Penn State wrestling notebook: Nittany Lions ‘hopefully through all the sickness’ ahead of Collegiate Wrestling Duals
After missing key members of its lineup against Penn and Lehigh two weeks ago, Penn State wrestling is “hopefully through all the sickness,” head assistant coach Casey Cunningham said Monday.
The Nittany Lions were without national champions Roman Bravo-Young and Aaron Brooks, as well as All-American Greg Kerkvliet for at least one (both in the case of Brooks and Kerkvliet) of those two dual meets, and others, such as national champion Nick Lee, were wrestling despite feeling under the weather.
Thanks to Lee, some key backups — Donovon Ball — and others in the lineup who stepped up, the Nittany Lions were able to squeak past the two tough in-state opponents. But having its full lineup back will greatly benefit No. 2 Penn State as it travels to Niceville, Florida, for the Collegiate Wrestling Duals Dec. 20-21, where it is set to take on No. 11 Cornell, No. 20 Northern Iowa and the winner from the pool of No. 6 Arizona State, No. 8 Virginia Tech and Hofstra.
“I think we should have most everybody in our lineup this coming weekend,” Cunningham said. “But it’s Monday, we’ve got a whole other week. But for the most part, I think everybody will be ready to go.”
While Cunningham said the travel roster hasn’t been 100% decided yet, the team plans to take 15-16 wrestlers to the two-day event.
Coaches confident in Edsell at 165 pounds
With Penn State nearly through the main non-conference portion of its schedule, answers to some lineup questions have become clear, while others still remain.
One weight that seems to be solidified (as of Monday) is 165 pounds, where junior Creighton Edsell has gone 5-0 this season, including a 2-1 win over Lehigh’s Brian Meyer, who defeated 2021 NCAA runnerup Jake Wentzel, of Pitt, two weeks prior. The Nittany Lion is ranked No. 27 at the weight by InterMat.
“Creighton Edsell is doing a great job for us,” Cunningham said. “He’s figured out how to win a couple matches that were pretty tight.”
The 165-pound weight class, along with 125 and 157, was one that head coach Cael Sanderson singled out in the beginning of the season as being one of the more competitive in the room, sparking speculation that highly touted recruit Alex Facundo could be making a push at the starting spot as a true freshman.
Facundo wrestled unattached at one tournament so far this season, going 5-1 to place fifth at the Clarion Open in November.
As of now, Cunningham said, the plan for Facundo is still to redshirt this season.
“Facundo, he’s going to wrestle in some more tournaments, and probably going to see him at the (Southern) Scuffle,” Cunningham said. “He’s tough. He’s a couple-time world medalist, so he’s really tough. But for right now, he’s redshirting and Edsell’s doing a great job.”
Multiple starters expected at 125 and 157 pounds
While the coaching staff seems confident in their starter at 165 pounds, 125 and 157 still seem up in the air.
The Nittany Lions have gone 2-3 at 125 pounds between Baylor Shunk (2-2) and Jake Campbell (0-1), and 0-5 at 157, where Joey Blumer, Terrell Barraclough and Tony Negron have each gotten starts.
Cunningham said that the plan for the next few weeks is to wrestle a few different guys at those weights, whether it’s at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals or at the Southern Scuffle Jan. 1-2 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
“We’ll have a couple of guys at both of those weights, and you might see a couple different guys wrestle at those duals,” Cunningham said. “There will be a chance for more wrestle-offs as the year goes on, also.”
Between Cornell and UNI — and potentially Arizona State or Virginia Tech — there will be several opportunities for those wrestlers to prove themselves against tough opponents. UNI boasts former Nittany Lion Brody Teske, ranked No. 10, at 125, and Cornell has No. 24 Colton Yapoujian at 157.
If Penn State wins the round-robin competition against UNI and Cornell and makes it to the blue pool championship, its 125- and 157-pound wrestlers will be in for tough matchups, regardless of whether they face Arizona State or Virginia Tech. Arizona State has No. 3 Brandon Courtney at 125 pounds and No. 3 Jacori Teemer at 157, and Virginia Tech has No. 16 Sam Latona at 125 and No. 22 Connor Brady at 157.
Penn State sending wrestlers to Southern Scuffle
Although he didn’t specify exactly who, Cunningham said Penn State plans to send about six to eight wrestlers — a mix of guys competing for starting spots and redshirts — to the Southern Scuffle at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on New Year’s Day.
Cunningham said he plans to go, along with several wrestlers who are looking to get more matches. A few redshirts are also planning to compete unattached.
“Maybe we’ll have somebody at (1)57, (1)25, (1)97, you know, some of those weights where we’ve got some guys battling things out,” Cunningham said. “We’ll have a few guys there, making sure that they’re getting the matches that they need. So, I think we’ll have a pretty good squad down there.”
As far as the redshirts go, Cunningham said he thinks Facundo will be competing, but is “not sure” about another one of the team’s talented true freshmen, Shayne Van Ness (149 pounds).
The Nittany Lions have a history of using the Scuffle to give redshirts and backups — in particular — the opportunity to prove themselves and to shake up the lineup. Former Nittany Lion Mark Hall won the Scuffle as a true freshman in 2017, then had his redshirt pulled and went on to win the NCAA title at 174 pounds. Shakur Rasheed won the tournament as a backup in 2018, and went on to take over the starting spot at 197 pounds that season and become an All-American.
In addition to Facundo, another wrestler who, based upon what Cunnngham said, seems likely to compete at the Scuffle and try to follow in the footsteps of Hall and Rasheed, is Michael Beard. The sophomore placed seventh at 197 pounds at NCAAs last season to earn All-American status, but has yet to start in a dual meet this season after 2019 NCAA runner-up (at 184 pounds) Max Dean transferred in from Cornell.
Sanderson said after the Lehigh dual that although Dean has gotten off to a strong 5-0 start — scoring bonus points in each bout — Beard still does not consider himself a backup. Beard has previously found success at the Scuffle, finishing fourth with three ranked wins as a redshirt in 2020, and could be looking to make his case this January.
