Penn State wrestling show: Early look ahead to freestyle season; no Lions are in the portal 13 days in

The Penn State wrestling offseason is not even a month old yet. The Nittany Lions are just 23 days removed from winning another team title at nationals at the Rocket Arena in Cleveland. Head coach Cael Sanderson’s team is now getting ready for freestyle season. And, the transfer portal is open. Although there has been no impact on the program so far.

In this week’s BWI Penn State wrestling show, host Thomas Frank Carr and reporter Greg Pickel start with a look at the upcoming schedule. The U.S. Open is next week in Las Vegas. Penn State wrestlers will soon register to compete at the event. One Nittany Lion won’t have to, of course. Senior Levi Haines accepted his spot at Final X on Monday. He will wait for the winner of the U.S. Open’s 79-kilogram bracket to find out who he will face in a best-of-three series in New Jersey next month. The winner of that match will earn a starting spot on the senior Team USA.

“He wanted to come here, and we did our best to take good care of him,” Sanderson said earlier this year. “He keeps getting better. Great leader. Obviously, not a guy you’re excited to have graduate. You’re excited for him. Every stage in life is designed to be more exciting. He’s given a great effort every day here.

“You don’t let a guy like that leave. We’ll do everything we can to keep him here and keep him a part of the program and training here.”

From there, the show moves on to the transfer portal. There are no Penn State wrestlers in the portal yet. The window for athletes to change schools opened back on April 1. It closes on April 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Watch or listen to the Penn State Wrestling Show from BWI wherever you get your podcasts! Click here to watch the YouTube version.

The show wraps up with a review of the Hodge Trophy voting. Penn State standout Mitchell Mesenbrink won the honor earlier this year. It is the Heisman Trophy of college wrestling.

“This is a very surreal come-to-fruition moment,” Mesenbrink told WIN Magazine. “I’ve always had bonus (points), even throughout high school, but maybe I got overlooked because I never got OW awards. I went all throughout high school without getting one. I would rather have a Dan Hodge Trophy than the ‘Arrowhead Wrestling Invite OW,’ though, so at the end of the day, it was a good trade.

“With judgment awards, it is decided by someone else. I wrestle the way I do so I can take the interpretation out of the ref’s hands. I want to leave no doubt.”