UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – For many Penn State wrestlers, they aren't only competitive on the mat; Gaming also presents them with an opportunity to compete with each other, something they don't take it lightly.
"I don't know (when it began)," sophomore Justin Lopez said. "I started playing Fortnite season one and it's just been a big thing throughout the team. Coach Cael plays, we all play together, we get to bond when we aren't here, so it's pretty cool.
Head coach Cael Sanderson doesn't mind that his wrestlers spend some free time playing video games.
"There's definitely a lot of gaming," Sanderson said. "You're talking about college students so if our kids are playing video games I much rather see that than them running around downtown. As long as they're getting their homework done and they're doing well in school, it's great."
"There are things you just have to be smart about it and how much time they play. We've got some kids that think they're going to be professional Fortnite players when they graduate from college and as long as they're doing well and doing what they need to be doing, there are a lot worse things they could be doing."
And Sanderson even gets in on the fun from time to time.
"I play Fortnite a little bit, but I'm no good," Sanderson said. "We've got some kids that are pretty good. They will not usually invite me to their team because they have to carry me but everyone once in a while I'll play with them. I have two kids and they play video games on the weekends."
But two-time national champion Jason Nolf disagrees with his coach.
"I've played a couple of times with Cael but not too much," Nolf said. "He's pretty good."
In the room, there are a few consensus top players, but it's hard to get an agreement on who is the top Fortnite player.
"I think I'm the best one," Lopez said. "I have the best stats, but actually Jordan Conaway is pretty good too."
"I know Mark's pretty good, Lopez is pretty good," Nolf added. "I play with Jordan Conaway when I play, but he's on the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club now."
When gaming together the group may not be in the same space, but they often join together as a team to take on other online competitors.
"We're on different platforms," Lopez said. "Some people play on PC, like Nevills and Conaway, and then most of the kids on our team play on Xbox and then there are a couple of people that play on PS4. We usually get a bunch of us and get a couple of squads going on Fortnite which is pretty fun."
And Lopez says even the competition off the mat helps bring the team closer together.
"It's definitely extremely important," Lopez said. "Even Coach Cael says to get in your hour or two a day of Fortnite. You can't just wrestle and do school work the whole time. You have to do some stuff in your free time and a lot of us turn to that.
"When we do do it in our free time we do it with our teammates which is pretty cool. We're just getting closer as a team and bonding more. It's more than just gaming if you think about it."
While Sanderson's first choice might be cards or a board game, he's learned from experience that he might have to stick to video games.
"I taught them how to play Risk," Sanderson said. "And then I stopped playing because they all use my strategy to the T, so it wasn't as much fun anymore. Those are good wholesome games and them spending some time together is good."
The Nittany Lions are in action twice this weekend. First, on Friday at 7 p.m. they take on Purdue. Then on Sunday, they close out the weekend at Indiana beginning at 1 p.m.
