Familiar faces in Penn State great Mark Hall, State College grad Cole Urbas set to lead Penn wrestling into dual
State College graduate Cole Urbas couldn’t have asked for a better start to his collegiate wrestling career at the University of Pennsylvania.
The former Little Lions wrestler went into his freshman year for the Quakers as the starter at 197 pounds in the 2019-20 season. He amassed a 21-13 record, was the lone wrestler to start in all 15 of Penn’s duals and became an NCAA qualifier.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Urbas’ opportunity to wrestle in the NCAA Championships was taken away. The next season, Urbas was named a team captain and was ready to lead the Quakers’ program, but on Nov. 12, 2020, the Ivy League decided to cancel all winter sports activities due to the pandemic.
The last dual meet Urbas wrestled in was on Feb. 20, 2020.
“It was really tough. I’m so excited to be back,” Urbas said. “Wrestling season becomes your life when you’re in it, and it hasn’t been my life for two years now. It’s awesome for it to be back a part of my life, I missed it.”
Urbas will help lead the Quakers into a home dual with the Nittany Lions at 7 p.m. Friday inside the historic Palestra. Recent Penn State grad Mark Hall, who is now a volunteer assistant at Penn, will be one of the coaches in Urbas’ corner.
Urbas and Hall won’t be the only familiar faces for Penn State and Centre County wrestling fans, with 2013 Penn State grad Bryan Pearsall as Penn’s associate head coach and Urbas’ younger brother Lance also on the roster.
The dual marks the first for Penn this season, but it isn’t the first action its wrestlers has seen. The Quakers competed in the Journeymen Collegiate Classic in Manheim, the day after Penn State dismantled Sacred Heart and Oregon State. Penn recently hosted the Keystone Classic at the Palestra, where it finished first as a team, and Urbas claimed the 197-pound title.
Urbas is excited to wrestle inside the famed arena again for a dual meet.
“It’s going to be packed and electric,” the sophomore said. “I’m really excited for the atmosphere, and opportunity to make the Palestra our home and defend it the next coming years. I think it is going to be a special place for us.”
Urbas was dominant in his run toward the Keystone Classic title. He had just one point scored against him, and all of his wins came with bonus points.
Urbas built up a 12-0 lead before pinning his first-round opponent. In the semifinals, he earned a 16-0 tech fall in the first period. In the finals, Urbas again picked up a first-period tech fall by the score of 16-1, which caught the attention of the NCAA wrestling Twitter page and Hall.
“I’ve known he was always someone that has been pretty good on top,” Hall said, “but to see him progress on his feet and get takedowns at a good rate has been a big part of his wrestling that I’ve seen as of late. He’s tough.
“He presents problems to people because he is a giant. Competing against him (in the wrestling room) is fun. It presents things for me that I see that I got to get better at.”
On Friday night, Urbas will likely take on Penn State’s No. 4 Max Dean. Dean also didn’t compete last season, as he wrestled for Cornell before transferring to the Nittany Lions over the summer. But Urbas says he’s ready for the challenge, as he’s been working with Hall, who he says has been showing him “a couple of tricks.”
Hall, who like Urbas had his chances of competing in the 2020 NCAA Championships taken away, joined the Quakers in June of this year. He wasn’t the only former Nittany Lion wrestler to go straight out of college into the coaching ranks, as fellow NCAA champ Vincenzo Joseph did the same by joining Stanford’s newly formed staff.
“I think it’s great. They’re both guys that have kids their ages still competing in the NCAA season,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “I think that’s a good thing. I’m glad as a staff we didn’t show them everything we know. We got a couple more tricks up our sleeves.”
During his final year competing for the Nittany Lions, Hall had talked about how he envisioned himself being a coach. He had initially thought his first gig might be at the high school level in his home state of Minnesota. Instead, he has stuck in Pennsylvania and is taking what he called the “fun challenge” head on.
While Hall says coaching wrestlers who are so close in age to him can be challenging, he feels like the sky is the limit on his burgeoning career. He also enjoys the fact that he doesn’t have to teach moves to his wrestlers, but rather help them learn how to put the moves together to be successful.
Overall, Hall thinks his age and recent success are advantages when it comes to coaching.
“I think it helps a lot because these guys want to do things that I’ve done and I’ve done recently,” Hall said. “They want to learn what it takes to win tough wrestling matches, and present their best selves every time they compete. It has been a challenge because the way coaches were able to explain (things) to me aren’t necessarily the way I can explain to other athletes. I’ve got to figure out the things they need to hear and how to communicate that message. It’s been a fun challenge, but pretty cool to relate to everyone. I think as time goes on I’m only going to get better not only as a coach, but as a competitor as well.”
Urbas said that some of things he appreciates the most about Hall as a coach is the mindset he brings, the energy he has at practice and his ability to connect with his wrestlers. He said the Quakers’ respect for Hall is high, even though he may be about the same age as them.
When it comes to Friday night’s dual, Hall joked that he’s excited to see his former squad, but when the dual gets underway it’s all business.
“I think that’s what makes it so great about being able to coach right after college,” he said. “Probably half of those guys on that team, I was teammates with, and now I’m in the opposite corner of them. It presents a fun opportunity. Obviously, I’ll always be on their side and believe in them, but Friday comes around I got a team of my own to get ready and a team to show they can do some crazy things, too.”
No. 2 Penn State (3-0) at Penn (0-0)
When: 7 p.m., Friday
Where: The Palestra, Philadelphia
Radio: WRSC (93.3 FM) or WQWK (103.7 FM)
Online: Radio, Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com; Video, Big Ten+ (paid subscription), ESPN+ (paid subscription)
Twitter: @byncobler, @pennstatewrest
| Nittany Lions | vs. | Quakers |
| 125: Baylor Shunk (2-1) OR Brandon Meredith (0-1) | vs. | Ryan Miller (5-2) OR Blair Orr (2-3) |
| 133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (3-0) | vs. | No. 12 Michael Colaiocco (7-0) |
| 141: No. 1 Nick Lee (2-0) | vs. | No. 28 Carmen Ferrante (5-2) OR C.J. Composto (2-3) |
| 149: No. 20 Beau Bartlett (3-0) | vs. | No. 23 Anthony Artalona (0-0) OR Kaya Sement (6-3) OR Vincent Mannella (2-4) |
| 157: Terrell Barraclough (0-1) OR Joe Lee (0-0) | vs. | No. 21 Doug Zapf (6-1) |
| 165: No. 32 Creighton Edsell (3-0) | vs. | No. 33 Lucas Revano (6-2) |
| 174: No. 1 Carter Starocci (3-0) | vs. | No. 21 Nick Incontrera (6-1) |
| 184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks (3-0) | vs. | Neil Antrassian (4-3) OR Maximus Hale (3-3) |
| 197: No. 4 Max Dean (3-0) OR Michael Beard (3-0) | vs. | Cole Urbas (3-3) |
| 285: No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet (3-0) | vs. | Ben Goldin (6-1) |
No. 22 Lehigh (2-1) at No. 2 Penn State (3-0)
When: 2 p.m., Sunday
Where: Rec Hall
Radio: WRSC (93.3 FM) or WQWK (103.7 FM)
Online: Radio, Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com, Video, Big Ten+ (paid subscription)
Twitter: @byncobler, @lmuth1259, @pennstatewrest
Note: Lehigh wrestles at Lock Haven on Saturday
| Nittany Lions | vs. | Mountain Hawks |
| 125: Baylor Shunk (2-1) OR Brandon Meredith (0-1) | vs. | No. 14 Jaret Lane (5-0) |
| 133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (3-0) | vs. | No. 22 Malyke Hines (4-2) |
| 141: No. 1 Nick Lee (2-0) | vs. | Dan Moran (1-4) OR Connor McGonagle (0-0) |
| 149: No. 20 Beau Bartlett (3-0) | vs. | Manzona Bryant IV (2-3) OR Jimmy Hoffman (0-3) |
| 157: Terrell Barraclough (0-1) OR Joe Lee (0-0) | vs. | No. 10 Josh Humphreys (3-1) |
| 165: No. 32 Creighton Edsell (3-0) | vs. | No. 27 Brian Meyer (5-1) |
| 174: No. 1 Carter Starocci (3-0) | vs. | Jake Logan (3-3) |
| 184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks (3-0) | vs. | A.J. Burkhart (2-4) |
| 197: No. 4 Max Dean (3-0) OR Michael Beard (3-0) | vs. | J.T. Davis (2-4) |
| 285: No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet (3-0) | vs. | No. 10 Jordan Wood (5-0) |
This story was originally published December 2, 2021 at 2:46 PM.
