I received this email, as I am sure many others also did. But in case you didn’t, enjoy.
Penn State Wrestling Fans!!!!!!!!!!!!
With many things being delayed or cancelled this summer there is not a lot to report on but I did want to just give a quick update. This time of year we are usually getting ready to finish up camps with over 1,000 kids, are trying to get our guys ready for the Olympic/World championship, and are consistently on the road recruiting but not this year. We have basically come to screeching halt on all those things. In slowing down though it has helped us to look at some of the things we are grateful for over the past 11 years and realize how fortunate we have been to work with such awesome people over this time period. We have the greatest fan base in the country and have been able to coach some of the best wrestlers in the history of NCAA wrestling. When things get back to a more normal, whenever that may be, we look forward to sold out crowds and helping our guys become the best versions of themselves.
I had a few questions sent my way so I will try to answer those now and maybe that will give a little more of an update on where things are at. It is helpful at times when questions are sent in so I have a better idea of what people are wanting to know. I will do my best to answer the questions that I can. Now to a few of the questions:
Did the wrestlers stay in the State College area, as they normally have in the past?
At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, when State College was in the red zone, most of our wrestlers went home. A lot of the post grads (NLWC athletes) consider State College home now but some of them also went back to where they grew up during the time period we were not able to work out.
Are they able to practice (workout and conditioning), and where?
Now that State College is in the green zone, workout facilities are open with quite a few restrictions but not at Penn State yet. In wrestling we have a safety exemption which allows us to supervise voluntary workouts in the summer on campus. The plan at Penn State is to bring back the fall sports first followed by the winter sports. We are not sure yet when we will be back in the Penn State Facilities.
Camps have been discontinued, correct?
With the NCAA extending the dead period (cannot have face to face contact with any high school age kids, cannot watch them practice, and cannot watch them compete) until the end of August we are not able to hold camps with high school age kids. Penn State is also not yet allowing indoor activities to take place so that is another factor. Camps are cancelled at Penn State for the summer.
What about recruiting (what is different ... such as more phone calls, emails, Zoom calls, etc.).
Anything from the NCAA, the Big Ten, or Penn State re. the schedule, etc.
In regards to recruiting it is a little different because kids that are of age are not able to come on campus and meet with us or our athletes. They are also not able to get in and see our facilities or watch our guys workout. Penn State’s campus and wrestling facilities are incredible so it really sells itself when you can get kids here, so things have changed some. Zoom, phone calls, and text are what we can do right now. For those that do not know we can never comment on who we are recruiting until they sign their National Letter of Intent to attend Penn State. If you send in questions on who we are recruiting I will not be able to answer those. We are excited about who we have coming in and we are excited about who we are recruiting. In regards to the season we do not yet know what that will look like. Will it be just conference duals or a regular schedule, will we begin second semester or have a normal start, and will there be fans? At this point we probably know as much as everybody else does. We are not sure but those are all things that are being discussed on an ongoing basis.
This should give everybody a rough idea of what is going on and what may be a little different. Finally, in NLWC news Jason Nolf competed in a dual format event a couple weeks ago against a former 2 X National Champion and PA native Jordan Oliver. Jason wrestled a very solid match and came out the victor with a score of 4-1. Also, next weekend on July 25th we have a current student athlete and a former student athlete competing in an event in Texas. Roman Bravo Young and David Taylor will both have one match against great competitors so it should be a fun night. The event is being hosted by FLO so that is how you will be able to watch it. Thank you for the continued support and hopefully everybody is safe, healthy, and happy.
GO LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Penn State Wrestling Fans!!!!!!!!!!!!
With many things being delayed or cancelled this summer there is not a lot to report on but I did want to just give a quick update. This time of year we are usually getting ready to finish up camps with over 1,000 kids, are trying to get our guys ready for the Olympic/World championship, and are consistently on the road recruiting but not this year. We have basically come to screeching halt on all those things. In slowing down though it has helped us to look at some of the things we are grateful for over the past 11 years and realize how fortunate we have been to work with such awesome people over this time period. We have the greatest fan base in the country and have been able to coach some of the best wrestlers in the history of NCAA wrestling. When things get back to a more normal, whenever that may be, we look forward to sold out crowds and helping our guys become the best versions of themselves.
I had a few questions sent my way so I will try to answer those now and maybe that will give a little more of an update on where things are at. It is helpful at times when questions are sent in so I have a better idea of what people are wanting to know. I will do my best to answer the questions that I can. Now to a few of the questions:
Did the wrestlers stay in the State College area, as they normally have in the past?
At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, when State College was in the red zone, most of our wrestlers went home. A lot of the post grads (NLWC athletes) consider State College home now but some of them also went back to where they grew up during the time period we were not able to work out.
Are they able to practice (workout and conditioning), and where?
Now that State College is in the green zone, workout facilities are open with quite a few restrictions but not at Penn State yet. In wrestling we have a safety exemption which allows us to supervise voluntary workouts in the summer on campus. The plan at Penn State is to bring back the fall sports first followed by the winter sports. We are not sure yet when we will be back in the Penn State Facilities.
Camps have been discontinued, correct?
With the NCAA extending the dead period (cannot have face to face contact with any high school age kids, cannot watch them practice, and cannot watch them compete) until the end of August we are not able to hold camps with high school age kids. Penn State is also not yet allowing indoor activities to take place so that is another factor. Camps are cancelled at Penn State for the summer.
What about recruiting (what is different ... such as more phone calls, emails, Zoom calls, etc.).
Anything from the NCAA, the Big Ten, or Penn State re. the schedule, etc.
In regards to recruiting it is a little different because kids that are of age are not able to come on campus and meet with us or our athletes. They are also not able to get in and see our facilities or watch our guys workout. Penn State’s campus and wrestling facilities are incredible so it really sells itself when you can get kids here, so things have changed some. Zoom, phone calls, and text are what we can do right now. For those that do not know we can never comment on who we are recruiting until they sign their National Letter of Intent to attend Penn State. If you send in questions on who we are recruiting I will not be able to answer those. We are excited about who we have coming in and we are excited about who we are recruiting. In regards to the season we do not yet know what that will look like. Will it be just conference duals or a regular schedule, will we begin second semester or have a normal start, and will there be fans? At this point we probably know as much as everybody else does. We are not sure but those are all things that are being discussed on an ongoing basis.
This should give everybody a rough idea of what is going on and what may be a little different. Finally, in NLWC news Jason Nolf competed in a dual format event a couple weeks ago against a former 2 X National Champion and PA native Jordan Oliver. Jason wrestled a very solid match and came out the victor with a score of 4-1. Also, next weekend on July 25th we have a current student athlete and a former student athlete competing in an event in Texas. Roman Bravo Young and David Taylor will both have one match against great competitors so it should be a fun night. The event is being hosted by FLO so that is how you will be able to watch it. Thank you for the continued support and hopefully everybody is safe, healthy, and happy.
GO LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
