Penn State adds another PIAA state champ to the class of 2010

After announcing the 6^th best recruiting class for 2009, incoming Lions wrestling coach Cael Sanderson hit another home run for the class of 2010 landing highly sought after Dirk Cowburn of Coudersport High School.

Penn State coach Cael Sanderson visited Cowburn's home last week, and Sanderson didn't have to make an extensive sales pitch. Cowburn quickly selected the Nittany Lions over Oklahoma State and Nebraska.

"There were a few schools that I had in mind, but it really came down to the atmosphere at Penn State, with the wrestling room, practice partners and team unity," Cowburn said. "I know a lot of people that go there."

With Cowburn and fellow future teammates Dylan and Andrew Alton the first three verbals of the 2010 class have combined for five PIAA state titles and all three are heavy favorites to win this year. Combine that with 2009 incoming super stud and four-time Ohio state champion David Taylor and you have four wrestlers in the middle of Penn State's future lineup that looks pretty impressive. But even more exciting is the comments all these blue chip wrestlers are now saying about Penn State.

"I think the ball is really rolling," Cowburn said. "Everybody wants to go to Penn State. Right now, we are getting the best recruits in the nation, we have the best coaching staff in the nation and we are going to have the best practice partners."

As a long time wrestling fan it's very hard to not get really excited about Penn State's future under Cael Sanderson.

Oh Hell with it give me a dancin' monkey!!!

Penn State hires Sanderson as next wrestling coach

Friday night at 6:14 pm my phone buzzed because I had an incoming text message, it was my blogging cohort Nick and the message went as follows: "Cael Sanderson to take over PSU Wrestling, your thoughts?" I starred vacantly at my phone for a couple seconds and then checked my mug of beer because I was sure someone put something in it. "Stunned" doesn't even begin to describe my mood, I never thought in a million years that the Penn State athletic department would be able to hire Sanderson away from Iowa State. Sure I saw the internet rumors but I never thought Sanderson would want to leave the school that gave him his first coaching job. The same school that he spent 12 years of his life at. The same school were younger brother Cyler currently wrestles. Quite frankly I'm still shocked.

"I didn't really have a wrong answer," he said. "I could stay here where I love Iowa State. This is the place I wanted to win at. It is home. The potential and possibilities of Penn State, it is the highest regarded institution of sports in the East, maybe the country. It's tough to turn down."

This was a home run for Penn State, they get a coach whose teams have finished no worse than fifth in his three years as the coach.

In three years, Sanderson's teams went 44-10, won three Big 12 Conference championships, qualified all 30 of his starting wrestlers for nationals, and earned 15 All-America awards and two individual national titles.

Qualified all 30 of his wrestlers, ALL of them, that's quite impressive. Sanderson brings with him an aggressive style and an Olympic Gold medal as well. Sanderson should be an instant shot in the arm for recruiting and he comes to one of the best states for wrestling.

"In the end, Cael said that he appreciated everything Iowa State and our fans had done for him, but he believes winning a national championship will be easier at Penn State,'' [Iowa State athletic director Jamie] Pollard said. "He said the high school talent in Pennsylvania and surrounding states is the best in the country, and the kids in that area grow up wanting to wrestle for the Nittany Lions. He also said their overall athletics department resources are the best in the country.

Penn State fans should take note, this shows that the Athletic Department is not afraid to go outside the "Penn State family" to hire a coach. A friend of mine suggested this weekend that perhaps this is a test bed for hiring someone with no ties to Penn State, after all if this blows up in [Director of Athletics] Tim Curley's face it's not a "major" sport and will go largely unnoticed but if it works out Curley can point to it as proof that it's better to get the best man for the job and not just the best "Penn State" man. Perhaps he has something there, that may be the case but one thing's for sure, Penn State got one hell of a coach. It's such a hire I think it's time to break out the Dancin' Monkey!!

Disaster avoided, you may resume your normal life

Penn State's best recruiter and manufacturer of NFL D lineman has decided to stay at Penn State.

Larry Johnson, who has recruited 11 of the 23 commitments on Penn State's docket for signing letters of intent next month, has spurned a lucrative offer from Ron Zook and decided Penn State is where he belongs.

No telling if the university will give him anything for staying, knowing the smug attitude the athletic department has they probably won't. Everyone can breathe again things are gonna be ok. Hell this news is worth a dancin' monkey.

PSU Review: Michigan State

Ok, it wasn't the national championship birth that we were all so hoping for but it is the Rose bowl and it is a Big Ten Championship… that's at least good enough to break out the dancin' monkey!

Before we move on to the game let me just pass along that Mr. Joseph Vincent Paterno had successful hip replacement surgery Sunday.

"Dr. Sebastianelli reports that all objectives were accomplished and that Paterno is resting comfortably and anxious to get home," the statement said.

By "anxious" I'm sure he means grumpy and a pain in the ass to the nurses but I digress. Good luck Joe, hopefully you'll be back on your feet for the bowl game.

On to the game: really is there anything we can say negatively about the smack down Penn State put on Michigan State Saturday? Ok, the kick coverage wasn't very good but at this point I'm just nitpicking. Penn State played solid on offense, defense, and most of the special teams. Daryll Clark had a career day and Penn State played "seniors get a touchdown" all day long as fullback D. Lawlor, Deon Butler, and Derrick Williams all scored in their final regular season game.

Offense

16 of 26 for a career high 341 yards and 4 touchdowns… now there's the Daryll Clark fans were hoping for. It was a good enough performance to land Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors for Clark. All three of Deon Butler's receptions went for touchdowns as he averaged an Xbox-like average of 44.3 yards per catch. The offensive line was a complete wall for Clark and he used that protection well, standing tall in the picket and waiting for a receiver to get open, and open they were.

Pardon us but there's approximately 600 pounds of human coming your way and they’re not very happy

Evan Royster had another workmanlike day rushing for 79 yards on 12 carries for a decent 6.6 yards per carry average. It was especially great to see Lawlor get his touchdown as a reward for all the great blocking he's done this season. Penn State pushed out to a 28 point lead and every time it appeared that Michigan State was regaining momentum the offense kept the foot on the gas and demoralized Sparty. It was one of those games that Penn State could have scored 100 if they needed to but not with this defense, which brings me to:

Defense

With the exception of the touchdown drive right before half, all of Michigan State's scores came late in the fourth quarter with Penn State heavily substituting players (I think some of the seniors on the band got to play). The touchdown drive before half was another example of the wonderful "bend and then break our hearts" prevent defense. God I love the prevent.

Javon Ringer was held to just 42 yards and averaged a mere 2.5 yards per carry thanks in large part to a defensive line that dominated Michigan State all day. MSU right tackle Jesse Miller was abused by Aaron Maybin and Mo Evans, getting called for false starts on several occasions trying to get a jump to match the speed of the ends. Jared Odrick was, once again, a force on the inside and Lydell Sargeant had one of his better days at corner intercepting a pass and breaking up 2 others, one in the end zone. Penn State's plan was simple and effective crowd the box, stop Ringer, and make Hoyer beat them. The team's two leading tacklers were Rubin and Astorino which is indicative of the focus against the run. No one player's stats jump out at you because this was truly a team effort.

Special Teams

Kick coverage is still sporadic at best. Jeremy Boone had a solid day downing two of his punts inside the 20 and averaged 46.7 yards on three punts. Kevin Kelly was bored all day with the exception of the 8 kickoffs he had to trot out to do, he didn't attempt a field goal all day because the offense was 4-4 in the red zone all of which went for TD's.

Overall

It was a great day and it was wonderful to see most of the seniors contribute in big ways. Penn State came out on fire and never let the foot off the gas. Lord knows I was disappointed with the loss to Iowa but I'm over it now and if Penn State can pull out a win in the Rose Bowl this will be a very memorable season in my mind. It's a great way to end a lot of great careers for the seniors on the way out. When they came to Penn State they were at the tail end of the "dark years" and these seniors are responsible for bringing Penn State back into the conscience of college football. Penn State wasn't picked to finish in the top three in the Big Ten by most of the AP writers, how'd that work for ya guys? This team definitely overachieved with huge wins on the road at Wisconsin and Ohio State and knocked that gigantic Michigan monkey off their backs.

Thank you Seniors

Go State beat [insert Pac-10 champ here]!!

Because It’s Friday

The wonderful world of YouTube has brought us this magnificent treasure from Penn State. Wherein this clip, our hero “Dancing Brian Gelzheiser” get stepped to at Player’s Night Club, which I guess is now called Indigo?, and not willing to suffer the indignity of getting served responds like a champion. Truly an inspiration.

You just got F’d in the A!

Wrestling Wreport

The Penn State wrestling team just walked into the most storied wrestling program's back yard and walked away with a 21-18 victory… give me a dancin' monkey!!!

First, as a matter of bookkeeping, I'll tell you that Penn State shut out rival Lehigh 33-0 on Friday night. The Nittany Lions won the battle of takedowns by a 26-4 margin. It was total dominance.

But enough of that, onto Sunday afternoon. For those of you that are unfamiliar with wrestling let me give you some stats to prove how dominant Oklahoma State is in wrestling. OSU has 34 championships; that's more national titles than any other school has in any other sport. From 2003 to 2006 they won four straight national titles and they almost won a fifth last year but were edged out by Minnesota. They're great every year and they were ranked #3 going into Sunday's match.

When the dust settled Penn State and Oklahoma State each had five wins but the difference was, and usually is, bonus points and Penn State managed two falls from super Sophomore Bubba Jenkins (ranked #4) and cradle master Phil Davis who just recently regained his #1 ranking. While Jenkins' and Davis' pins were so important it was equally important that Penn State not give up bonus points in bouts they were outmatched and two freshmen came through. At 133 freshmen Mike Eagen, filling in for an injured Tim Haas faced the #1 ranked wrestler in the nation but managed to only give up an 8-2 regular decision. At 141, highly touted true freshman Garrett Scott got his first real action as a Nittany Lion because 3^rd ranked Jake Strayer was injured. Scott faced the sixth ranked wrestler and lost by a slim 6-3 decision and was the aggressor most of the match.

The marquee matchup was No. 10 ranked Dan Vallimont vs. No. 20 Newly McSpadden at 157, the only matchup of two ranked wrestlers. McSpadden got the early takedown but Vallimont got a quick reversal and rode the McSpadden out to end the first period. Vallimont was the aggressor for most of the bout and managed a bout-clinching takedown late in the third and walked away with a 5-4 win.

Penn State is off until Jan 4^th when No. 16 Cornell comes to Rec Hall for a 7p.m. dual. Ranked #5, Penn State is sure to move up in the polls after this impressive win.

Bout by bout scoring

125: #6 Mark McKnight PSU dec. Ben Ashmore OSU, 4-3	3-0
133: #1 Coleman Scott OSU dec. Mike Eagen PSU, 8-2	3-3
141: #6 Nathan Morgan OSU dec. Garrett Scott PSU, 6-3	3-6
149: #4 Bubba Jenkins PSU pinned Mike Bizzle OSU, WBF (6:42)	9-6
157: #10 Dan Vallimont PSU dec. #20 Newly McSpadden OSU, 5-4	12-6
165: #12 Jake Dieffenbach OSU maj. dec. Dave Rella PSU, 13-4	12-10
174: #4 Brandon Mason OSU maj. dec. David Erwin PSU, 8-0	12-14
184: #19 Phil Bomberger PSU dec. Cody Hill, 8-5	15-14
197: #1 Phil Davis PSU pinned Clayton Foster OSU, WBF 5:50	21-14
HWT: #8 Jared Rosholt OSU maj. dec. Stefan Tighe PSU, 9-0	21-18

Thank you Google: Mandel blasts TNL

Well, “blasts” is a tad of an overstatement but he did question my hygiene. From the latest version of mailbag:

Stewart, seeing as how you're the Internet's premier college football pundit, is there any way you could contact the nation's journalists, bloggers and message-board moderators to orchestrate a complete moratorium on all conference supremacy debates until the end of the regular season? It was fun for a while, but good god. Everyone needs to take a deep breath and count to 10.

--Stephen, Athens, Ga.

But I'm afraid you give me far too much credit in terms of my clout in the realm of cyberspace. Have you read some of the bloggers out there? Here's a little sampling from the first few pages of a Google search involving my name: "SI's Stewart Mandel: I get paid to write 2+2=4" (jonathantu.wordpress.com), "Stewart Mandel is an idiot and I hope UGA bites him in the rear end" (Dawgsports.com) and "Stewart Mandel needs a long vacation" (thenittanyline.blogspot.com). I'm guessing you'd have a better chance getting these guys to actually shave and shower on consecutive days than participate in any idea that originated from me.

By the way when did 6 become the “first few” of anything, because my link was on page six? Anyho, thank you Google, thank you for giving me free intertubes space and thank you for putting TNL on page six of the Stewart Mandel search. He’s referring to this post a long time ago on The Nittany Line. Long story short, Mandel suggested that the Big East was one of the power conferences and the SEC was “the toughest conference in history.” Incidentally, as PSUGirl likes to point out, I was wrong about Central Florida but right about the crappiness of the Big Least. But back to the point at hand, this is one of those moments that I tip my (dirty) hat and clap my unwashed hands in sheer joy. Thank you fans of TNL for visiting daily and often so my Google clout can be raised enough that Stewart Mandel finds me. It’s only a matter of time before my fame swells to epic proportions and Hollywood comes calling to make TNL the movie – the life of a bitter sarcastic blogger. Or something like that… it’s a working title. Now if you’ll all excuse me I’m hitting the town for the night and I think I’ll skip the shower just in honor of this post.
(Big HT: JB in the comment section)

Felony charges against Scirrotto dropped

Give me a dancing monkey baby!!

WMAJ Radio ESPN 1450 in State College is reporting that several felony charges against Penn State safety Anthony Scirrotto have been dropped.

This doesn't come as a big surprise to me because the lack of evidence against him; what still surprises me is this:

However, WMAJ reports that a felony charge of criminal trespass and non-felony charge of harassment are still pending vs. Scirrotto.

Harassment – yes, criminal trespass – huh? Again, there wasn't a person that could point him out but I guess you could still make a case. I'm betting it's plea bargain time and the "felony" part of that will get dropped and Mr. Scirrotto will be doing plenty of community service.

(HT: BSD – because I read Mike's blog before anything else)

Justin King Cleared

Give me a dancin’ monkey baby!

The prosecution drops all charges against cornerback Justin King shortly after the preliminary hearing started this morning. More to come later.

Update: Assistant District Attorney Steve Sloane said prosecutors had no evidence that King's entry into the West College Avenue apartment was malicious and no evidence that he hurt anyone or damaged anything. "As a matter of fact, we have evidence to the contrary," Sloane said. He said King was seen trying to pull people out of the apartment. After the melee ended, Sloane said, King stayed at the scene and tried to apologize to the apartment residents.

Now COME on, why was he even charged? I understand they drew a line between those that stayed outside and those that entered, but why even drag him into this with evidence pointing to the contrary? I was slightly worried about Judicial Affairs still coming down on Justin, but with this info, let's just say my beer will be even tastier tonight.

Update, yet again: So yeah, you all know by now we’re down to two, I’m late… again. Scirrotto and Baker are the only two left over “bound for trial” (oooooo, look a new legal term. Nice). We did find out that the guy that punched Scirrotto lied which is interesting.

Another witness was Bernd Imle, who admitted to initiating a fight with Scirrotto earlier that night, an event prosecutors contend led to the brawl at the apartment. Imle said he and two friends were passing Scirrotto and his girlfriend on a College Avenue sidewalk when she “hocked up a lugie” and spit. He said he responded by saying “ewww.”

He said after taking a few steps, Scirrotto yelled at him. He said Scirrotto kept yelling. Imle said he eventually punched Scirrotto. When Scirrotto's girlfriend approach Imle, he said he restrained her from hitting him, at which point she hit him with a knee to the groin. In an earlier interview with police, Imle said he was hit in the groin first and then punched Scirrotto. He admitted to lying because he was nervous.

Hmmm, isn’t lying to police a no-no? At any rate we can put away the Nitroglycerin Tablets it seems we will only loose Scirrotto and Baker for a significant amount of time.

Done Deal

WOOOO HAAAAAA! Pens staying in PENSylvania!

Give me a muther fuckin’ dancing monkey baby!!!

Penguins fans can breathe a sigh of relief, a deal has been made with the state to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh for a very long time.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have reached an agreement with state and local officials for construction of a new arena that will keep the team here under a 30-year lease. The basics of the agreement were reached in a make-or-break meeting last week in Philadelphia, where both sides reported that significant progress was made.

If you like numbers and details they can be found in all their glory here. Suffice it to say, the arena will cost $290 million and will be financed in part by the Penguins, the state, Pittsburgh casino licensee Don Barden, and from a gambling-financed state economic development fund. In the end, it’s a good day for long-time Pens fans (me included) because we no longer have to think about the possibility of losing our team any time soon.

Lost in all this is the fact that the Pens are positioned to be a powerhouse for several years. Pretty much everyone remotely familiar with Hockey knows who Sidney Crosby is but Sid along with Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal create a very solid foundation for this team for years to come. Numbers? Sure we have numbers: all three will be 30-goal scorers before the season ends and all three are 20 years old or younger; there’s a lot of miles left on those young legs. Throw in 22 year old up and coming goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and it’s easy to see this team is in good shape.

As critical of Ed Rendell as I’ve been, I must give credit where credit is due – it really appeared that Kansas City had pulled out all the stops, but Slick Ed came through when push came to shove. Now we can get back to worrying about our hated interstate rival Flyers instead of gambling licenses and tax payer funded arenas – life is good (and the Flyers still suck).