Current, former Penn State wrestlers set for Craig Jones Invitational: Newsstand
Penn State news, notes, and updates for Aug. 16 include a preview of the Craig Jones Invitational, headlines of the day, and more. It’s time to dive into Friday’s top tweets and stories about the Nittany Lions and college athletics.
Penn State tweets of the day
A current and former Penn State wrestler will compete in a major submission grappling tournament. Reigning 285-pound NCAA champ Greg Kerkvliet will compete in the over 80 kilograms (176.3 pounds) division at the Craig Jones Invitational, while one-time Nittany Lion and NCAA champ Jason Nolf will compete in the under 80-kilogram division. The winner of each weight class receives $1 million. Four bout wins are needed to take the title.
This event will be judged like MMA and boxing on a 10-point system. Each match will consist of three five-minute rounds until the finals, which will be five five-minute rounds. Scoring criteria include “initiating action, close submissions, dynamic action, and positional control/dominant control,” per InterMat. Kerkvliet and Nolf are both underdogs in their opening-round matchups. According to InterMat’s Richard Mann, Nolf wrestles the likely winner of the under 80-kilogram division: Tye Ryotolo. Kerkvliet faces a similarly difficult opening opponent.
“In his grappling debut, Kerkvliet will face off against the 2023 IBJJF world champion Fellipe Andrew,” Mann writes. “The IBJJF, which stands for International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, world event is considered the pinnacle of GI grappling.
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“Andrew won the tournament in the under 94 kg division and followed that up with another victory at the 2024 Pan American Championships. Since losing to Rayron Gracie earlier this year, Andrew has gone on a 12-match winning streak that includes a submission victory over Anderson Munis less than 20 days ago.”
The action starts at 6 p.m. ET on Friday. You can watch it for free on YouTube.
Headlines of the day
Key high school games throughout the region that Penn State fans will want to see during the first month of the season: Snyder, BWI
Remember Penn State DT Zane Durant’s big hit vs. Northwestern? There’s more to come in 2024: Flounders, PennLive
Penn State’s Physicality Setting ‘the Tone’ in Preseason Camp: Engle, Statecollege.com
Trimmings: A closer look at Penn State’s position battles in camp on defense: Fitz, BWI
How does Penn State finally beat Ohio State and Michigan? By taking way more risks: Hale, ESPN
Quote of the day
“He’s going to be a really good palyer here. He’s very similar to Tyler Warren. They both played high school quarterback and transitioned to the position. He has gotten bigger. He put on a good amount of weight early on, and then he’s kind of plateaued off a little bit. We got to continue to chip away at that. But he doesn’t mind sticking his nose in there, makes a ton of plays in the passing game. He’s gonna be a really good player. We got great competition at the tight end position, so he’s gonna be a guy that’s gonna play this year. Whether it is four games plus postseason or whether it’s just an all-out play is still to be determined.”
–PSU head coach James Franklin on freshman tight end Luke Reynolds.
