Penn State Saturday six-pack: A new commit, Lions wrestling tops Iowa, Junior Day, and more

Penn State football is set for its final busy Saturday of January.

A February dead period will soon be here. Of course, the Lions will need to navigate the traditional signing day (more on that below). But, otherwise, the second month of 2022 will usher in some much-needed downtime for head coach James Franklin’s program.

In this week’s Saturday six pack, we cover a new Penn State commitment, the Junior Day that’s on deck, this weekend’s official visitor, reaction to the Lions-Iowa wrestling match, and more.

Let’s get to it.

1. Donkoh bucks Penn State January trend

We wrote at the start of the January contact period about how the first month of any particular year has not been necessarily kind to Penn State on the commitment front.

Anthony Donkoh has changed that this time around, however.

The Aidie, Va., Class of 2023 offensive lineman picked the Lions on Friday. He did so over offers from Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Duke, among others.

At 6-foot-4, 310 pounds, Donkoh could be a guard or tackle at the college level depending on how he fills out. We’d go with the latter if forced to pick today.

Penn State now has three junior offensive linemen committed to its Class of 2023. Donkoh is joined by Virginia three-star Joshua Miller and Virginia four-star Alex Birchmeier.

2. Will the Lions land their only official visitor of the weekend?

Penn State has not always hosted an official visitor this late in a recruiting cycle. It is doing so this year, however.

Graham, Wash., Graham-Kapowsin High On3 Consensus three-star offensive lineman Vega Ioane is on an all-expenses-paid trip to see the Lions. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound prospect is rated as a four-star interior lineman by On3. Penn State and Washington appear to be his finalist ahead of the traditional signing day next Wednesday.

Offensive line coach Phil Trautwein picked up a nice victory when Donkoh committed. Landing Ioane would be an even bigger one, however, since he would be on campus sooner. We’ll see over the next handful of days whether or not the Lions can do enough to make their late push worth the effort.

3. Getting ready for another Penn State Junior Day

As Ryan Snyder and I discussed on this week’s BWI Penn State recruiting podcast, a star-studded group of underclassmen is set to be in town this weekend.

You can see the full list of confirmed visitors inside The Lions Den forum. Some of the names to know, however, include:

• Virginia four-star linebacker Tony Rojas
• Alabama three-star safety TJ Metcalf
• Washington, D.C., five-star athlete Nyckoles Harbor (expected)
• Commits Alex Birchmeier (four-star, lineman), Joshua Miller (three-star, lineman), and Lamont Payne (four-star corner)

Sign up for Blue-White Illustrated and On3 for just $1 for one year of access to insider news, notes, and analysis about Penn State Athletics! Click here to learn more.

4. PSU-Iowa wrestling reaction

Penn State-Iowa lived up to its top-shelf billing.

The No. 1 Lions went to the No. 2 Hawkeyes and won, 19-13, in front of a raucous Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd.

Max Dean sealed the dual meet with a third period flurry to win at 197 pounds, but this was a top-to-bottom effort from Cael Sanderson’s team.

Do questions remain at the middle weights? Certainly, after Beau Bartlett, Terrell Barraclough, and Brady Berge all suffered setbacks.

But, yet again, head coach Cael Sanderson and his staff put Penn State in position to prevail again, and their wrestlers did just that.

Read our match recap here.

5. Which former Lions will play in the Super Bowl?

Penn State is guaranteed to have a representative in this year’s Super Bowl.

A former Lions player has suited up in 50 of the 55 Super Bowls to date. That number will rise to 51 this year, as both teams in the NFC Championship game have PSU alumni.

Defensive lineman Kevin Givens and specialist Robbie Gould play for the San Francisco 49ers, while safety Nick Scott and corner Grant Haley suit up for the Los Angeles Rams.

Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

6. Final word

Enjoy the NFL football today, everyone. It’s hard to believe Super Bowl Sunday is nearly upon us, but first we get to enjoy conference championship weekend.

Beyond that, stay tuned to Blue-White Illustrated for the latest news, notes, and quotes coming out of the final Junior Day of January.