Top-ranked wrestling recruit decommits from Penn State

A member of Penn State wrestling’s top-ranked recruiting class has decommitted.

No. 2 overall recruit and No. 1 at 182 pounds Travis Wittlake Jr. has decided he’d rather be a Cowboy. The wrestler from Coos Bay, Ore., announced the flip to Oklahoma State via Instagram Tuesday.

“Change of plans … I’m gonna be a Cowboy,” the post said.

The two-time state champ verbally committed to the Nittany Lions last October in a Skype interview with fellow top-ranked recruit Roman Bravo-Young.

His decision to join the Nittany Lions was simple, he said last year.

“Cael was a big factor in it,” Wittlake told FloWrestling. “Growing up, Cael’s kind of been the guy I watched a lot of video on. I kind of replicated my style. He’s been one of my idols. When he called, it was a big honor for me.”

Wittlake was projected to wrestle at 174/184. With sophomore reigning national champ Mark Hall wrestling at 174 and junior reigning national champ Bo Nickal at 184, the Nittany Lions have some time to come up with a new replacement.

While the loss of Wittlake is no doubt a big hit to the Nittany Lions’ wrestling program, they can still boast one of the top recruiting classes in the nation. Penn State still holds commitments from Brody Teske, ranked No. 6 at 120 pounds, No. 3-ranked 125-pounder Gavin Teasdale, Bravo-Young, projected to wrestle at 133/141, top-ranked Michael Beard at 195 and top-ranked heavyweight Seth Nevills.

“It’s an honor, really,” Wittlake said in June about being a part of that recruiting class. “This recruiting class is going to be amazing. I think Penn State is going to go on a really good run when all those guys get in the lineup. I think we are going to be pretty close to unbeatable.”

This story was originally published November 8, 2017 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Top-ranked wrestling recruit decommits from Penn State."