Penn State wrestling notebook: Could a familiar face return at 157? Looking ahead to the BJC match, Lions-Iowa sets TV record, and more

Penn State wrestling enters February with a perfect dual meet record.

The Nittany Lions are not exactly where they want to be across the board, however, with just three regular season bouts to go.

Fine-tuning will be the name of the game, then, for head coach Cael Sanderson’s team this month. It hosts Ohio State at the Bryce Jordan Center Friday before welcoming Nebraska back to town over at Rec Hall on Sunday.

“Yeah, I think these weeks are tricky,” Sanderson told reporters on Monday.

“The important thing is just being excited about the opportunity to have big matches like this. But that’s just part of the process. It’s the same every year and it’s just making sure we’re excited to compete.”

Here are the biggest takeaways from Monday’s news conference.

Penn State ready to pack the BJC

We’ll take a closer look at both the Buckeyes and Cornhuskers later in the week. For now, however, we’ll just highlight the fact that more Bryce Jordan Center matches could be coming in the future for Penn State. At least, that’s what Sanderson suggested would help grow the team’s already sizable fan base.

“Each year it feels more like a home environment,” Sanderson said. “Something we should think about as a program is having more matches over there because it gives more fans opportunities to see the team.

“We look at it as making sure we have a big match over there, and hopefully you can hook ’em and make them wrestling fans.”

The Lions-Buckeyes bout is set for 7 p.m. Friday. It will also be televised by Big Ten Network. Tickets remain available as of Tuesday morning.

Questions remain at 157

If you thought Terrell Barraclough returning to the starting spot at 157 recently meant that he was locked into the job, think again.

Barraclough and Tony Negron continue to try and win the job outright. Joe Lee, on the other hand, is not in the mix, Sanderson said, adding that “at this time, it’s just not there.”

That leaves two men for one starting spot as tournament time creeps closer. Penn State is waiting for one of them to literally wrestle the job away from the other on the mat.

“Terrell is close, and we’ve seen with Tony that he’s also close,” Sanderson said. “Terrell did a nice job against a tough kid, Tony’s done a nice job against some tough kids, but we think they’re both capable of winning at the highest level.

“It’s just a matter of doing it at this point.”

Rumors continue to circulate that former 157-pound wrestler Luke Gardner could return to the team. There’s not much more to it at this point, however.

“He’s playing with that idea,” Sanderson said.

“It’s not really something I can give a concrete answer on what he’s thinking or what that looks like, but that’s something that’s definitely a possibility.”

Odds and ends

–Alex Facundo and Lucas Cochran won individual titles at Lock Haven’s Mat-Town Open II over the weekend. Both Penn State wrestlers were perfect at 165 and 184 pounds, respectively, en route to a title.

–Penn State’s match with Nebraska is set for Noon on Sunday. It, too, will be televised on BTN.

–Drew Hildebrandt moved up to No. 6 in the latest InterMat rankings at 125 pounds. Penn State, of course, continues to be the nation’s top-ranked team. This weekend’s opponents check in at No. 8 (Ohio State) and No. 12 (Nebraska).

–Penn State’s match at Iowa set a television record. Per a BTN release: the bout “averaged 363,000 viewers, making it the most-watched wrestling broadcast in Big Ten Network history. The previous record was 343,000 viewers, also set by Penn State vs. Iowa in January of 2020.”