Penn State wrestling offseason roundup: What's up with the Lions as August continues?
Penn State wrestling continues the offseason with roughly four months to go until its 2025-2026 opener. Here's the latest.
Penn State wrestling offseason roundup: What's up with the Lions as August continues?
- Thread starter GregPickel
- Start date
Has Nico been able to beat anyone in the room yet?
I did a bit more reading on this the other day. I never paid much attention to the Diego Pavia situation but it’s appears a precedent has been set in the courts that everyone has 4 years to compete at an ncaa university. 4 WVU football players have a hearing regarding their last year of eligibility and their lawyer referenced Pavia stating there is a precedent, these players have played juco before but like Pavia are entitled to their 4 years. Obviously made it sound like the hearing would be a formality and this year will be granted. I’d think psu could go this route if needed
I’m not familiar with the WVU case but I don’t think I agree overall as it pertains to this situation. The ruling related to Pavia is very much based on the JUCO part of things, which doesn’t apply to Ono. Could there be some direction for Penn State to go legally if needed, even if it failed? I’m sure. But I don’t think the JUCO ruling you reference would apply.
To your overall point, though, the NCAA has showed willing to bend more often than not on these things.
I believe regardless of eligibility being 1 or 2 years the best scenario for Ono would be if he could compete intially like a true freshman. See what weight works for him Let him get some folk tournament time. Hand pick some duals. See how the roster fills out. If NCAA/PSU allow the above it's what's best for Athlete and current roster.
Yes. I was at the NLWC practice yesterday as part of the golf outing. Thomas was there, and very friendly and engaging with the group.
I told him I’m glad he’s back. He said he is too
Penn State wrestling notes: Latest on PJ Duke's plan for year one; what's next for the Lions after U20s?
Penn State wrestling is amid a busy summer of competition ahead of the winter. Here's the latest on the Lions.
Thank you. I thought he was but wasn’t sure. I don’t think he is allowed to participate (i.e. coach/corner) in sanctioned events as part of his suspension.Yes. I was at the NLWC practice yesterday as part of the golf outing. Thomas was there, and very friendly and engaging with the group.
I told him I’m glad he’s back. He said he is too
There is no let down for the team and coaches. A grueling NCAA season of 6 months. Freestyle international comps April- October. Unbelievable the pace and the ever elevating performances. Amazing how the NM has not done a better job of reporting the wrestling phenomenon that has gripped America. More and more kids are wrestling! Girls and Boys and you don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s happening during the Cael era? I’m at a loss for words. This is how you build successful organizations let alone wrestling programs.
I’ll take a stab at it.
Kyle Dake was the happiest most engaging person in the room that day, even to the point of negotiating with Varner for two games of dodgeball. Kyle was rolling with Levi throughout the workout. No surprise, Dake’s positioning and body control are off the charts. On a side note…..Dake appears to be growing into 86kg very nicely.
Starocci and Snyder rolled. I really enjoyed Luke and Jordan Conaway play wrestling, had flashbacks to watching Nick Lee and RBY at a previous practice.
The room was more full than any of the other NLWC practices I was able to attend. Varner ran practice and it was more structured than other open practices but still very much left up to the athletes to drill/play wrestle on their own.
Bo was there working with Josh Barr. Barr quickly shot down any talk of 184, says he is walking around at 210. Bo is wrestling at the RAF event and says his next MMA fight is in November (pretty sure I heard him say NY).
Pretty sure I saw both of the Cunningham boys there, spoke briefly with Hayden about his experience in Greece this summer.
Nagao and Davis both in the house. I have no idea who is going where but to my eye Davis has put on some good weight and appears to be quite a bit larger than Nagao.
There were quite a few wrestlers in attendance and a lot to take in but for me these opportunities to attend practice are a highlight to the NLWC outing.
Incidentally, the outing was great. Having it at the blue and white courses enabled everyone to play and finish at the same time and have everyone together at the end for the meal. I actually think Toftrees has more character than the Penn State courses but for the overall experience I preferred this year to years past.
I hope you can find a tidbit or two in my ramblings that is interesting.
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I enjoy playing Toftrees alot, but being able to accommodate 200 golfers at the same time makes going back to Toftrees highly unlikely. Unless the PSU courses were to do the dumb thing and overpriced themselves. At the PSU courses you could double the revenue, 7AM shot gun followed by a 1PM shot gun.
Edit: I also copied my reply below to the Daily Collegian Article On Starocci Allegations thread since that thread is more specific to my comments.
Thanks for the inside scoop! I'm glad to hear Carter was there. Considering people were saying Carter was no longer with NLWC along with the severity of the accusations in the previous months I will take his presence as a good sign. I can't imagine Cael and the coaches, much less the PSU Administration, would have allowed Carter's presence unless they believe the most serious of the accusations have no merit and/or no victims have come forward formally. I also don't think it is a coincidence that Syd and Bo have remained quiet on social media the last six weeks or so regarding the allegations and no other news outlet(s) have addressed the situation.
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As always it is was one of the highlights of my wrestling fandom.
To begin, I parked in the Nittany parking deck on the 5th floor, and decided to take the elevator. When the door opened Aaron Brooks was my elevator mate. He was very friendly and invited me to walk over to Rec Hall with him when I told him I was going to the NLWC practice.
During our walk I asked him about his health and he said he was recovering from double pneumonia and that he had never been so sick, but was recovering well. I commented that he probably could relate to what Ben Askren was dealing with better than most. He said that he was on a call with FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and learned that Ben’s dad, who had been an atheist, became a believer through Ben’s ordeal.
Aaron truly lives his faith and my brief walk and talk with him was inspirational.
After Aaron took me to the gym via his “shortcut” he made sure I was situated and went to lift.
The dodgeball game was in full frenzy when I arrived. The energy, athleticism, chaos, and pure mayhem was unbelievable. Levi and Kyle Dake were animals on the prowl. I got tired just watching this spectacle.
Once practice started, on the mat directly in front of of me, there were 16 National titles represented in the following pairings: Kyle Dake and Levi (5 and counting). Carter and Kyle Snyder (8 titles). Yes, despite rumors to the contrary, it certainly appears that Carter is still part of the NLWC, and he is looking large and strong. Bo Nickal and Josh Barr (3 national titles). By the way Josh looks bigger and stronger than he did last year. He’s not going 84.
Lightning Luke was working out with Jordan Conaway on the adjacent MAT.
Towards the end of practice Kyle Dake stopped by and chatted. He said he was playing in the golf outing the next day with his brother who he said was the better athlete growing up.
At the golf outing on Friday I had a brief conversation with Cael. I told him He must be as good at recruiting golfers for his foursome as he is at recruiting wrestlers (he always has a stacked golf team). He said he was probably better at recruiting golfers.
I ended up playing in the foursome behind Kyle who also had Connor Pierce in his group (who is reportedly a good golfer). Connor had the best open tee shot of his group.
Les Sigman was in my foursome. He was the first resident athlete in the NLWC under Cael. Super nice guy.
Both of my other playing partners were great guys, and we had a lot of “fun” all day long.
The lunch afterwards was superb, the camaraderie of the attendees is terrific, and if you have an opportunity to participate in the future, I highly recommend it.
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Thanks guys! Appreciate the practice tidbits.
Your commentary about the golf outing makes me wish I could hit a ball straight!As always it is was one of the highlights of my wrestling fandom.
To begin, I parked in the Nittany parking deck on the 5th floor, and decided to take the elevator. When the door opened Aaron Brooks was my elevator mate. He was very friendly and invited me to walk over to Rec Hall with him when I told him I was going to the NLWC practice.
During our walk I asked him about his health and he said he was recovering from double pneumonia and that he had never been so sick, but was recovering well. I commented that he probably could relate to what Ben Askren was dealing with better than most. He said that he was on a call with FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and learned that Ben’s dad, who had been an atheist, became a believer through Ben’s ordeal.
Aaron truly lives his faith and my brief walk and talk with him was inspirational.
After Aaron took me to the gym via his “shortcut” he made sure I was situated and went to lift.
The dodgeball game was in full frenzy when I arrived. The energy, athleticism, chaos, and pure mayhem was unbelievable. Levi and Kyle Dake were animals on the prowl. I got tired just watching this spectacle.
Once practice started, on the mat directly in front of of me, there were 16 National titles represented in the following pairings: Kyle Dake and Levi (5 and counting). Carter and Kyle Snyder (8 titles). Yes, despite rumors to the contrary, it certainly appears that Carter is still part of the NLWC, and he is looking large and strong. Bo Nickal and Josh Barr (3 national titles). By the way Josh looks bigger and stronger than he did last year. He’s not going 84.
Lightning Luke was working out with Jordan Conway on the adjacent MAT.
Towards the end of practice Kyle Dake stopped by and chatted. He said he was playing in the golf outing the next day with his brother who he said was the better athlete growing up.
At the golf outing on Friday I had a brief conversation with Cael. I told him He must be as good at recruiting golfers for his foursome as he is at recruiting wrestlers (he always has a stacked golf team). He said he was probably better at recruiting golfers.
I ended up playing in the foursome behind Kyle who also had Connor Pierce in his group (who is reportedly a good golfer). Connor had the best open tee shot of his group.
Les Sigman was in my foursome. He was the first resident athlete in the NLWC under Cael. Super nice guy.
Both of my other playing partners were great guys, and we had a lot of “fun” all day long.
The lunch afterwards was superb, the camaraderie of the attendees is terrific, and if you have an opportunity to participate in the future, I highly recommend it.
It’s a scramble, so between 4 people that are mediocre you can usually get at least one good shot. Our group ended up at 4 under which was probably in the bottom 10%.
But, it was really enjoyable to go to practice and play golf with a great group of fellow wrestling fans. And it helps support the NLWC. I’ll definitely go every year I can.
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It is a fun 2 days. I had too much going on this year to get to practice, but in years past going to the practice and the night before social were always highlights. This year I got to enjoy a little banter with Cael, see some wrestling folks I enjoy conversing with, got to meet the daughter of a gentleman who was my uncle's best friend and enjoyed the day playing golf with 3 good friends.