Where are Penn State wrestlers in the new rankings ahead of Ohio State?: Newsstand
Penn State news, notes, and updates for Feb. 2 include new wrestling rankings, an interesting NIL initiative for the Lions, and more.
It’s time to dive into Friday’s top tweets and headlines about the Nittany Lions and college athletics.
Penn State tweets of the day
We start with wrestling. The No. 1 Nittany Lions host No. 7 Ohio State tonight at Rec Hall. It starts at 6:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network. There was not much movement in the latest InterMat individual rankings as January ended and February began. But, there was one notable change related to Penn State, which we detail below.
“We prepare the same for every match,” head coach Cael Sanderson said. “We don’t really get too high or low and don’t put too much emphasis on one opponent over the other. This week’s like every other week for us. We’re excited to compete against a good team. There’s a lot of great teams in the conference, and around the country, but we’ll just focus on being our best selves at this point.”
Here are the new rankings. The number in the parathesis indicates last week’s ranking.
125 pounds: Braden Davis, 3 (4)
133 pounds: Aaron Nagao, 5 (4)
141 pounds: Beau Bartlett, 2 (2)
149 pounds: Tyler Kasak, 12 (NR)
157 pounds: Levi Haines, 1 (1)
165 pounds: Mitchell Mesenbrink, 7 (9)
174 pounds: Carter Starocci, 1 (1)
184 pounds: Bernie Truax, 5 (2)
197 pounds: Aaron Brooks, 1 (1)
285 pounds: Greg Kerkvliet, 1 (1)
Team: No. 1
In other news, Penn State letterman Omar X. Easy, Ph.D., is the school’s leader of the just-announced The Penn State Brand Academy. It is described as follows in a news release:
“The Brand Academy, a project recently launched by Invent Penn State in partnership with Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics and funded through the Wally Triplett Brand Academy Endowment, is designed to support student-athletes and others to manage and leverage their personal brand, Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), and support their entrepreneurial interests more successfully.”
Headlines of the day
A former five-star is a key contender in Penn State’s 2024 CB competition: Flounders, PennLive
Check out Penn State’s updated visitor list for Feb. 3 junior day: Snyder, BWI
Penn State appoints former player to lead new NIL initiative, The Brand Academy: Woloson, Daily Collegian
3 Penn State football things we learned in January: Pickel, BWI
Top 10 cornerbacks in the final 2024 On300 rankings: Ginnan, On3
Penn State graduate assistant moving on to full-time role elsewhere, report says: Pickel, BWI
Quote of the day
“I loved Coach Franklin’s transparency and directness. The staff is really like a family, and Coach Haggans really cares about his wide receivers off the field. I liked their approach to NIL, like how they broke it down, even though [Franklin] says don’t come here for that. He wants guys to come here for Penn State and their love for the college and his stability as a head coach. He’s signed until 2031.”
–Class of 2025 receiver Taz Williams on PSU to BWI following his recent visit to campus.
