Penn State wrestling ‘ready to go,’ looking to fill schedule gaps after Iowa postponement
Despite the late start to the season and having four meets postponed already, Penn State wrestling head coach Cael Sanderson and his team are optimistic about what the rest of the year will bring.
“Our guys are going to get their opportunity,” Sanderson told reporters Wednesday morning on a Zoom call. “They’re ready to go, and I think that this is a team (that’s) just gonna compete better every match. We just want to get out there and compete. But it is what it is and it’s just kinda the way things are right now.”
After having meets against Rutgers and Michigan State postponed in January because of coronavirus concerns within their own program, the No. 3 Nittany Lions had their Feb. 7 tri-meet versus Michigan and Wisconsin postponed because of the Wolverines’ department-wide pause due to the discovery of a COVID-19 variant. And on Monday, Friday’s meet against No. 1 Iowa was postponed, too, after the Hawkeyes announced they were pausing all in-person team activities due to positive COVID-19 cases within the program.
While Sanderson is confident that Penn State will look the part of a national contender when it competes again, he also knows that time is ticking with the Big Ten tournament less than a month away.
“We just don’t have a lot of weeks left — the Big Ten tournament and the nationals are coming up,” Sanderson said. “So, we’re hoping to get as many matches as we can in between now and the end.”
AIMING TO GET A MEET SCHEDULED THIS WEEKEND
After Penn State’s tri-meet originally scheduled for Feb. 7 with Wisconsin and Michigan was postponed due to the Wolverines’ COVID-19 issues, the Nittany Lions were still able to reschedule Wisconsin for Feb. 2.
Now, as the postponement of the Iowa meet marks the fourth postponement less than a month since the season began, Sanderson and Co. will look to make up for that lost competition, too. Sanderson said the Nittany Lions might have the opportunity to participate in a tri-meet with No. 2 Michigan and No. 22 Michigan State this weekend.
“We’re trying to compete this weekend and (we’re working) to coordinate something with potentially Michigan State and Michigan,” Sanderson said. “So, that’s what we’re working on right now.”
As far as getting another crack at No. 1 Iowa in the regular season? That’s much less of a certainty.
“I don’t know where Iowa is — I don’t know how long they’ll be on pause,” Sanderson said. “You just don’t know. We went through the same thing a month ago or however long it was and it just takes a while to get out of there because it just takes one more case and then it just kinda gets extended.”
STILL PLANNING TO HOST BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
It was announced on Monday that the U.S. Olympic Team wrestling trials will no longer be held at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center this year due to a variety of factors “including current COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.” As of now, though, the Big Ten Wrestling Championships are still on as scheduled for March 6-7 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
“I think they’re working through to figure out how we can host the Big Ten (tournament), but we have every intention on making it work,” Sanderson said.
Sanderson said he has “no idea” what sorts of requirements would need to be put into place to make the event happen, but he knows “a lot of great people at Penn State” are working to iron out those details.
With the health and safety protocols that have been in place across the Big Ten for wrestling and all other sports, Sanderson believes the conference — along with the wrestling programs within it — is doing everything it can to ensure everyone’s safety at the event.
“All the athletes in the Big Ten are testing every day,” Sanderson said. “I mean, we’re testing every day. So, there’s not much more that we can do to keep everything safe.”
LINEUP UPDATES
In addition to announcing that redshirt freshman heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet will be out for the rest of the season, Sanderson also provided a couple other notable lineup updates.
Since the last time the Nittany Lions competed, the 12th-year head coach said he and his staff are “a little closer” to figuring out who will be the starter going forward at 149 pounds. But he also added that they are “going to let things play out” as they compete.
“I wouldn’t say the weight class is set,” Sanderson said. “As you saw, the last time we competed, we wrestled three different people … just to kinda see who would step in there. We have several student-athletes that are capable of scoring points there, but we just need to look for somebody to really kinda step up and be somebody that we can count on going into the conference (tournament.)”
Sanderson also said that wrestlers in the 125-pound weight class — which haven’t been able to compete in any of Penn State’s three meets so far — “should be good to go” for the next competition.
“That’s just not a weight that you can bump somebody up,” Sanderson said. “So if you’re guys are out, you’re just kinda at a loss there, unfortunately. … More than one guy should be available this weekend, so we’re back in the green light on that weight class.”
