Please explain your PSU fandom

[mvattivo]

I'm generally curious.

Be honest.

So, I was born in 1974, graduated high school in 1993 and college in 1997. I was always a PSU fan. I started wrestling when I was 6, and my dad started taking me to Rec Hall about the same time. I have a cool story that I'll save for later about him taking me to Coach Fritz' office when I was like 11 or 12. I was always a PSU wrestling fan, but, I'd be lying if I said it hasn't been more fun and I haven't gotten more "die hard" after the Cael hiring. To be fair, when I went to college to play football, I kind of stepped away from the sport for a brief period of time. I grew up in Mifflin County, so, I followed Troy Sunderland's career closely and always rooted for him. I've met him several times, and you won't find a nicer guy.

Anyway, answer and provide details, or don't.

 

[JoeBagobagels]

I'm generally curious.

Be honest.

So, I was born in 1974, graduated high school in 1993 and college in 1997. I was always a PSU fan. I started wrestling when I was 6, and my dad started taking me to Rec Hall about the same time. I have a cool story that I'll save for later about him taking me to Coach Fritz' office when I was like 11 or 12. I was always a PSU wrestling fan, but, I'd be lying if I said it hasn't been more fun and I haven't gotten more "die hard" after the Cael hiring. To be fair, when I went to college to play football, I kind of stepped away from the sport for a brief period of time. I grew up in Mifflin County, so, I followed Troy Sunderland's career closely and always rooted for him. I've met him several times, and you won't find a nicer guy.

Anyway, answer and provide details, or don't.

I was the guy who would check on the results from time to time. But when my son wrestled he really got me into it. That was right after Cael started coaching.

 

[86PSUPaul]

Always PSU fan, but mostly in football. Went to PSU, was there for the 82 Football NC and a new Alum for 86.

Once my kids got into wrestling, I branched out to PSU wrestling and became even more diehard once Cael was hired.

 

[EDDIEJMOEDEE1]

I was on rivals looking at Penn State football and it was major news the Alton’s were going to Penn state. I started realizing there were wrestling boards. I remember Roar lions was my favorite poster always doing big evaluations breaking down the wrestlers. Now there are so many good posters that are so knowledgeable.

 

[Wrestleknownothing]

If you can keep this under your hat I will share my secret. I am Cael Sanderson. Do not tell the others.

 

[Anon231980]

I was on rivals looking at Penn State football and it was major news the Alton’s were going to Penn state. I started realizing there were wrestling boards. I remember Roar lions was my favorite poster always doing big evaluations breaking down the wrestlers. Now there are so many good posters that are so knowledgeable.

What ever happened to Roar Lions?

 

[tullfan68]

at the age of 10 became huge PSU and REDS fan Pete was the man!

 

[EDDIEJMOEDEE1]

What ever happened to Roar Lions?

I don’t no only see him post before big tens and ncaas now. My favorite poster now is El Jefe. I love when someone says something dumb and he puts them in their place lol.

 

[HwtsRgr8]

Saw my first matches in 82 or so. Used to sneak into the wrestling room by credit carding the door on the Atherton side of the room. Lorenzo kicked me and my buddies out a few times. Ran tables at tournaments held in Rec Hall. Could tell the guy at the doors of Rec Hall that we wrestled locally and we got in for free! Great time to be a high school kid! Loved those teams back then. Sefter, Harr, Brugal, Mayo, Kashack, Place, Carl, Scott, Greg, Andy, Sean, Childs, Webster and many more!

 

[HOA242n!]

I've stepped foot in the state of Pennsylvania twice, Philadelphia for work on two separate occasions. From what I know, my birth father was a wrestler (multiple time state placer in California) and I seem to have inherited the interest in grappling. Was undefeated (9-0) district champ in 7th and 8th grade , but focused on football and baseball in high school. Went on to play football in college. Moved to Utah for work in '04 (same areas as Cael grew up). My kids wrestled a bit when they were really young and the coach of their youth program was a cousin of Cael's. Nobody still wrestles, we all do BJJ and some MMA, but I've become a bigger fan of wrestling the past decade. I follow the local team (UVU) and PSU because of my Cael fandom.

 

[mcpat]

Recommend permanent ban for whomever voted “polls are stupid.”

 

[Tryingtodoitright]

Shared parts of this before but oldest brother wrestled on same HS team as Bill Reinbolt, tOSU. He went on to wrestle at CC level; he’s a bigger fan than I am, we talk about once a week in-season.
I was 5’ nuthin’ a 100 and nuthin’, but loved to compete; all heart, little skills, no fear. After HS was offered very modest money to D3 York College but I was no student.
Grew up, met a girl, took her to the 1982 Wilkes Open on official First date. Now married, will be 45 years this summer. I'll tell her lots of stuff she probably doesn’t really care about, but she knows who Tan Tom is, the Twins - including whatever their latest gaffe is, broken glasses, Whiner Manning, etc. Folkstyle vs Freestyle, When Two turned into Three, etc.
Been to Big 10’s numerous years since 1994 (went with groups as small as two and as many as 14 one year at PSU); first favorite PSU wrestler was Sanshiro Abe. I am not so sure I like 'growing the sport', there were years at Big 10’s that our group could sit anywhere we wanted without interference, not so today.
Been to NCAA’s a few times (other brother has an in with a NCAA employee and we’ve gotten SICK tickets when we go). Introduced myself to David Taylor’s dad, thanked him for sending DT here; nice visit with Frank (my avatar, pic taken by a walk-on from Purdue; wrestled 126 now, must got 190+), introduced myself to Mike Evans’ mom, she was a nice lady, and also to Mike Kemmerer when he was at 157. As a PSU fan, we are really. in the golden age here guys. This is fun!
I Love wrestling. The oldest sport, The Greatest sport.

 

[98lberEating2Lunches]

I would say PSU since 9th grade when an older brother first attended the main campus, circa 1978. Those were the Chuck Fusina, Matt Millen, Bruce Clark football days.

Two older brothers are alums. I am an alumi.

Wrestled in 10th grade. Attended wrestling as a student from 1981 to 1985.

 

[Waxman]

I'm generally curious.

Be honest.

So, I was born in 1974, graduated high school in 1993 and college in 1997. I was always a PSU fan. I started wrestling when I was 6, and my dad started taking me to Rec Hall about the same time. I have a cool story that I'll save for later about him taking me to Coach Fritz' office when I was like 11 or 12. I was always a PSU wrestling fan, but, I'd be lying if I said it hasn't been more fun and I haven't gotten more "die hard" after the Cael hiring. To be fair, when I went to college to play football, I kind of stepped away from the sport for a brief period of time. I grew up in Mifflin County, so, I followed Troy Sunderland's career closely and always rooted for him. I've met him several times, and you won't find a nicer guy.

Anyway, answer and provide details, or don't.

Troy is my 2nd cousin. I graduated in 91 from Lewistown. I went to every mount union match I could. He was so much fun to watch. takem down letem up..lol

 

[Misalorales]

I played basketball my whole life until my senior year when I had enough of being the only moderately good player on an atrocious A farm schools team. I wrestled as a senior to help get in shape for basic training and hang with some friends and ended up loving it. Fast forward a year, 2011/2012, and I'm stationed in Nebraska at Offutt AFB and some locals are yapping about Nebraska being THE WRESTLING state because of Burroughs. So I talked some **** back about PA highschool wrestling and as a Penn State everything fan I decided I would start watching or following college wrestling so I could talk **** to my new friends...Lucky for me, I sorta started somewhere between 3rd base and home plate. Couldn't have picked a better time to start watching PSU wrestling .
A little addition, a kid I was friends with in highschool who was very good for my home area,Cody Copeland from Greenville pa ( well conneaut lake area but Greenville got him), wrestled one of the Alton twins at the Jersey shore duals. He got a take down to start it and all of us were like holy ****, maybe he can hang! Then he got demolished and I saw the levels to wrestling talent. So when I started watching PSU the Alton's not demolishing everyone opened my eyes to even more levels to this.

 

[clucas11]

I'm generally curious.

Be honest.

So, I was born in 1974, graduated high school in 1993 and college in 1997. I was always a PSU fan. I started wrestling when I was 6, and my dad started taking me to Rec Hall about the same time. I have a cool story that I'll save for later about him taking me to Coach Fritz' office when I was like 11 or 12. I was always a PSU wrestling fan, but, I'd be lying if I said it hasn't been more fun and I haven't gotten more "die hard" after the Cael hiring. To be fair, when I went to college to play football, I kind of stepped away from the sport for a brief period of time. I grew up in Mifflin County, so, I followed Troy Sunderland's career closely and always rooted for him. I've met him several times, and you won't find a nicer guy.

Anyway, answer and provide details, or don't.

Same, born in 74, graduated in 93 from high school and 97 from college. Born and raised 15 min from Penn State in Centre County. Was raised on Penn State Wrestling from the days of Rich Lorenzo and John Fritz.

 

[psujeepman1]

Attended a match here or there in middle school and high school. Friend was recruited to the team, so went to a fair amount of matches in college (2003-2008). Promptly bought season tickets when Cael was announced; smartest decision I ever made.

 

[Aardvark86]

I’m from pa so it’s genetic. That said, used watch matches on pbs as a kid on occasion.

I like watching excellence. David v Goliath was an upset. Goliath tends to be a bigger draw.

 

[jack66]

My roommate wrestled for Doc Speidel, and I've been a fan ever since.

I admit, though, I have a renewed interest since 2010. Social media, the BTN, and ESPN have made it easier to follow the team from afar. For 3 decades before that, all my wrestling info came from CLF.

Of course, Cael came along at about the same time; he's mostly to blame for this fan becoming a fanatic.

 

[Reslo1]

I probably mentioned this on the old board, but my high school team used to practice in the room with PSU on Sundays. This was 1992-1995. Coach Sunderland didn’t have to open up his room to us but he did, which tells you all you need to know about the man’s character.

I spent many hours learning technique from Cary Kolat and Sonny Abe, but very little of it actually translated to anything resembling a successful wrestling career for me.

Nonetheless, I admired how welcoming most of the wrestlers were, and how generous they were with their time. Many of them stuck around after practice to play ‘horse’ with us on the basketball court.

It was a great experience and I’m grateful I got to learn from some national champs, so that’s why I’m a PSU wrestling fan.

 

[Dogwelder]

If you can keep this under your hat I will share my secret. I am Cael Sanderson. Do not tell the others.

 

[Matter7172]

I’m from pa so it’s genetic. That said, used watch matches on pbs as a kid on occasion.

I started wrestling in high school in 1970 but didn't know much about wrestling. It wasn't much of a thing in Lebanon County then - basketball got all the interest for winter sports. Aaron Seidel was the first multi-time champ from the county (and only the second champ ever) and two of my former teammates became the first to place at PIAAs from the county in 1974. Stumbled across Penn State v. Lehigh on channel 39 sometime after I started wrestling and found Andy Matter to be wrestling at the same weight class as me. He quickly became my first wrestling idol. Started as a season ticketholder after PSU joined the B1G. But when the Cael coaching announcement hit the internet, I started jumping around our kitchen like a little kid. I told our kids "Penn State is going to start winning NCAA championships really soon - and a lot of them!" It's worked out pretty well so far.

 

[Aardvark86]

I started wrestling in high school in 1970 but didn't know much about wrestling. It wasn't much of a thing in Lebanon County then - basketball got all the interest for winter sports. Aaron Seidel was the first multi-time champ from the county (and only the second champ ever) and two of my former teammates became the first to place at PIAAs from the county in 1974. Stumbled across Penn State v. Lehigh on channel 39 sometime after I started wrestling and found Andy Matter to be wrestling at the same weight class as me. He quickly became my first wrestling idol. Started as a season ticketholder after PSU joined the B1G. But when the Cael coaching announcement hit the internet, I started jumping around our kitchen like a little kid. I told our kids "Penn State is going to start winning NCAA championships really soon - and a lot of them!" It's worked out pretty well so far.

The rise of Sam Bowie.

 

[funkisfun10]

My high school coach, and still a guy i consider a friend wrestled for psu, so always rooted for them. I'll be honest, when Cael took the reins...went to a whole 'nother level.lol

 

[Matter7172]

The rise of Sam Bowie.

I knew Sam and played against him on our town's playground with the best night basketball games in the summer after my senior year of college and his junior year of high school. It was something to drive to the basket and have him of front of me on defense. Great guy. If he had more sturdy leg bones (or if Kentucky didn't insist on putting more weight on him), he might have been a better NBA draft pick than Michael Jordan

 

[mh-larch]

A PSU fan starting about the time I was wrestling in HS in the late 70's. Then as a student at UP 1982-1986 I really followed the team and enjoyed the EWL matches, with a few national caliber teams sprinkled in there. I really liked those teams, Martin, Chertow, Bevilacqua, Mayo, Elinsky, DeStafanis, Brugel, Lynch, etc.. Jim Martin and Andy Voit were roommates across the hall from me Soph year in Hamilton Hall/West Halls. Never realized how great Martin would become. Super nice, quiet, studious, kid.

After graduation I lived in places across the US where it was difficult to follow wrestling (pre-internet days). My return to PA coincided with Cael's arrival....talk about great timing! The rest is history!

When I was in middle school and HS the only wrestling on TV was Sunday afternoon Lehigh matches on PBS. The only true source for wrestling news then was the Amateur Wrestling News (AWN). But they arrived so long after the matches were wrestled. I still devoured them. Attended the 28 day Iowa intensive camp at Iowa City (and the 14 day Iowa intensive camp the following year at Lock Haven) and was exposed to the Iowa greats...a real thrill! But not enough to swing me over to the dark side

 

[PUR158]

Purdue alum here. Unfortunately my school has never invested in wrestling, so I decided to support PSU instead.

 

[1995PSUGrad]

I grew up in upstate NY. I went to high school that didn't even have a wrestling team. My junior year I moved to Nazareth, PA, and they had a great wrestling team; one of the best in the country at that time. I became friends with a number of guys on the wrestling team. When I went to Penn State I would go to a lot of the matches because I often had a friend on the other team who was wrestling. That was the early 90's, so I was a fan before Cael got here. It just got a lot more fun being a fan once he arrived!

 

[o_Grass]

Been a fan since the days of Jeff Prescott.

 

[CTStall]

In the 1970s before the Internet and Web wrestling options (FLO) I was a Lehigh fan. The Allentown Morning Call covered them extensively along with PBS Channel 39 televised home matches . I would go to Grace or Stabler a couple times a year.
I would try to follow Penn State a little but it was difficult. I went to Nationals at the Meadowlands 1984 and cheered for the 2 Penn State winners (Destafinis and Lynch). I would always try to follow PSU when a PA stud (Ex. Kolat) or a District 11(Ex. Billman) would commit.
Once the Internet and cable made it easier to follow I transitioned to PSU. Cael and company made it easier because of the national coverage they get

 

[District 4]

I was always a fan but didnt follow that closely until Sunderland era and especially after Cael became coach. My first rec hall experience was kolats first college match where he pinned the iowa kid that was a roar i will never forget

 

[pawrstlersinpa]

Grew up in PA, then lived in Memphis from 2001-2014, where two of my boys started wrestling. Another of the wrestling Dad's was a Maryland alum. He saw our PSU gear and said, "Do you follow Penn State Wrestling?" (I didn't.) "You should. They have something special going on." So, I started.

The next year, I went to the Southern Scuffle for my first Penn State event. There, I met @NoVaLion for the first time, who introduced me to @RoarLions1, and some of my other "make believe" friends from the board, as MrsPA calls all you guys.

 

[PSUNAV]

I was a health and PE major at PSU and had Koll and Lorenzo as my wrestling course instructors. We started each day with dodge ball - no joking! Coach Lorenzo showed us a great trick with a dollar bill that is a vivid illustration of how once your muscles tense they must relax before you can fire them again. (Reaction time)

Moved out of state for good in 1978 so only followed our wrestling team from a distance. Carl’s second year PSU wrestled in the VA Duals. Taylor, Ruth, Alton twins, Frank, Quentin and the rest of the gang wrestled 2 duals the first day so I drove down from Richmond.

Loved the attack, get bonus points style/mentality and I was hooked! Probably sat and listened to several of you as you talked about Cael and the team that day. I went to the 2014, 2018, 2019 and last year’s NCAA’s.

 

[nerfstate]

Feeling Lazy so I’ll copy and paste from our Writer’s Wroundup over at Black Shoe Diaries

Some wrestling fans will say your opinions on the sport don’t matter if you aren’t a member of the on-mat brotherhood (and increasingly, sisterhood). I suppose I’m a living contradiction to that line of thinking: my love of the sport was incubated by going to duals with my dad at Rec Hall in the late-80s to mid-90s, watching guys like Jeff Prescott, Jimmy Martin, Ken Chertow, and Greg Elinski tussle with those crazy twins Gable had, Kurt Angle, etc. A favorite memory a bit later was Cary Kolat’s Rec Hall debut pinning now Team USA Head Coach Bill Zaddick with a very painful looking throw, and the subsequent roof-raising roar that only a Friday night capacity Rec Hall crowd can deliver. That same night, I proudly remember announcing to my dad that true freshman Kerry McCoy was also going to be a really good wrestler—crystal ball indeed.
I drifted away from the sport in the Sunderland years, when my own collegiate pursuits grabbed my attention—but of course, the arrival of Cael Sanderson brought me back in a big way.

 

[pawrstlersinpa]

What ever happened to Roar Lions?

He's around. Still plays KYPSW, and comments from time to time. I suspect you'll still see his Big Ten seed predictions.

 

[WexfordWarrior]

I'm generally curious.

Be honest.

So, I was born in 1974, graduated high school in 1993 and college in 1997. I was always a PSU fan. I started wrestling when I was 6, and my dad started taking me to Rec Hall about the same time. I have a cool story that I'll save for later about him taking me to Coach Fritz' office when I was like 11 or 12. I was always a PSU wrestling fan, but, I'd be lying if I said it hasn't been more fun and I haven't gotten more "die hard" after the Cael hiring. To be fair, when I went to college to play football, I kind of stepped away from the sport for a brief period of time. I grew up in Mifflin County, so, I followed Troy Sunderland's career closely and always rooted for him. I've met him several times, and you won't find a nicer guy.

Anyway, answer and provide details, or don't.

 

[PSUAllTheWay]

Grew up, met a girl, took her to the 1982 Wilkes Open on official First date. Now married, will be 45 years this summer. I'll tell her lots of stuff she probably doesn’t really care about, but she knows who Tan Tom is, the Twins - including whatever their latest gaffe is, broken glasses, Whiner Manning, etc. Folkstyle vs Freestyle, When Two turned into Three, etc.

It's a crazy small world. I wrestled in the 1982 Wilkes Open. Took 3rd or 4th or something like that that year. I probably walked right past you!

 

[SlipperyPete]

I grew up in the Minneapolis suburbs. I wrestled in high school & went to JRob's intensive camp. That was awesome & taught me a fantastic work ethic! I really liked JRob. I was still living in the area during Mark Hall's high school career. He was the talk of the town. Everyone who was into wrestling knew about Mark Hall.

I watched the Gophers for a couple years, but when the U of M did JRob dirty their program fell apart. I followed Mark Hall to PSU & fell in love with everything Cael & company brought to the program. It was so fun to watch & unlike anything I'd seen before. My first season watching, PSU had 5 champs. I've been hooked ever since & am still having fun!

 

[Ruby Tues]

I wrestled in the California Bay Area in the late 80’s, I was mediocre at best, but absolutely loved the sport and everything it offered. During that time Kolat was the big name in the wrestling world. I heard he went to Penn State and loosely followed him and the team. Big follower now!

Also was a big JoePa fan. No nonsense hard nosed football, with the best football uniform scheme ever!

 

[El_Jefe]

We faced Iowa at Rec Hall in the first match of my freshman year. Attendance was approx 3x the fire code capacity. Every time you thought the gym couldn't get more packed, another 2 buses of HS wrestlers pulled up.

Jim Martin made his opponent quit. The roof blew off the bldg. We won, they lost.