Post by ackattack on Mar 1, 2018 23:33:27 GMT -5
Odds are that Penn State's Jason Nolf will wrestle in Big Ten tourney, but coaches will be watching closely
Posted Feb 28, 6:52 PM By Jim Carlson Special to PennLive
OK, just how odd is it that two straight Penn State wrestling postseasons are ending with uncertainty about whether national championship-caliber wrestlers will compete in the Big Ten tournament?
Last year, it was Nick Suriano and the mysterious case of the broken ankle. He took medical forfeits at the Big Tens and was slated to wrestle in the nationals as a third seed at 125 but withdrew the day before the St. Louis-based tournament.
This year, it's defending conference and NCAA champion Jason Nolf and the only slightly less murky situation about his right knee that he injured Jan. 28 against Suriano's Rutgers team.
The conference championships begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Michigan State and Penn State coach Cael Sanderson says Nolf will be wrestling.
"He's doing well,'' Sanderson said about Nolf. "He'll be wrestling on Saturday so we'll see how things roll. He's a tough kid and he'll heal quickly so we'll see him Saturday.''
If Nolf does indeed compete, Sanderson and his staff and trainer Dan Monthly will be watching him very closely and will make a decision based on Nolf's health. If he isn't 100 percent, he could and most likely would be pulled.
"I think that would be a smart decision but right now the plan is to get him out there and let him compete and we'll go from there,'' Sanderson said.
Nolf, meanwhile, was a late arrival to Wednesday's media access in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex and was a bit more coy, which is who Nolf is.
He is an extremely well-mannered and pleasant young man who doesn't like to reveal more than he has to. And smart enough to know what whatever it is he does reveal, it will be because he wants to.
Asked how long he's known that he'd be able to compete in the Big Tens, he claimed he didn't know if he had been cleared to wrestle. "I didn't know that was happening yet, either,'' Nolf said.
"Just finding blessing in retrying, just improving everyday life and doing the best I can. We'll see what happens. Just wrestling hard,'' he said.
Sanderson said earlier that Nolf wouldn't wrestle if he wasn't cleared to go. "He's cleared up and ready go,'' Sanderson said.
"We'll find out on Saturday, right? He's a tough kid but he's been wrestling hard for a while now so it's not like he's just drilling. He's been working hard.''
Sanderson said Nolf's cardio is in good shape because of Aerodyne bikes and swimming pools as well as drilling. "We just modify it based on what he can and can't do until he's ready to go,'' Sanderson said. "He's had a great attitude and he's anxious to get on the mat.''
Nolf, at 19-1 on the season, could medically forfeit and still qualify for the NCAAs, just like Suriano did last season. He most likely would not be accorded the No. 1 seed at nationals, but guys like Nolf can prosper without being atop the bracket.
"That's not going to be the same deal this year for us. We want him to wrestle,'' Sanderson said.
Nolf and Iowa's Michael Kemerer, his former Pittsburgh youth training partner from Franklin Regional (Nolf is from Kittanning), tied for No. 1 at 157 pounds because of a split 7-7 coaches vote.
"We voted once and there was a re-vote and it came back the same,'' Sanderson said about the pre-seeding process. "There will be a seeding meeting. Anywhere there are a couple of wrestlers close enough in the votes they received there will be some discussion.
"It seems like in the past there haven't really been a lot of changes once you get to that tournament. But, yeah, I guess there will be some discussion and a re-vote ... a re-re-vote, I guess.''
Regardless of what transpires on Saturday and Sunday, Sanderson just wants consistency in the seeding process.
"I think the important thing for us as a staff is don't worry about what falls where and who's gonna have who and what differences does it make,'' Sanderson said.
"You just try to do what you think is right, whether it's your guy or a guy from Ohio State or Iowa or Minnesota...you just try to do the same thing, be consistent, whether it's your guy or somebody else and just be consistent. That's what we try to do; that's the way it should be.''
If Nolf does take the mat on Saturday as Sanderson plans, it will be 34 days since he last wrestled competitively.
That, Nolf said, is OK.
"I've been away before just taking breaks but it really hasn't been that long; it's only been a few weeks,'' Nolf said. "It hasn't been too challenging ... just working with what I've got.''
Posted Feb 28, 6:52 PM By Jim Carlson Special to PennLive
OK, just how odd is it that two straight Penn State wrestling postseasons are ending with uncertainty about whether national championship-caliber wrestlers will compete in the Big Ten tournament?
Last year, it was Nick Suriano and the mysterious case of the broken ankle. He took medical forfeits at the Big Tens and was slated to wrestle in the nationals as a third seed at 125 but withdrew the day before the St. Louis-based tournament.
This year, it's defending conference and NCAA champion Jason Nolf and the only slightly less murky situation about his right knee that he injured Jan. 28 against Suriano's Rutgers team.
The conference championships begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Michigan State and Penn State coach Cael Sanderson says Nolf will be wrestling.
"He's doing well,'' Sanderson said about Nolf. "He'll be wrestling on Saturday so we'll see how things roll. He's a tough kid and he'll heal quickly so we'll see him Saturday.''
If Nolf does indeed compete, Sanderson and his staff and trainer Dan Monthly will be watching him very closely and will make a decision based on Nolf's health. If he isn't 100 percent, he could and most likely would be pulled.
"I think that would be a smart decision but right now the plan is to get him out there and let him compete and we'll go from there,'' Sanderson said.
Nolf, meanwhile, was a late arrival to Wednesday's media access in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex and was a bit more coy, which is who Nolf is.
He is an extremely well-mannered and pleasant young man who doesn't like to reveal more than he has to. And smart enough to know what whatever it is he does reveal, it will be because he wants to.
Asked how long he's known that he'd be able to compete in the Big Tens, he claimed he didn't know if he had been cleared to wrestle. "I didn't know that was happening yet, either,'' Nolf said.
"Just finding blessing in retrying, just improving everyday life and doing the best I can. We'll see what happens. Just wrestling hard,'' he said.
Sanderson said earlier that Nolf wouldn't wrestle if he wasn't cleared to go. "He's cleared up and ready go,'' Sanderson said.
"We'll find out on Saturday, right? He's a tough kid but he's been wrestling hard for a while now so it's not like he's just drilling. He's been working hard.''
Sanderson said Nolf's cardio is in good shape because of Aerodyne bikes and swimming pools as well as drilling. "We just modify it based on what he can and can't do until he's ready to go,'' Sanderson said. "He's had a great attitude and he's anxious to get on the mat.''
Nolf, at 19-1 on the season, could medically forfeit and still qualify for the NCAAs, just like Suriano did last season. He most likely would not be accorded the No. 1 seed at nationals, but guys like Nolf can prosper without being atop the bracket.
"That's not going to be the same deal this year for us. We want him to wrestle,'' Sanderson said.
Nolf and Iowa's Michael Kemerer, his former Pittsburgh youth training partner from Franklin Regional (Nolf is from Kittanning), tied for No. 1 at 157 pounds because of a split 7-7 coaches vote.
"We voted once and there was a re-vote and it came back the same,'' Sanderson said about the pre-seeding process. "There will be a seeding meeting. Anywhere there are a couple of wrestlers close enough in the votes they received there will be some discussion.
"It seems like in the past there haven't really been a lot of changes once you get to that tournament. But, yeah, I guess there will be some discussion and a re-vote ... a re-re-vote, I guess.''
Regardless of what transpires on Saturday and Sunday, Sanderson just wants consistency in the seeding process.
"I think the important thing for us as a staff is don't worry about what falls where and who's gonna have who and what differences does it make,'' Sanderson said.
"You just try to do what you think is right, whether it's your guy or a guy from Ohio State or Iowa or Minnesota...you just try to do the same thing, be consistent, whether it's your guy or somebody else and just be consistent. That's what we try to do; that's the way it should be.''
If Nolf does take the mat on Saturday as Sanderson plans, it will be 34 days since he last wrestled competitively.
That, Nolf said, is OK.
"I've been away before just taking breaks but it really hasn't been that long; it's only been a few weeks,'' Nolf said. "It hasn't been too challenging ... just working with what I've got.''