Why Robert Howard could be the answer Penn State wrestling has been looking for at 125 pounds
Kelly Howard dropped his 11-year-old son Robert Howard off and anxiously waited. He had no idea what would happen next. Robert had been wrestling for about five years but had hit a wall in his development, so Kelly found him a personal coach.
He told trainer Rich Bitetto — the owner of the Bitetto Trained wrestling club in New Jersey — to call him after the workout session to let him know his thoughts on Robert. Bitetto grouped Robert with three kids who were a bit older and had been training with him for a number of years. Just in warmups, Bitetto could tell Robert’s skill level was far advanced for his age. He couldn’t hold back his excitement.
“I didn’t even make it 10 minutes into the practice,” Bitetto recalled. “I walked out of the personal, called his dad and I was like, ‘This kid’s incredible.’”
Today, about seven years later, that little boy from Cranford, New Jersey, finds himself being thrown into the fire once again. Robert is a promising 125-pound freshman on Penn State’s wrestling team. With the lack of success the Nittany Lions have had in recent years at the 125-pound weight class — no wrestler has scored any points at NCAAs for Penn State since 2016 — many believe Robert could be the answer the program has been searching for.
After then-redshirt senior Nico Megaludis won an NCAA title in 2016, it was the highly touted Nick Suriano who was supposed to fill his shoes as a freshman. But an ankle injury kept Suriano from taking the mat at the 2017 NCAAs, and he transferred out of the program that offseason. Over the next three seasons, the Nittany Lions had a revolving door of wrestlers at the weight — none of whom were able to qualify for NCAAs. So, it’s easy to see why fans have their eyes locked on Robert.
“That’s the kind of pressure he thrives under,” said David Bell, Robert’s former coach at New Jersey’s Bergen Catholic High School.
When Robert first got to Bergen Catholic as a freshman, Bell knew right away that he was an immediate contender to win a state title. Even with high expectations placed on him, though, Robert didn’t flinch. He was a runner-up in the New Jersey state finals in his first season.
“He’s a gamer,” Bell said. “He loves to compete. He’s not conservative. He’ll go out there and he’ll throw the kitchen sink at you.”
Robert went on to make three more appearances in the state finals — becoming only the 16th wrestler ever to make four New Jersey state finals — and won two championships to finish his high school career with a 133-10 overall record.
But Robert didn’t just make history at the high school level. He’s the first and only American wrestler to have made three Cadet World Teams. And at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Robert became the first U.S. male wrestler to win a gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games.
“It got to a point with Robert, for me as a coach, where I had no choice but to learn more so that I could teach him more, because he had just soaked it all in,” said Bitetto, who still trains Robert today.
With Robert in the lineup, Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson can’t help but be optimistic about the future of his team at the 125-pound weight class.
Robert is 2-1 so far this season, after not being available to wrestle in the Nittany Lions’ first three duals. His lone loss came against Ohio State’s No. 10 Malik Heinselman, 5-2. But it isn’t just his potential to win matches that excites Sanderson — it’s his ability to be a spark plug for his teammates and provide the Nittany Lions with strong starts in meets.
“It’s not even about the wins and the losses,” Sanderson told reporters on a Zoom call last week. “It’s just more about having somebody that you know (is) just gonna go out there and scrap and compete hard and kinda set the tone for the rest of the match.”
As Penn State prepares to compete in the Big Ten Championships next weekend, the pressure will be on Robert to place in the top seven as a true freshman and qualify for NCAAs, breaking Penn State’s drought.
But Bitetto is confident Robert won’t be fazed. After all, he’s been in similar situations plenty of times before.
“It’s exciting,” Bitetto said. “I mean, he hasn’t even he hasn’t even started yet. He’s still in the gate, and he’s right there. It’s gonna be fun to watch.”
