Penn State wrestling show: U20 Worlds recap, U.S. Senior World team trials preview, and more
The Penn State wrestling offseason is not over yet. But, it will be before we know it. The two month countdown is on until the team will, at the very least, be ready to hold its annual local media day, if it hasn’t already, ahead of its first match. Head coach Cael Sanderson’s team has plenty of decisions to make regarding its lineup. We’ll discuss those in future episodes. In this week’s show, we discuss the latest from the freestyle scene and also Carter Starocci.
Host Thomas Frank Carr and reporter Greg Pickel kick off the show with a look back at U20 Worlds. Incoming Penn State freshman Luke Lilladahl won the 57-kilogram division. His classmate, Zack Ryder, won silver at 79 kilograms, as did redshirt freshman Joshua Barr at 86 kilograms. Class of 2025 Nittany Lions verbal commitent PJ Duke (more on him in a minute) was third at 70 kilograms. Then, at 92 kilograms, incoming freshman Connor Mirasola finished fourth. What did we learn from the group’s effort in Spain? Pickel provides the latest insight and opinion on that.
You can watch this week’s Penn State wrestling show in the video player above and also on YouTube. Or, you can listen at your favorite destinations for audio like SPOTIFY and APPLE.
From there, the duo moves on to this weekend’s U.S. Senior Team Trials. Winners of it will compete at the non-Olympic weights World Championships in Tirana, Albania October 28-31. As of the time of this episode’s taping, Duke was the only Penn State connection at the event. However, Lions junior Levi Haines is now in at 79 kilograms (174 pounds), and incoming freshman and twins Connor Mirasola is in at 92 kilograms (202 pounds).
As for Duke, he is the No. 4 pre-seed at 70 kilograms, behind top seed Alec Pantaleo, who competed at Michigan, former Nebraska wrestler and four-time All-American James Green, who is the two seed, and third-seeded Jordan Oliver, who was a two-time national champ at Oklahoma State.
From there, the show closes with the latest on the ongoing social media beef between Penn State four-time NCAA champ Carter Starocci and Cal State Bakersfield 197-pounder and former national champ AJ Ferrari.
A note on one topic this week’s show did not cover
This episode was recorded before the latest Penn State scheduling news broke. The Nittany Lions will host Big 12 foe Wyoming in State College. The match is set for Sun., Dec 15. Time and television details are not yet out. It is believed to be the first dual meet meeting between the two schools. The Cowboys return 125-pound All-American Jore Volk, among other NCAA qualifiers.
“When the opportunity to dual against Penn State came up, we jumped on it,” Wyoming head coach Mark Branch told the school’s official website. “Those are the kind of opportunities we want for this team. We have several guys who can be All-Americans, so you want to wrestle the best, and Penn State has proven who they are for the last decade.”
