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Five players T-Frank is watching at Penn State's Lift for Life

Headshot 5x7 reduced qualityby:Thomas Frank Carr•06/22/23•

ThomasFrankCarr

Vega Ioane Penn State Football On3
A year ago, Penn State guard Vega Ioane landed on the Penn State roster. At last update, he was over 350 pounds, according to Penn State's official website. (Photo: Thomas Frank Carr/BWI)

Penn State football hosts Lift for Life this afternoon in the confines of Holuba Hall. It’s the first time we’ll get a chance to see some players up close and personal for the first time since they enrolled at Penn State in late May and June.

Here are five players we’re looking forward to getting our eyes on.

Of course the point of Lift for Life is to raise money for rare disease research as a part of the Uplifting Athletes Foundation. If you want to get involved, check out their website here.

Dante Cephas

It’s not that anyone should expect something dramatic from Dante Cephas. The 6-0 180-pound wide-out enrolled at Penn State earlier this summer and hasn’t had much time in the weight room to change much. However, he’s had contact with the Penn State strength staff during his time in the transfer portal, and it’ll be interesting to get a baseline understanding of what work he’s put in this offseason.

Vega Ioane

Every time you see Vega Ionae, he seems to get bigger. Penn State has the redshirt freshman listed at 352 pounds, so getting bigger seems ridiculous. But it was only a year ago the then-330-pound Ioane was casting shadows over fellow freshmen during Lift for Life. It’ll be interesting to compare snaps shots from 365 days ago.

Jordan van den Berg

Penn State strength coach Chuck Losey set off alarms (good ones) earlier this month when he mentioned that Jordan van den Berg was over 300 pounds. He’s been setting impressive weightlifting metrics over the winter and summer for the Nittany Lions, and apparently, his body has responded. Seeing him up close and personal will be half of the fun. The other half will be watching him lift a ridiculous amount of weight.

Hakeem Beamon

The size hype train for Penn State defensive tackles continues with the enigmatic Hakeem Bemon. He’s currently listed at 256 on the Penn State website, but head coach James Franklin praised Beamon earlier this month. Franklin predicted a strong season for the redshirt senior, who he said is at his biggest and strongest in quite some time. With Beamon, seeing is believing because he’s added and lost weight rapidly over the years.

Landon Tengwall

After a frustrating 2022 season, checking in on Landon Tengwall before fall camp starts will be good. Thanks to his time, work in the weight room, and recruiting pedigree, Tengwall was an easy choice for a breakout candidate last season. But Tengwall has faded into the background after injuries forced him to miss the year’s second half. But the redshirt sophomore is still talented and expected to start at left guard. Gauging what he’s been able to do this offseason and getting a sense of how he looks right now can help ballpark expectations.

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