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No. 1 PSU wrestling ready for battle with No. 9 Nebraska

Penn State University’s Jason Nolf wrestles in an NCAA wrestling match.

By ANDY ELDER

For The Express

UNIVERSITY PARK — Coming on the heels of a subpar performance against Wisconsin last Sunday, the No. 1 Penn State wrestling team figures to be spoiling for a fight.

If history is any indication, the Nittany Lions will return to form at 1 p.m. Sunday when No. 9 Nebraska visits Rec Hall.

“I think this team’s gonna step up. That’s what they’ve done in the past. The bigger the moment, the better we’re gonna compete. I believe that and I believe that they believe that,” head coach Cael Sanderson said Tuesday in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex.

“I think it’s a good thing that we feel like a loss after we win. It’s not just about this team, it’s about each individual being happy and feeling good about their effort and performance. That’s our goal when the season’s over, we want all of our guys to be happy with what they got out of the year.”

The Cornhuskers will present a set of challenges the Nittany Lions have yet to face in a dual meet. Eight Nebraska wrestlers are ranked, setting up some intriguing individual matchups.

“Nebraska has a very good team, a lot of superstar, blue-chip kind of kids that have been very successful. Nebraska’s always a very strong program. Coach (Mark) Manning has done an awesome job,” Sanderson said.

“So we’re excited, especially coming off this weekend where we weren’t incredibly excited about our performance. But the guys, we got them right back on the mat and kind of pushed them through it, trying to shock them a little bit…their bodies, and I think they responded very well. We’ll see how it goes.”

If all of the projected starters for each team take the mat, the dual will feature 17 ranked wrestlers and seven bouts featuring a pair of ranked wrestlers. Those pairings of ranked wrestlers include (Penn State wrestler listed first):

141: No. 6 Nick Lee vs. No. 19 Chad Red

157: No. 1 Jason Nolf vs. No. 2 Tyler Berger

165: No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph vs. No. 6 Isaiah White

174: No. 1 Mark Hall vs. No. 9 Mikey Labriola

184: No. 3 Shakur Rasheed vs. No. 5 Taylor Venz

197: No. 1 Bo Nickal vs. No. 11 Eric Schultz

285: No. 4 Anthony Cassar vs. No. 14 David Jensen

Penn State wrestled last weekend without Joseph, who was reportedly not feeling well. Sanderson said Joseph is preparing to wrestle against Nebraska, but he wouldn’t put him on the mat if doing so has the potential to reduce his readiness when the postseason arrives.

“Again, it’s that big picture and we pride ourselves on wrestling and being ready to go every match and not worry about the competition. When you start worrying about the competition, I think you can lose a lot as an individual and you can lose a lot as a program,” he said.

“So it’s hard not to have our guys in the lineup. But it’s about getting them ready and having them ready for March and doing the best job we can to do that.”

Sanderson said the outlook for freshman Gavin Teasdale seeing the mat anytime soon is less certain.

“He’s trying to get back to wrestle in open tournaments. I think he’s very close. It’s one of those deals where it looks like he might compete and then things just don’t work out. He’s another guy that I don’t have the answer for that. We have an idea but I’m not gonna share those ideas. It’s just getting him ready if he’s ready to go, getting him in some open tournaments and letting him compete,” Sanderson said.

“He’s a true freshman and he hasn’t wrestled in a long time. He’s made that adjustment to college. He’s a talented wrestler. You don’t win four PA state titles if you don’t know how to wrestle. But it’s getting him where he needs to be and taking into consideration what’s in his best interest.”

WEIGHTY ISSUES

When Anthony Cassar moved to heavyweight from 197 in the offseason, he revealed that he put on more than 30 pounds of “good weight.” An already strong individual, Cassar has said he feels even better at his new weight because he is no longer diverting energy to making weight. The results are obvious, but some still wondered whether he could handle the biggest of the heavyweights.

Last Friday against Northwestern Cassar had the opportunity to answer that question for himself. The Wildcats’ Conan Jennings weighed in at 279, while Cassar was 50 pounds lighter at 229.

“My one goal going into that Northwestern match was to see if I could pick him up over my head and I did that in the first period, and after that I was just kind of cruising,” he said.

GAMES PEOPLE PLAY

The Nittany Lions have traditionally been a tight-knit group. That trait is often demonstrated in their spirited dodgeball games before practice. What fans and media don’t see is how the team spends time bonding on the road.

Mark Hall gave a little insight into that on Tuesday.

“We’ve been playing a lot of board games and card games,” he said. “We’ve been playing a lot of Monopoly. Shakur’s won the most out of all of us but I wouldn’t say he’s the best; he’s very reckless.”

Hall said Rasheed is always making deals and filling his properties with hotels, which can sometimes lead to cash-flow problems.

“There’s definitely an algorithm to it,” Hall said with a smile.

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