Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.
- Penn State Wrestling’s Dream Opponents For 2 Bryce Jordan Center Meets in 2024-2025 - October 1, 2024
- One Bold Prediction for Each Penn State Wrestler in The Olympics - August 2, 2024
- Penn State Wrestling Roster: Ranking Weight Classes by Strength - July 24, 2024
Penn State Wrestling is a little more than a month away from kicking off its 2024-2025 season. Back in late August, the Penn State Athletics Department released the Nittany Lions‘ Big Ten opponents for the upcoming campaign.
And, if you’ve followed Penn State Wrestling long enough, this announcement was a surprise for sure. Because prior to this year, there were exactly three certainties in life:
- Death
- Taxes
- Cue the meme of a skeleton sitting on a park bench holding a newspaper, waiting on Penn State Wrestling to release its schedule.
Furthermore, Penn State recently dropped another nugget of information for fans:
SEASON TICKET HOLDER ALERT!
Hey season ticket holders, watch your emails starting Monday! Renewal information is coming soon and we have 7 home dates, including 2 in the BJC!
You'll find out our opponents when the schedule is released later!#PSUwr pic.twitter.com/6ORkI0iEY4— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) September 28, 2024
Based on the above information, it seems crystal clear the Penn State Athletics Department is all-in on hosting two Bryce Jordan Center (BJC) dual meets as often as possible.
This raises a simple but crucial question: which two dates will be held in the BJC this season?
On a side note, I completely understood why they scheduled back-to-back Friday night duals at the BJC two years ago. The schedule was set up perfectly as Penn State hosted both Michigan and Iowa.
But, if the schedule doesn’t allow it, I have no problem if all the Nittany Lions’ home duals are at Rec Hall. It’s a storied venue, cramped, not at all cozy—and perfect for wrestling.
Will Penn State Wrestling Return Biggest Meets to Bryce Jordan Center?
Last season’s BJC dual against Rutgers on a Monday evening, however, made no sense whatsoever. I mean, come on—a Monday evening? The inaugural BJC dual 11 years ago against Pitt drew considerably more fans, and that was on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of a freaking blizzard.
Moving on to who I think the Nittany Lions will host this season, Penn State is slated to face Iowa, Michigan State, Michigan, and Maryland. And I don’t think it’ll take a string theory scientist to figure out which two teams will wrestle in the BJC.
If both Iowa and Michigan are on the schedule for Friday or Sunday duals, then it’s a stone-cold, lead-pipe lock that they will be in the BJC. Which is perfectly fine. Because they are exactly who Penn State fans want to see get their butts kicked up and down the mat in front of 15,000 of their closest friends.