Nov. 7, 2008
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, currently ranked No. 7 nationally, heads into the new season continuing a long-standing tradition of focusing on the community while striving for athletic excellence. In recent weeks, the Nittany Lion grapplers have reached out in a number of ways to the general public.
In October, half a dozen Lion grapplers travelled to northwestern Pennsylvania and the home of a former young wrestling fan, Cody Bowers. Bowers, who recently passed away just shy of his 15th birthday, has two brothers, Tyler and Ossie. They are the children of Chris Cesnick and Bettie Joe Bowers of Waterford, Pa.
The family was in the middle of building a new home when Cody passed away and members of the Nittany Lion wrestling team joined a number of other Penn Staters in a weekend trip to the Bowers' home where they helped continue the construction and work on landscaping around the house. For the Nittany Lion wrestlers, it was a chance to give back to a wrestling family in need. The grapplers who helped out were Brad Pataky, Nathan Andrews, Tim Darling, James English, Matt Dodds and Clay Steadman and office manager Tiffany Clark
This past week, All-American Bubba Jenkins and starting 165-pounder Mark Friend visited a local elementary school to take part in its Celebrity Reader program. The duo visited Corl Street Elementary and thrilled the students in attendance by reading a few children's books to them.
"One of the things we strive to instill in our wrestlers is the ethic of community service," head coach Troy Sunderland said. "Our athletes understand that they have a great opportunity here at Penn State to get an outstanding education and to compete in one of the nation's top wrestling programs. A simple, easy way to say `thank you' is to give back to the community. Whether it is the local community or the extended community of wrestling fans around the country, we will always strive to stay involved and help out wherever and whenever we can."
Penn State will continue to take part in various community service activities throughout the upcoming year, including a trip to the Mt. Nittany Middle School Health and Fitness Fair next week.