Jake Strayer will head into this final season with the Penn State wrestlers as a legitimate contender for All-America and national title honors. A rash of injuries as well as the passing of a family member kept Strayer out of Penn State[apos]s line-up late in the year and out of the Big Ten Tournament. Already established as one of the nation[apos]s top lower weight wrestlers, the 2007 All-American will return to 133 where he placed seventh as a sophomore in 2007.
Lion Career:
2007-08: Did not compete at wrestle-offs...majored No. 20 Charlie Pinto of Maryland in season opener on 11/11...nearly pinned #2 Charles Griffin of Hofstra twice on his way to a 6-1 win over the Pride wrestler on 11/17....went 4-1 at the Nittany Lion Open, including win over #19 Steve Adamcsik of Rutgers on 12/2...pinned Cornell[apos]s Eric McGill (6:59) to help Penn State beat #17 Cornell 35-10 on 1/4...at National Duals on 1/12, decisioned #19 Cody Cleveland of Chattanooga...majored Indiana[apos]s Scott Kelly (13-4) on 1/27....injured in wrestle-off the week of 2/4...returned with a 19-2 technical fall over Lock Haven[apos]s George Ester (6:51) on 2/23.
2006-07: Strayer began the season with a 3-0 showing at the Pa. Duals...went 5-1 to take second place at the 2006 Nittany Lion Open...only loss was a hard-fought 4-3 decision to No. 1 Nick Simmons of Michigan State...downed No. 20 Lou Ruggirello of Hofstra 6-0...lost tough 6-5 decision to No. 6 Adam Frey of Cornell...majored No. 16 Ricky Deubel of Edinboro on 1/13...went 4-0 at the Virginia Duals...went 1-1 on Penn State[apos]s two-dual road swing to open up Big Ten action....dropped tough 4-3 decision to No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy of Illinois on 1/28...defeated No. 15 Mario Galanakis of Iowa on 2/4....closed out Big Ten dual season with four straight wins...went 3-2 at Big Tens and placed fifth at 133...went 4-2 at NCAAs to earn seventh place honor and first All-American tag...earned second straight NWCA first team Academic All-America honor...Academic All-Big Ten selection as well.
Big Ten Championships (3-2, 5th, National Qualifier): Seeded fitth at the Big Ten tournament, Strayer went 3-2 and wrestled to his seed with a fifth place finish...he became a two-time national qualifier...downed Eric Metzler of Northwestern 10-1...beat No. 14 Zach Tanelli of Wisconsin 3-1...lost 4-2 decision to No. 2 Nick Simmons of MSU...lost to No. 9 Mack Reiter of Minnesota...downed OSU[apos]s T.J. Enright for fifth place.
NCAA Championships (4-2, 7th at 133): Unseeded at nationals....went 4-2 at 133 to place seventh and earn first All-America tag...pinned Hofstra[apos]s Lou Ruggirello in first round...downed Iowa State[apos]s Nick Gallick 4-2 in round two...fell to No. 6 seed Darrell Vasquez of Cal Poly in the quarterfinals...beat No. 12 Robert Preston of Harvard 9-6 in first round of wrestle-backs to clinch All-America honor...fell to No. 8 Tyler McCormick of Missouri in next conso round...pinned Indiana[apos]s Andrae Hernandez (2:38) for seventh place.
2005-06: Ended his red-shirt freshman campaign with an outstanding 26-6 record...tied for the team lead with 14 dual match victories against just two defeats...went 6-2 in Big Ten duals...2-0 in falls, 1-0 in technical falls and 2-2 in majors...secured 49 team dual match points, which was third on the team...ended season ranked in the top ten of the NWCA individual rankings (regular season)...posted a 3-2 win over eventual national champion Matt Valenti of Penn on 12/10/05...earned a 6-1 win over No. 10 Mike Mormile of Cornell...downed No. 18 Andrae Hernandez of Indiana 2-1...named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week once (1/11/06)...won two Ridge Riley Awards (vs. Michigan on 11/26/05 and vs. Cornell on 1/8/06)...earned Academic All-Big Ten Award as a red-shirt freshman...was 7-4 vs. ranked foes pre-NCAA tournament...three of those four losses were decided by two points or less...named Outstanding Freshman at season-ending Banquet...earned a spot on the NWCA National All-Academic Team...Academic All-Big Ten as well.
Big Ten Championships (4-1, 3rd, National Qualifier): Seeded fifth at Big Ten Championships at Indiana...went 4-1 to claim third place and qualify for nationals as a freshman...opened tournament with loss to No. 4 seed Mark Moos of Michigan..rebounded with four straight wins, including 9-6 win over Moos in third place bout...reeled off three wins over ranked wrestlers in Big Ten Championships, including wins over No. 20 Reece Humphrey of Ohio State (7-3), No. 3 Chris Fleeger of Purdue (med. forf.) and the third-place win over Moos.
NCAA Championships (3-2, DNP, `Round of 12[apos]): Seeded No. 7 at nationals...opened tournament with 4-0 win over Bakersfield[apos]s Tommy Vargas...suffered upset loss to Jason Borrelli of Central Michigan in second round...rebounded with wins over Mark Budd of Buffalo (7-0) and Illinois[apos] Gabriel Flores (7-1)...fell to No. 8 seed Matt Keller of Chattanooga in `Round of 12[apos], finishing just one win shy of All-America status.
2004-05: A red-shirt season...Strayer had a year that most starters would envy... made the finals of all five tournaments that he entered, winning three of them, while posting a 21-2 record at 133 pounds on the season...won his first collegiate title by defeating Paul Shllep of Gloucester, in the finals of the Central Jersey Open...took home first place medals at the East Stroudsburg and Buffalo opens...won a close overtime match against starter Bryan Heller during finals of the East Stroudsburg Open...his only two losses came in the finals of the Nittany Lion and Edinboro opens...had a very successful freestyle season, placing fourth at the University National Freestyle Championships in Evanston, Illinois.
High School/Personal: A two-time Pennsylvania State Champion and four-time placer, Strayer won titles in 2002 and 2004. He defeated fellow Penn State recruit Brock Scott in the final at 125 pounds in 2004 and was ranked No. 4 in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News. He posted a 42-0 record in his senior season to bring his career mark at Forest Hills High to 161-7. Strayer placed third at 119 pounds at the PIAA Championships in 2003 and won the 103-pound title as a sophomore. He was eighth as a freshman. He has lost no more than one match each of the last two years going 45-1 with 25 pins in 2003 and 40-1 in 2002. He has three District 6 titles and three regional championships to his credit. Strayer was also an accomplished track and field and cross country athlete in high school. He earned three PIAA medals in cross country and three in track and was runner-up at 3,200 meters at the 2004 PIAA Track and Field Championships.
CAREER STATISTICS
| Year | Overall | Duals (B10) | Tourn. (B10/NCAA) | Falls | TF | MD | Pts. |
| 2004-05 | Red-Shirt Season | ||||||
| 2005-06 | 26-6 | 14-2 (6-2) | 12-4 (4-1/3-2) | 2-0 | 1-0 | 2-2 | 49 |
| 2006-07 | 27-8 | 16-3 (6-2) | 11-5 (3-2/4-2) | 4-1 | 1-0 | 6-0 | 56 |
| Career | 53-14 | 32-5 (12-4) | 23-9 (7-3/7-4) | 6-1 | 2-0 | 8-2 | 105 |