dei High School in Indiana, and Greencastle’s Aurelius Dunbar, according to Flo. Signing period for Division I wrestling began Wednesday.
Howard, who verbally committed to coach Cael Sanderson in December, is a three-time state finalist for the New Jersey powerhouse Bergen Catholic, a one-time state champ and so far 100-6 in his Crusader career, with his senior year still ahead of him. Howard also won a Youth Olympic gold medal in Argentina. This summer, he took fifth at the Cadet World Championships in Bulgaria.
“It is crazy how far I have come in this sport and I never could have imagined I would be where I am today,” Howard said. “I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity that coach Cael (Sanderson), Cody (Sanderson) and (Jake) Varner have given me to represent them going forward.”
Howard is FloWrestling’s top-ranked wrestler at 126 pounds, and projects at 125 or 133 in college.
Bartlett is a three-time National Preps champion — winning each of those championships at a different weight — for Wyoming Seminary in Luzerne County.
The Arizona native turned heads at the U.S. Open in April, where he wrestled on the senior level, pinning two-time All-American and former Nittany Lion Jordan Conaway and taking out Pittsburgh’s former three-time NCAA qualifier Shelton Mack en route to an eighth-place finish.
“I have enormous aspirations in life, and I know that this is the next step to not just meeting, but surpassing goals I never believed possible,” Bartlett wrote when he announced his decision to verbally commit on social media in May. “It’s a long road ahead, so let’s have some fun!”
Nittany Lion fans might also remember Bartlett from when he beat short-lived Nittany Lion Gavin Teasdale in the Powerade finals in 2017 — handing the eventual four-time PIAA champ his first high school loss.
Bartlett shared a photo of himself with eight of his Sem teammates, alongside coach Scott Green, each signing their respective NLIs on social media on Wednesday. Bartlett’s mother even made him a cake, adorned with a graphic of her son wearing the blue-and-white singlet, with a Nittany Lion and a photo of the Penn State wrestling room in the background, which he shared on Twitter.
Bartlett is FloWrestling’s top-ranked wrestler at 138 pounds, and the wrestling media site projects he’ll wrestle at 133 or 141 pounds in college.
The pair should provide a boost to the lower half of Penn State’s lineup moving forward. Redshirt freshman Brody Teske got his first career start last weekend at 125, but Sanderson told reporters at the beginning of the season that that weight class is still being contested in the room. All-American sophomore Roman Bravo-Young holds down 133 and two-time All-American junior Nick Lee mans 141 pounds for the Nittany Lions.
“When people ask me ‘Why Penn State?’ I tell them ‘How could you not?’ It is a great place with great people who can easily help me accomplish my goals,” Howard said.
This story was originally published November 15, 2019 at 10:37 AM.