Penn State wrestler announces transfer destination; Nick Lee named Lions' male athlete of the year: Notebook
Penn State wrestling is back in the news at a time of year when there usually is not much going on with head coach Cael Sanderson’s program. However, as June winds to a close, we have big news for Nick Lee plus news of a one-time Nittany Lion exiting the transfer portal by picking his new school.
We’ll cover all that and more in our latest wrestling notebook.
Lee named Lions male athlete of the year
Penn State has selected Nick Lee as its male athlete of the year.
A senior who is now out of eligibility, Lee became the first five-time All-American at Penn State when he won his second straight NCAA championship at 141 pounds. An Evansville, Ind., native, he was a Big Ten champ as a senior, as well, and a first-team All-American. Lee was also a finalist for the Hodge Trophy, which is college wrestling’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy. He finished the year 17-0, including a perfect 8-0 mark in duals.
Lee is joined in being honored by softball pitcher Bailey Parshall. She was picked as the Penn State female athlete of the year. Both Lions are now up for the Big Ten male and female athlete of the year awards.
Tony Negron is leaving Penn State and heading west
Penn State has lost another wrestler via the transfer portal.
Tony Negron is moving on to Arizona State, he wrote on Instagram Wednesday.
“I don’t know why god blesses me the way he does!” Negron wrote.
“Since a young boy I’ve been beyond grateful and well aware of the Love, advantages, resources and opportunities he has given me. I am super excited for this new chapter in life with the SunDevil fam!”
Negron had an opportunity to take the 157-pound job for Penn State last season. However, he could not secure it, and it ultimately went to returner Brady Berge during the second half of the dual meet season. Negron has one year of eligibility remaining to try and crack the starting lineup for the Sun Devils.
Besides Negron, Brandon Meredith has transferred to South Dakota State and Michael Beard to Lehigh since the season ended.
Odds and ends
–There is no word on when the Big Ten will release the 2022-2023 schedules. In 2018, they were released in May, and in 2019 and 2021, they came out in September. Our best guess is that the latter is the more likely of the two this time around. But, the conference has released opponents for men’s and women’s basketball, so we’ll see.
–As new athletic director Patrick Kraft readies to take over for Sandy Barbour on July 1, there has been no word on the status of a contract extension for Cael Sanderson. But, expect that to be wrapped up sooner rather than later.
