Penn State set for Nittany Lion Open

When the 22nd Annual Nittany Lion Open gets underway on Sunday, it will be the first time Penn State has wrestled competitively on the mats in some time.

The Nittany Lions haven’t wrestled since their 31-12 win over Stanford on Nov. 22. In that span, they’ve practiced and then had a little break during the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Nittany Lion Open, which is slated to start at 10 a.m. inside Rec Hall, will serve as a warmup for Penn State.

“This is a good tournament for us,” Nittany Lions coach Cael Sanderson said. “There is some good competition. Not just in our own program but there are a lot of tough kids coming in. There will be some good matches especially when you get to the quarters and semis and finals you’re going to have to really wrestle. It should be a competitive, very exciting and solid event just like always.”

The tournament comes just in time too as Penn State opens its Big Ten schedule on Dec. 13 against Wisconsin inside the Bryce Jordan Center.

“It’s just good preparation to get several matches in,” Sanderson said. “It also gives us some good training heading into our Big Ten opener.”

The Nittany Lions dominated last year’s event by winning six of the 10 weight classes and having a representitive in seven of the finals. In three of those finals, it was one Penn State wrestler topping another.

However, Sanderson doesn’t mind seeing those types of matchups.

“We want to see the head-to-heads,” he said. “We dont come here and train just to wrestle each other obviously, but it’s just part of the process. This is something they are looking forward to. But again, it’s who competes the best against outside competition, which is obviously the main factor and the most important to us.

“Some of these guys have had a couple opportuntities to wrestle each other. But, some weights they didn’t like 165 because we are six deep in that weight. If we had held wrestle offs at that weight, we would’ve been wrestling in early September.”

All six of those wrestlers that Sanderson mentioned will take part in Sunday’s event along with the rest of the team, except for a couple who are injured. None are looking to get back out on the mat more than Shakur Rasheed.

The freshman is 2-2 on the young season and has been working on getting used to his weight class. In his second match of the season with Virginia Tech’s Dave McFadden, he dominated the entire match until the end.

Rasheed held a 4-1 advantage going into the final period. After locking up a riding point, Rasheed led 5-2 after McFadden escaped in the third. McFadden had to call an injury timeout giving Rasheed a choice on a restart. He chose down and escaped to go up 6-2 with 55 seconds remaining in the match. Rasheed hit a road block within those 55 seconds, McFadden recorded three takedowns and forced sudden victory. McFadden captured a quick takedown in the sudden victory period to win.

“That was the first time that ever happened to me,” Rasheed described the match. “In high school, I didn’t get tired but that match was completely different. I got to cut the weight right and I didnt do it right and it showed it. My legs just shut down on me and I couldn’t move my legs. It wasn’t that I couldnt breathe. It was I couldn’t move a muscle.”

Rasheed said that since that match, coaches have helped him get used to the weight.

“It’s all about progress. You live and you learn,” he said. “Now I know I have to drink more water and eat right. I’m feeling better and better as I weigh in. I can go the full seven minutes now.”

There may be a void for Penn State at heavyweight, as Jan Johnson won’t wrestle after having a minor knee procedure after the West Coast trip. However, it isn’t keeping other guys from possibly wrestling up.

“We got a lot of guys talking about (it),” Sanderson said with a chuckle. “I think half of our team thinks they are going heavyweight now. That’s good because you know if your not our starter, you should be thinking how do I get in there, how can I contribute or how do I wrestle for Penn State.”

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 6:38 PM with the headline "Penn State set for Nittany Lion Open."