by ANDY ELDER
for GoPSUsports.com
| The new wrestling room, now open for business. |
or 42 of Penn State??s 97 years of wrestling history, the Nittany Lions trained in a modest two-mat wrestling room in the south end of Rec Hall. For most of those 42 years, what would eventually be known as the Joyner Wrestling Room fit the needs of the team.
Former Nittany Lion All-American and head coach Rich Lorenzo remembers the year the wrestling room, included when a south annex was added to Rec Hall in 1964, opened.
??I came in here and we walked into the wrestling room. It was the biggest wrestling room I had ever seen. It was brand new,?? he recalled. ??In our high school, we were the No. 1 sport. We outdrew football, basketball and everything. They moved us out to a garage and we could only put down one mat for 65 kids. We were falling over each other. To come in and see that new room in 1964, the new lockers, it was like 'Wow! This is like the Taj Mahal.'??
For the next several decades, Lorenzo??s initial assessment remained accurate. Then, when Lorenzo retired and John Fritz took over the reins of the program, that perception gradually changed. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, serious talks began about how to keep up with other major programs?? expansion projects. In November 2004, the Penn State Board of Trustees voted to authorize obtaining bids and awarding projects for construction. In April 2005, ground was broken. In September of this year, the team started officially utilizing The Lorenzo Wrestling Complex.
Much like Lorenzo??s description of the 1964 wrestling room, the LWC is the crown jewel of a collegiate wrestling building boom during the last decade. It is a definitive statement about wrestling??s past, present and future at Penn State.
??The renovation and expansion of the wrestling complex allows our athletes to experience the daily benefits of a world class training facility as we continue to strive to win a national championship,?? head coach Troy Sunderland said. ??Symbolically, this venture speaks volumes about our administration and alumni??s commitment to Penn State wrestling??s legacy as a national power throughout the 21st century.??
Once you walk under the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex sign and down the Hall of Honor, you first notice this is no ordinary wrestling room. To the right are glass trophy cases where, eventually, all of the hardware Penn State has won over the years will be displayed. To the left will be pictures of Nittany Lion greats from the past. Just down the hall, past the trophy cases, is a glass door with a card swipe feature, which eventually will include a number pad, to gain access to the actual. 10,000-square-foot wrestling room.
Behind the trophy cases is a 30-40 foot-long wooden bench, that allows for storage of equipment. Along a side wall are a series of chin-up bars, a staple of the old Penn State wrestling room.
Along the far wall, the first thing you notice is four large plasma screen TVs, to allow for video review and instruction. Under the televisions are large placards of each of Penn State??s national champions. Under the national champion placards rest the names of the Nittany Lions?? All-Americans.
Hook a left after entering the door and you??ll see a set of bleachers, for casual observers or attendees to a clinic. A projector screen can drop from the ceiling with images from a projection television showing instructional or informational videos. To the left of the bleachers is the recruiting lounge, where a large conference table and Penn State blue leather furniture affords luxurious comfort for recruits and their families. Included in the lounge is another plasma TV with surround sound for viewing highlight films, or just watching television.
| A brand new locker room doubles as a posh hang-out for Nittany Lion wrestlers. |
On the wall outside of the recruiting lounge are pictures of Penn State??s Greco-Roman and freestyle champions. Continue on to your left and you??ll come to an alcove that features three climbing ropes and two training dummies attached to the wall on which wrestlers can practice technique. To the left of the ropes and dummies is an entire wall of wooden storage cabinets. Recessed in the far wall is a small janitor??s closet where mops, buckets and chemicals are stored for mat-mopping duties.
A set of glass double doors leads to the weight room. There is also a set of double doors off the main hallway into the weight room. Inside the room, which is approximately three-quarters the size of the wrestling room, there are enough free weights, weight machines, medicine balls and assorted equipment for plyometric or even Pilates training for the entire roster. The weight room and wrestling room are wired for sound, to listen to CDs, the radio or cable television on the TVs. And, there??s an intercom system wired to the wrestling offices.
Not far away from the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex are the pre-existing lounge and lockerroom, which have been refurbished. The lounge features a small kitchen, a study lounge with computers, couches, chairs and another large television. Connected to the lounge is the lockerroom, which features blue carpeting with a huge Nittany Lion logo in the middle. Ringing the room are 40 wooden lockers, complete with name plates above each one.
Complete shower and bathroom facilities lie beyond. Go out a door into the adjoining hallway and you??ll eventually find more signage pointing to Penn State??s wrestling heritage. In that hallway is the training room, which is easily accessible from the lounge and lockerroom.
This nickel tour doesn??t begin to explain the opulence and attention to detail that the project entails.
??I??ve never had a million dollars," said Phil Davis, a two-time NCAA 197-pound All-American and 2006 runner-up. "If I had enough money to where I could afford to give away a million dollars, I would want to see some results. When I see the new facility, I just think, 'We??ve got to get it done.' We??ve got some work to do."
That work, Lorenzo said, starts with attracting talent to the new facilities. ??I don??t care who the coach is, you have to have talent. You also have to have talent that is committed, confident and secure. People who will believe, trust and give their everything for a goal. In order to get the talent, you have to have the facilities,?? he said.
Even before the facilities were functional, their impact was starting to be felt. ??I saw the plans, but I didn??t see the finished product until I got out here for school,?? said David Rella, one of Penn State??s prized recruits and a freshman this year.
??When I got out here for my visit, there was just construction everywhere. You could hardly see anything. Then when I got out here, there was a huge transition and a huge surprise. It??s a lot better than I expected it to be. The lockerroom and everything is amazing.??
| Director of Athletics Tim Curley spoke at the site's dedication. |
So amazing, in fact, that it is already having an effect in one major area ?? recruiting. Two-time Pennsylvania champion Tim Darling of Nazareth High School, InterMat??s seventh-ranked recruit in the country, committed to Penn State following an October visit to University Park, which included a tour of the new facilities. ??It was outrageous. It??s a state-of-the-art, over-the-top, incredible facility. There isn??t any other room in the nation that??s even close to it,?? Darling said.
??I visited all three other schools (Lehigh, Virginia Tech and Minnesota) and their facilities were all pretty nice. Penn State??s blew them away. For any school to make that kind of commitment shows it is putting more motivation toward wrestling. Seeing that facility was definitely a big positive.??