Penn State wrestling notebook: Looking ahead to Iowa; latest rankings update

The college wrestling world will be focused on a major Penn State match for the second weekend in a row when No. 2 Iowa visits the No. 1 Nittany Lions at a sold-out Bruce Jordan Center.

A tight match is expected between the longtime Big Ten rivals. Head coach Cael Sanderson’s side has won three of the last five meetings, including a 19-13 triumph last season in Iowa City. The sides have been separated by a total of eight points in their last two matchups. Friday night’s 8:30 p.m. meeting on Big Ten Network figures to feature a small margin of victory, as well.

“I don’t know about extra adrenaline, but I would say excitement is the word I’d go with,” associate head coach Cody Sanderson told reporters Tuesday. “It’s a fun group to wrestle. Their history is undeniable, and they bring a lot of excitement.

“I think it’ll just be a great wrestling match, just like always. It will be fun. Our fans are looking forward to it.”

Head coach Tom Brands’ Hawkeyes will have the rankings edge at 125, 141, and 149 pounds. Penn State will have it in the other seven weight classes, though many are tight bouts from that perspective, and a few top-10 matchups are on deck.

“Being part of the Big Ten conference is pretty special,” Cody Sanderson said. “It supports wrestling. There’s a lot of great teams.

“We’re able to provide the training situation for our guys. The other teams are able to provide the train situation for their guys. And that leads to great competitions. We wrestle because we love to compete, and having great teams to compete with just makes it that much better.”

No word on the plan for Haines

Penn State freshman Levi Haines appears in the top 10 of InterMat’s rankings at 157 pounds. However, it’s still unclear if he will wrestle for the team moving forward. He is 5-0 and will burn a year of eligibility the next time he takes the mat. Cody Sanderson was not asked to address what the program will do specifically on Tuesday but did talk about the process of making that decision.

“There’s a lot of things you got to take,” he said. “First, you start with the athlete, and what’s best for them and their development. Is it initially going to be better for them? Long term, is it going to be better for them? Then you start talking about the other individuals on the team that are involved. If somebody who is redshirting is older, then you start looking at the team long-term. Maybe redshirt a guy so that you have him on the backside four years later. But, it’s really hard to know what the team situation is going to be like four or five years down the road. There’s lots of things, and when you have a tough decision to make here, we really talk through those.

“And, we try to think through all the scenarios. And we’re not afraid to talk to people around the program that they know a little bit about it to see kind of what their thoughts are and if they’re seeing something different than we are.”

Penn State in the rankings update

Here is where things stand for the week of Jan. 12 per InterMat (the number in parathesis is where the wrestler was ranked last week):

125 pounds: Gary Steen, Not ranked (Last week: Not ranked)

133 pounds: Roman Bravo-Young, No. 1 (1)

141 pounds: Beau Bartlett, No. 4 (4)

149 pounds: Shayne Van Ness, No. 13 (14)

157 pounds: Terrell Barraclough, Not ranked (NR); Levi Haines, No. 9 (17)

165 pounds: Alex Facundo, No. 5 (16)

174 pounds: Carter Starocci, No. 1 (1)

184 pounds: Aaron Brooks, No. 1 (1)

197 pounds: Max Dean, No. 4 (4)

285 pounds: Greg Kerkvliet, No. 2 (1)