Penn State wrestling notebook: Cael Sanderson talks about 157, the Suriano transfer & more
Thanks to last season’s shortened, conference-only schedule, one of Penn State wrestling’s longest-running streaks was snapped. The Nittany Lions and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks didn’t wrestle last year for the first time since 1933.
That rivalry resumes this weekend when No. 2 Penn State (3-0) hosts No. 22 Lehigh (2-1) at 2 p.m. Sunday at Rec Hall. But before that, the Nittany Lions will travel to Philadelphia on Friday to fulfill the second half of a home-and-home agreement with the University of Pennsylvania (0-0) with a 7 p.m. dual meet at The Palestra.
“We’re wrestling two very well-supported programs that are all in and some of the top teams in the nation,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said Monday. “So, we’ve just got to go be ourselves and enjoy this opportunity.”
In addition to the loss of in-state rivalries and opportunities for wrestling fans in different parts of Pennsylvania to watch the Nittany Lions, last season’s schedule also deprived Penn State’s wrestlers — particularly the younger ones — of having a full season to develop.
Whether there were nonconference matchups for the Nittany Lions last season didn’t matter much for then-freshman Greg Kerkvliet. The heavyweight was working to come back from injury and got cleared “hours before stepping into the lineup,” per Sanderson, in Penn State’s final dual of the season. Despite limited collegiate experience and folkstyle experience since graduating from high school in 2019, Kerkvliet placed seventh at the NCAA championships last season to earn All-American status.
With a full season now ahead of him, Kerkvliet has been working on different techniques and positions, and on improving his top game.
“We want to win, everybody wants to win, that goes without saying,” Sanderson said. “But more importantly, we’re trying to improve and we’re trying to do those things — the little things — competing with enthusiasm, competing with the mentality that we’re going to get better every match. And I think Greg’s a great example of that.”
Kerkvliet, ranked No. 4 by InterMat, is set for a top-10 matchup against Lehigh’s No. 10 Jordan Wood. Wood is one of 11 ranked wrestlers (as of Monday) who Penn State could face this weekend.
Penn State’s top-ranked Roman Bravo-Young is set to face two of those wrestlers — Penn’s No. 13 Michael Colaiocco and Lehigh’s No. 22 Malyke Hines — at 133 pounds. But the defending national champ’s mentality is the same as it would be for any match — to just be himself.
“I can’t really do anything else,” he said. “Just wrestling my matches, focus on what I do and just controlling my thoughts. Can’t really worry about other things.”
Barraclough expected to start at 157 pounds
Another weight class where Penn State is expected to face two ranked opponents this weekend is at 157 pounds, with Lehigh’s No. 10 Josh Humphreys and Penn’s No. 21 Doug Zapf.
The Nittany Lions have so far gone 0-3 at that weight class this season, with senior Joey Blumer bumping up two weights to fill in for the first two duals of the season, and sophomore Terrell Barraclough falling 9-0 to Army’s Markus Hartman on Nov. 18 in what Sanderson called a “tricky match,” where he got caught and turned on his back for two sets of four-point near falls.
With Barraclough now back from the illness that Sanderson said kept him off the mat against Sacred Heart and Oregon State, he’s expected to again be the starter this weekend.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for Terrell,” Sanderson said. “I think he’ll surprise some people. I mean, he’s as hard a working kid there is. He’s one of those guys that you have to tell him to take a morning off. He’ll be competitive. Just give him some time.”
Sanderson said Barraclough earned the start at 157 this weekend, but acknowledged that there are other wrestlers in the room still pushing for that spot.
‘It’s exciting’: Sanderson says of Suriano to Michigan
One of the biggest offseason storylines of the college wrestling season wrapped up Sunday when Nick Suriano announced his transfer to Michigan.
The 2019 NCAA champ at 133 pounds will now wrestle for his third Big Ten school, after starting his collegiate career with the Nittany Lions in 2016-17, before transferring to Rutgers after an injury kept him out of the postseason.
Suriano joins a veteran roster with the Wolverines, which includes All-Americans, Olympic qualifiers and an Olympic bronze medalist. It’s unknown whether he’ll wrestle at 125 or 133 pounds, but he’s expected to slot in at 125 to challenge Iowa’s three-time national champ Spencer Lee.
The addition of Suriano to the Wolverines’ lineup gives Michigan the potential to be a formidable contender for the Big Ten and NCAA titles. To Sanderson, that just makes the season that much more exciting.
“There’s usually a lot of great wrestling in the conference, several teams that have chances to win the conference tournament, the national tournament, so I think that’s exciting,” Sanderson said. “That’s why we do this, you know, just to compete against the best competition that we can find. It’s fun to be in a competitive conference where multiple teams are working hard and have the support and the talent and the staff and everything that they need to be successful.”
There had been some talk that Suriano could return to Penn State. While those rumors were put to bed, there is still speculation that another 125-pounder, former Central Michigan All-American Drew Hildebrandt, could join the Nittany Lions’ lineup next semester.
Sanderson neither confirmed nor denied those rumors when asked directly on Monday, saying he couldn’t talk about that.
Penn State ready to return to action after break
Monday’s press conference conversation quickly turned the way many wrestling conversations turn (like the Army postmatch interview with Beau Bartlett and Max Dean about backyard barbecues and Traeger grills) — toward food.
That was particularly unsurprising, given that it’s the week after Thanksgiving.
Bravo-Young, who stayed in town for the holiday rather than traveling home to Arizona, said he prefers ham over turkey, as well as the Golden Corral buns his grandmother gets and pistachio pudding.
Sanderson said he and the coaching staff have confidence and trust in their wrestlers that they’ll be able to monitor their own weight and training over the Thanksgiving break, and that they are ready to compete again.
“I think spending Thanksgiving with your family, if you can, or just taking that time is important,” Sanderson said. “I think our guys had a great break and we were able to work on some individual stuff, also some stuff as a team, but it’s just a good reset. Now we hope we can get rolling again on Friday.”
After this weekend, Penn State will have another break before it heads to Niceville, Florida, for the Collegiate Wrestling Duals from Dec. 20-21.
While Sanderson said there wouldn’t be much time for sightseeing when the team travels to Philadelphia on Friday — no stops at the Liberty Bell or Constitution Hall — he didn’t rule out making time for a Philly cheesesteak.
“We like to eat,” Sanderson said. “I’ll have to do some research and find out where the best spot is.”
