TODAY'S ACTION
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; January 20, 2021 -- No. 3 Penn State (0-0, 0-0 B1G) will open up the 2020-21 schedule with a dual meet in Rec Hall against No. 24 Michigan State (1-1, 1-1 B1G). The Lions and Spartans tangle on Sunday, Jan. 24, at 1 p.m. Penn State's original season opener at Rutgers on Jan. 16 was postponed.
The Penn State Nittany Lions, under the guidance of head coach Cael Sanderson, have nine wrestlers ranked by InterMat, all in the top 13. Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young heads into the opener ranked No. 3 at 133 and senior Nick Lee is ranked No. 2 at 141. Junior Jarod Verkleeren is ranked No. 10 at 149 and sophomore Brady Berge is No. 11 at 157. Redshirt freshman Joe Lee is ranked No. 6 at 165 while classmate Carter Starocci is ranked No. 5 at 174. Sophomore Aaron Brooks heads into the campaign ranked No. 3 at 184. Redshirt freshman Michael Beard is ranked No. 13 at 197 and redshirt freshman Greg Kerkvliet is ranked No. 5 at 285.
Michigan State comes in to this weekend's action with a 1-1 overall record. The Spartans opened their season with a tri-meet at Minnesota last weekend and split the action. Michigan State shutout Maryland 42-0 in one dual and lost to homestanding Minnesota 28-6 in the other. Two nationally ranked grapplers went 2-0 for MSU. Layne Malczewski won both his bouts at 184 and Cameron Caffey won twice at 197. Rayvon Foley is ranked No. 6 at 125 for Michigan State, leading the charge for four ranked Spartans. Jake Tucker is No. 18 at 165, Layne Malczewski is No. 19 at 184 and Cameron Caffey is No. 7 at 197. The Spartans are ranked No. 24 on InterMat's TPI.
Penn State owns a 22-9 lead in the all-time series with Michigan State. The Lions have won 13 straight. Penn State won 37-10 in the last meeting on Feb. 5, 2019, in Rec Hall. Penn State last visited MSU on Jan. 14, 2018, grabbing a 48-3 win in East Lansing.
The Big Ten released its schedule on New Year's Eve day. Every Big Ten team will host three dual meets and each team will compete only against conference opponents, totaling nine duals. Penn State will host the 2021 Big Ten Championships on Saturday and Sunday, March 6-7. The 2021 NCAA Championships will take place on March 18-20 in the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo.
All dates, including the post-season, are subject to change. Start times and television broadcast designations for wrestling events will be released at a later date. Under current Big Ten guidance, public tickets will not be sold for 2020-21 Penn State wrestling home matches.
All rankings listed are InterMat/InterMat TPI as of Jan. 12, 2021. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.
#3 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (0-0, 0-0 B1G)
WT NAME EL HT/HS REC
125 Baylor Shunk R-Fr. Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley 0-0
Robert Howard Fr. Cranford, N.J./Bergen Catholic 0-0
133 #3 Roman Bravo-Young Jr. Tucson, Ariz./Sunnyside 0-0
141 #2 Nick Lee Sr. Evansville, Ind./Home schooled 0-0
141/149 Beau Bartlett Fr. Tempe, Ariz./Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) 0-0
149 #10 Jarod Verkleeren Jr. Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield 0-0
149 Terrell Barraclough R-Fr. Kaysville, Utah/Layton 0-0
149 Luke Gardner Sr. Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville 0-0
149/157 Bo Pipher Sr. Paonia, Colo./Paonia 0-0
157 #11 Brady Berge Jr. Mantorville, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville 0-0
165 #6 Joe Lee R-Fr. Evansville, Ind./Mater Dei 0-0
165/174 Mason Manville So. Lorton, Va./Wyoming Seminary 0-0
174 #5 Carter Starocci Fr. Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep 0-0
174 Creighton Edsell So. Wyalusing, Pa./Wyalusing 0-0
184 #3 Aaron Brooks So. Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown 0-0
197 #13 Michael Beard R-Fr. Pottstown, Pa./Malvern Prep 0-0
285 #6 Greg Kerkvliet R-Fr. Grove Heights, Minn./Simley 0-0
Seth Nevills So. Clovis, Calif./Clovis 0-0
Rankings listed are InterMat Indiv./Team Ranking InterMat TPI (1/19/21)
THIS WEEK
#3 Penn State (0-0, 0-0 B1G) will open up the 2020-21 schedule with a dual meet in Rec Hall against #24 Michigan State (1-1, 1-1 B1G). Penn State's scheduled opener at Rutgers last weekend was postponed.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions head to Evanston, Ill., for a tri-meet. The Lions battle Northwestern and Indiana in Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday, Jan. 30. Times are TBA.
ON THE AIR
TV - None
Radio - WRSC (93.3 FM) or, occasionally, WQWK (103.7 FM)
Radio online - Free all year via Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com
Live Web Video - Live on B1GN+
NOTES:
PENN STATE'S OPENER AT RUTGERS POSTPONED
On Wednesday, Jan. 13, Penn State wrestling paused all team-related activities due to positive COVID-19 results among Tier 1 personnel. Due to the pause, the Nittany Lions' match at Rutgers scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 16, was postponed. The institutions will work with the Big Ten Conference to identify rescheduling options. The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the broader community are of the utmost importance. Therefore, as part of the protocols established by the Big Ten Conference and Penn State Athletics medical staff and in consultation with University, local and national officials and guidelines, individuals with a positive test have been put into isolation. In addition to isolation, contact tracing procedures have been implemented, which includes quarantine and testing for those individuals who might have been exposed, even if asymptomatic.
NITTANY LIONS RANKED #3 ON INTERMAT'S TPI; NINE INDIVIDUALS RANKED AS WELL
The Penn State Nittany Lions are ranked No. 3 on InterMat's Tournament Power Index (TPI) and have nine wrestlers ranked by InterMat, all in the top 13. Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young heads into the opener ranked No. 3 at 133 and senior Nick Lee is ranked No. 2 at 141. Junior Jarod Verkleeren is ranked No. 10 at 149 and sophomore Brady Berge is No. 11 at 157. Redshirt freshman Joe Lee is ranked No. 6 at 165 while classmate Carter Starocci is ranked No. 5 at 174. Sophomore Aaron Brooks heads into the campaign ranked No. 3 at 184. Redshirt freshman Michael Beard is ranked No. 13 at 197 and redshirt freshman Greg Kerkvliet is ranked No. 5 at 285.
PENN STATE HAS FIVE DUALS LIVE NATIONALLY ON THE BIG TEN NETWORK; ALL OTHERS ON B1GN+
The Penn State Nittany Lions will be featured on the Big Ten Network five times with its other four duals streaming live on B1GN+. Penn State's dual at Rutgers, it's Feb. 7 dual at Michigan, the Feb. 7 home battle with Iowa, the Feb. 19 match-up at Ohio State and the Feb. 21 home finale with Maryland will all air live nationally on the network. The Feb. 21 dual could be moved to Monday, Feb. 22, for live broadcast as well. The duals with Michigan State on Jan. 24, at Northwestern and vs. Indiana on Jan. 30 and vs. Wisconsin at Michigan on Feb. 7 will stream live on B1GN+.
Big Ten Announces 2020-21 Wrestling Schedule; Penn State to Face Nine Conference Opponents
The Big Ten Conference announced the 2020-21 wrestling schedule this afternoon and the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team now knows who it is facing in the upcoming season. Head coach Cael Sanderson's squad will take on nine Big Ten opponents in five traditional dual meets and two tri-meets.
Penn State will host the 2021 Big Ten Championships on Saturday and Sunday, March 6-7. The 2021 NCAA Championships will take place on March 18-20 in the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo. All dates, including the post-season, are subject to change. Start times and television broadcast designations for wrestling events will be released at a later date. Under current Big Ten guidance, public tickets will not be sold for 2020-21 Penn State wrestling home matches.
MILESTONES
Individual records and milestones that are in play as of now:
* TBA as season progresses!
