Wrestling Wreport

The Penn State wrestling team will celebrate 100 years of wrestling this season. They have one of the toughest schedules this year and will get help in the form of a decent recruiting class. The new class includes:

Micah Bollinger (Mifflinburg, Pa.) - Two time state qualifier and PIAA runner-up.

Tim Darling (Nazareth, Pa.) - Three-time state champion and high school national champ.

Shane Everett (Saylorsburg, Pa.) - PIAA state qualifier.

Matt Jacobs (Phoenix, Md.) - State champ.

Adam Lynch (Mifflinburg, Pa.) - Transfer from Navy, where he went 4-4 last year as a freshman at 133 - three-time PIAA state qualifier.

Chad Mitchell (Lilburn, Ga.) - Georgia State Champion and three-time placer. Two-time Cadet National All-American.

Frank Molinaro (Barnegat, N.J.) - Three-time New Jersey State Champion and placed second at High School Nationals.

Desmond Moore (Easton, Pa.) - Placed third at the PIAA Championships this past year.

Colby Pisani (Ridgway, Pa.) - Two time placer at state championships.

Jared Platt (Blairstown, N.J.) - won two Junior Pan Am gold medals while claiming Pan Am Outstanding Wrestler. Two-time Prep National Champion and junior national runner-up. Placed third at high school nationals.

Cameron Wade (Chanel, Ohio) Two-time Ohio State Champion and three-time state finalist - junior national runner-up, a cadet national runner-up and placed fourth at high school nationals.

Wade is coming to Penn State at heavyweight and could possible start as a true freshman with Aaron Anspach's denial of a sixth year of eligibility. The only down side is that Penn State's area of need at 184lbs. will still be the only hole in the lineup because none of the recruits project to wrestle at that weight.

While the Penn State football team is busy filling up on non-conference cupcakes such as Florida International and Buffalo, the Nittany Lion wrestling team is taking on some serious beef. The Wrestling team will once again take part in the Cliff Kean National Duals for the first time since 2005 and will travel to national juggernaut Oklahoma State. For those of you not familiar with wrestling, the Cowboys have won 34 national titles including four straight from 2003-06. They are the top program in the sport of wrestling and Penn State will know how good they are right off the bat because the match is scheduled for Dec. 9^th. With two returning All-Americans and a couple of key guys coming off redshirts, this could be a special year for the team.

Update: Penn State’s class is ranked #3 by Intermat, the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s official website. That make two years in a row the PSU has been ranked #3.