Penn State wrestling has pair of Centre County athletes on roster for first time in 12 years
For the first time in 12 years, Penn State wrestling’s roster boasts a pair of Centre County natives who were standout student-athletes in local schools.
Penns Valley graduate Ty Watson and State College graduate Hayden Cunningham find themselves donning the blue and white this season. The last set of county athletes to compete for the Nittany Lions at the same time were Bald Eagle Area graduates Jon Gingrich and Quentin Wright.
It’s officially the first year for both of them, but technically it’s Cunningham’s second year since he was a greyshirt last year.
Cunningham and Watson are part of a group of 17 former Centre County wrestlers who are competing at the Division I collegiate level this season. A bulk of the wrestlers are in Pennsylvania, but there are others in Arizona, Indiana, New York, Virginia, Washington D.C. and West Virginia.
“I don’t know how Centre County was before, but I mean just since I started wrestling, I think it’s gotten way better. M2 and the RTC (Regional Training Center) here, just the level of competition has gone up,” Cunningham said, referring to Penn State legend David Taylor’s training center and the Nittany Lions Wrestling Club. “To (come) out of Centre County, you got to be a lot better now. I think a lot of the high schools around the area have gotten a lot better too.”
Watson was surprised when he was told about the number of wrestlers from the county competing Division I.
“I didn’t even know that, that’s crazy to think about little Centre County, but it’s great,” he said.
Both said that growing up with Penn State in their backyards helped them strive to get to this point in their athletic careers.
Cunningham is the son of Penn State wrestling head assistant coach Casey Cunningham, so obviously he was at a bulk of matches growing up. The same was true for Watson, whose family has had season tickets since he was little.
Watson has memories of practicing with Cunningham in the Nittany Lions’ wrestling room when they were kids.
Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said they both “bring a lot of good energy to the program.”
“Both Ty and Hayden are just great kids, they’re competitive. Cunningham was here last year, he’s just had a lot of injuries that he’s had to overcome, but he’s a worker and tough. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Casey is as competitive of a person as I’ve ever been around, and Hayden is just like that,” Sanderson said Tuesday. “Ty, he leads all of scoring in (2A) football, I think in all of PA. He’s a great athlete, and now he’s focused just on wrestling. He has a lot of potential.”
Since joining Penn State as student-athletes, both said they’ve seen their wrestling improve, noting that the mindset and pace are a change from their high school rooms.
They each came back to the word “confidence” when talking about what they’re learning in the room.
“The best guys just believe that they’re the best. There’s different levels to it, but the biggest jump is just understanding the best guys are the best, that’s kind of how they roll,” Cunningham said.
Added Watson: “To roll off of that, everyone in here wants to win. Everyone is winning here, so it’s fun to win. Guys are laughing and having fun. My mentality has changed.”
Next year, Cunningham’s brother, Asher, who is a senior with the Little Lions, will join the duo to make it three Centre County athletes on Penn State’s roster. It’ll be the first time ever that a trio of Centre County wrestlers will compete for the Nittany Lions.
