A Little Wrestling Talk

   We are 60 days away from the start of official practices (November 17) for the 2014-15 wrestling season. Can you tell I'm counting those days down?
   Coming off of last season, it should be another strong year in and around District 5. Obviously, we'll be able to get down to brass tacks on everything once we are closer to that practice date, and the first matches.
   With that said, here's a few interesting notes, and some analysis, that I've come across in recent days and weeks:

Barnes to Southern Columbia
   Southern Columbia hasn't exactly been a wrestling power as compared to the Tigers' perennially-strong football team, but the school certainly is producing some wrestling talent at the moment. In March, three SC wrestlers — Todd and Kent Lane, and Blake Marks — all reached the finals of the Class AA state tournament in their respective weight classes.
   That trio is expected to be joined by another returning state runner-up in Billy Barnes, who transferred from fellow District 4 member Williamson, and recently committed to wrestle at Bloomsburg University. Barnes, who suffered his only loss last winter in the state finals against Jason Nolf, is playing football for the Tigers. He may still be headed for a PIAA hearing though in early October to decide eligibility for wrestling, which has happened in the past for such notables as Zain Retherford (had to sit out a year) and Cody Wiercioch (granted immediate eligibility).
   If Barnes is in the lineup, that could make Southern Columbia a potential threat on the team level, depending on what else the Tigers have to fill things out.

D11 makes change in team format, again
   Last year, District 11 made a switch in how its team duals are run, and after quite a bit of criticism, another change will happen for this season. After having what it dubbed "The Ultimate Qualifier" as its second team to qualify for the state team duals in both Class AA and AAA, D11 is now going to a true second place format.
   I endorsed the Ultimate Qualifier in a blog post before last season began, but I do understand the drawbacks. In Class AAA last year, Parkland lost to Nazareth for the championship, then had to turn around in mere minutes and face Liberty, who the Trojans had beaten in a semifinal earlier that day, for the second spot. That kind of timing, or lack of, is unfairly tight and can be adjusted for one, I would think.
   That said, I still like the idea of having a way to make sure the two best teams from a said district get to Hershey.
   On the other side, that's why they wrestle too. There was a lot of debate in District 3-AA, where Boiling Springs and Bermudian Springs had to go against each other early on because of the power point structure, and the loser was not going to make it to states. Yet Hamburg, who did make it without much fanfare, made a lot of prognosticators (including myself) look bad by knocking off Burrell and Brookville on its way to the state semifinals.

College Corner
   Four-time defending national champion Penn State just released its schedule for the upcoming season.  The full release can be seen at http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-wrestl/sched/psu-m-wrestl-sched.html.
   The highlight home dual is February 8 as the Nittany Lions will battle Iowa inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Last year, Penn State beat Pitt in the first-ever match at the BJC, which set an attendance record of just under 16,000. I would certainly expect the PSU-Iowa showdown to top that mark.
   On the mat, Penn State should still be very formidable, but time will tell if a fifth straight NCAA title comes to fruition. Official word from the school has Andrew Alton out until at least January as he recovers from an injury. A source I recently talked to said Alton may miss the entire season though, and he would be applying for a medical redshirt. The question of whether Alton is in or out is a major one in the Penn State lineup. Likely, that puts Zach Beitz at 149, and could keep Retherford from using his redshirt, as some suggested, to be in there again at 141 (where Beitz may have landed). Also, the going word is that we may not see 125-pounder Nico Megaludis for two years, as he could redshirt this winter and use an Olympic redshirt in 2015-16. Cael Sanderson's top three recruits — Nick Nevills, Bo Nickal, and Jason Nolf — are all expected to redshirt.
   In terms of recruiting, I'm very interested in what Arizona State is doing, under former world champion Zeke Jones. Jones has been plucking a tremendous amount of talent, including two of the top five projected high school senior prospects in the Valencia brothers from California, as well as a pair of Pennsylvania studs from Franklin Regional, Josh Shields and Josh Maruca. Jones also recently hired former PIAA and NCAA star Jordan Oliver to his coaching staff.
   I haven't heard much about the recruiting process for Shields' and Maruca's teammate Devin Brown, though I did hear that Penn State was high on him, maybe as a way to have the inside track for superstud Spencer Lee a couple of years down the road. Remember, Brown and Lee both transferred to Franklin Regional from Saegertown before last season began.