How the BJC staff transformed Penn State’s basketball court into a wrestling arena in 5 hours
No sooner did the final buzzer sound in Penn State men’s basketball’s win Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center when staff members quickly got to work tearing down the court and setting the stage for No. 2 Penn State wrestling’s dual at the same venue.
The BJC staff had just five hours between the end of the basketball game, where the No. 13 Nittany Lions trounced Northwestern 77-61, until the 7:30 p.m. wrestling dual against No. 6 Ohio State. They needed to reconfigure the seating, remove the basketball floor, build the stage and put the final touches on lighting and pyrotechnics — all while cleaning, restocking and cooking fresh food for concessions, general manager Al Karosas said.
Saturday marked the BJC’s first-ever basketball/wrestling doubleheader, drawing 14,402 fans for basketball and a sold-out crowd for wrestling, and requiring several months worth of planning. While he couldn’t put an exact number on how many people were involved in the operation, Karosas said that number was “in the hundreds.”
“I think the quote ‘it takes a village’ couldn’t be more true,” Karosas said. “Representatives from Penn State Athletics, Rec Hall, Thon and the BJC have met and planned a lot. You have to understand that it’s not just the two athletic events that came into play with the planning, we also had a sold out Luke Combs that factored into what we needed to pull this off.”
The setup began Wednesday, one day before the sold-out country music show. The BJC staff worked around the basketball teams’ practice schedules to hang some of the lights and motors needed for wrestling that wouldn’t be in the way of the concert. They were then able to add some other production elements on Friday.
But the big test would be Saturday, when most of the work would take place, within that five-hour window.
“There have been hours and hours of meetings over the past few months looking at the turnover both from a macro and micro level,” Karosas said. “The detail on what has been given to this from all of the parties involved is nothing short of amazing.”
While the BJC staff was busy reconfiguring the floor, the wrestling team was back at Rec Hall, making weight and preparing for the move over to the 15,261-seat venue.
Coach Cael Sanderson has consistently said his team prefers the much smaller 6,502-seat Rec Hall, but he also looks forward to the opportunity each year to open up the Penn State wrestling experience to more fans.
“The Jordan Center is great, too,” he said Tuesday. “They do a really nice job with the setup and we enjoy it.”
When the wrestling team held its first dual at the BJC in 2013, Sanderson said it almost felt like an away meet with Penn State fans.
But with the work of Karosas and his crew, and all those who came before them, the BJC dual has become a highlight of Penn State’s season each year, not only for fans, but also for wrestlers who get the opportunity to run out on the floor amid smoke and fire and entertain on the raised stage.
So, even with a basketball game earlier in the day, Sanderson and the Nittany Lions knew the unfamiliar confines would feel just as electric, if not more so, as Rec Hall.
“Every year it feels more and more like home,” Sanderson added.
This story was originally published February 15, 2020 at 5:26 PM.
