UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State wrestling will be well represented in June's Final X events in Stillwater, Okla., and New York City where spots on USA Wrestling's Senior World Team will be decided. Six current Penn Staters and members of the Penn State Olympic Regional Training Center have qualified for the Final X events with a chance to earn spot on Team USA.
Current Penn Staters, former Nittany Lions, and members of the Penn State RTC/Nittany Lion Wrestling Club competed this past weekend at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. While Thomas Gilman (57 kg), David Taylor (86 kg) and Kyle Snyder (97 kg) were already qualified for a Final X spot, 11 other grapplers competed to advance, with three earning spots.
Former Nittany Lion standouts Jason Nolf and Zain Retherford both earned spots in Final X at last weekend's Challenge Tournament in Coralville, Iowa. Nolf went 3-0 at 74 kg to win his bracket and earn a spot. Retherford went 2-0 at 70 kg and advanced to the Challenge finals against Jordan Oliver. Both advance to Final X for a best-of-three series to determine Team USA's member. Jennifer Page-Rogers will be the sixth member of Penn State's RTC to compete at Final X after going 3-0 in women's freestyle at 62 kg.
Current Nittany Lion Carter Starocci went 3-1 at 79 kg this past weekend and placed third. Nick Lee went 2-2 at 68 kg and placed top six while current Lion Beau Bartlett went 1-2 at 65 kg as well. Josh Rodriguez went 2-2 at 68 kg to place fourth and Ceron Francisco competed at 285 kg to round out the Penn State RTC/NLWC contingent in Coralville.
Three former Nittany Lion greats also took part in the Challenge Tournament. Vincenzo Joseph went 3-2 and took second at 79 kg. Mark Hall posted a 2-2 mark at 86 kg and took second while Nico Megaludis posted a 3-1 record at 61 kg and finished in third place.
Final X Stillwater is set for Friday, June 3 in Stillwater, Okla. It will be held alongside the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Honors Weekend on June 3-4. Final X New York is set for Wednesday, June 8 at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This will serve as the 12th Beat the Streets Annual Benefit as well.
The 2021-22 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by the Family Clothesline. 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.
