TODAY'S ACTION
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; January 27, 2021 -- No. 3 Penn State (0-0, 0-0 B1G) will travel to Evanston, Ill., for a tri-meet at Northwestern University on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021. The Lions will have dual meets against host Northwestern and the Indiana Hoosiers in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Penn State faces Indiana at 12 p.m. Eastern (11 a.m. Central/local) and then battles #16 Northwestern at 4 p.m. Eastern (3 p.m. Central/local).
The Penn State Nittany Lions will be opening their dual meet season with the tri-meet as its first two regularly scheduled duals were postponed.
Penn State is ranked No. 3 in the latest InterMat Tournament Power Index (TPI). The Lions have nine wrestlers ranked in the latest InterMat individual rankings: Roman Bravo-Young, 3rd at 133; Nick Lee, 2nd at 141; Jarod Verkleeren, 10th at 149; Brady Berge, 11th at 157; Joe Lee, 6th at 165; Carter Starocci, 5th at 174; Aaron Brooks, 3rd at 184; Michael Beard, 13th at 197; Greg Kerkvliet, 5th at 285.
Northwestern will enter the weekend with a 1-2 record. The Wildcats are coming off a 1-1 weekend in a tri-dual, having beaten Maryland 21-12 and lost to Nebraska 26-10. Northwestern opened its season with a 28-8 loss to Purdue. The Wildcats feature five ranked wrestlers: Michael DeAugustino, 8th at 125; Chris Cannon, 16th at 133; Yahya Thomas, 20th at 149; Ryan Deakin, 1st at 157; Lucas Davison, 11th at 197.
Penn State leads the all-time series with Northwestern 17-1. The Lions have won 15 straight, including the last meeting, a 30-9 win in Rec Hall last year on Jan. 12, 2020. penn State also won the last battle in Evanston, a 33-8 victory on Jan. 11, 2019.
Indiana was off last weekend and is 0-2 on the year. The Hoosiers have lost to Illinois (39-3) and Michigan (32-6) so far this season. Indiana has one ranked wrestler, Brock Hudkins, who is 16th at 125.
Penn State owns a 20-0-1 lead in the all-time series with Indiana, including seven straight victories. The Lions won the last meeting, a 35-9 victory at Indiana on Jan. 27, 2019. The Hoosiers have not been to Penn State since the Lions won 44-3 on Dec. 17, 2017, in Rec Hall.
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, totalling 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 #5 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 (1/26/21)
THIS WEEK
#3 Penn State (0-0, 0-0 B1G) will travel to Evanston, Ill., for a tri-meet at Northwestern University on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021. The Lions will have dual meets against host Northwestern and the Indiana Hoosiers in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Penn State faces Indiana at 12 p.m. Eastern (11 a.m. Central/local) and then battles #16 Northwestern at 4 p.m. Eastern (3 p.m. Central/local).
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions' tri-meet at Michigan next weekend has been postponed as UM has paused its athletic department for two weeks. The status off the PSU/Wisconsin dual is TBA at press time.
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 DUAL WITH WISCONSIN NOW TBA AS TRI-MEET AT MICHIGAN POSTPONED
The University of Michigan paused all athletics activities on Jan. 23 for two weeks, postponing Penn State's tri-meet at Michigan which would have features a dual with Wisconsin. The Penn State/Wisconsin dual will now be at a site and date TBA while the Michigan dual is postponed. The Big Ten conference will work to reschedule Penn State's dual with Michigan (as well as Wisconsin's dual with the Badgers).
PENN STATE'S FIRST TWO DUALS 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 next weekend, the home opener against Michigan State was postponed. The Big Ten conference will work to reschedule both dual meets.
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.
