Penn State's schedule is out, and we're fired up.  Here's the 33 individual match ups I'm most excited for coming into the 2018-19 season.  

Nov 11 - Kent State at Penn State
197 - #1 Bo Nickal vs #2 Kyle Conel - Well this is a not-so-subtle start.  The two-time champ for Penn State is moving up in weight again.  Waiting for him is Kyle Conel of Kent State, whose run at NCAA’s last year was one of the highlights of the tournament.  Conel beat #1 seed Kollin Moore not once but twice en route to a 3rd place finish.

Nov 30 - Penn State at Bucknell
197 - Garrett Hoffman vs #1 Bo Nickal - Ok, this one’s stretching a bit, but this dude knocked off Cassar last year, that means something.

Dec. 2 - Lehigh at Penn State
125 - Gavin Teasdale vs #14 Connor Schram - There’s a chance the redshirt is still on for Gavin at this point in the year, in which case this match loses its appeal.  If not it’s a tough test for Gavin against another former PA standout and All-American in Schram.
133 - Roman Bravo Young vs #6 Scotty Parker - A very nice, early test for the PSU Freshman, assuming he goes right away.  Parker is solid in every way.  We could learn a lot about RBY here.
174 - #2 Mark Hall vs #7 Jordan Kutler - This was very boring last year.  But they’re both awesome.
184 - #5 Shakur Rasheed vs #7 Ryan Preisch - Preisch is tough to get to, this will be a tough one for Rasheed.
197 - #1 Bo Nickal vs #10 Chris Weiler - Sure Weiler is outmatched, but he can scramble.

Dec. 14 - Arizona State at Penn State
149 - Brady Berge vs #13 Josh Maruca - Again, these early tests for these Freshman excite me.  Berge is phenomenal in a few areas.  Maruca has some great wins through the years.  Fun match up.
174 - #1 Zahid Valencia vs #2 Mark Hall - That’ll work.
285 - Anthony Cassar/ #2 Nick Nevills vs #5 Tanner Hall - Some speculation swirling that Hall could redshirt, but if it happens, I’m personally intrigued to see how an avid leg attacker in Cassar could do against a more reluctant Hall.

Jan 1-2 - Southern Scuffle 
Penn State vs Oklahoma State.  Get some.

Jan. 11 - Penn State at Northwestern
125 - Gavin Teasdale vs #3 Sebastian Rivera - Rivera will likely still be a top 3-4 guy here, so if this is when they pull Teasdale’s shirt officially, this will be a salty early test. 

Jan. 13 - Wisconsin at Penn State
165 - #2 Evan Wick vs #1 Vincenzo Joseph: We didn’t get to see this one last year, and it pits the two highest returning placers at 165 against each other. The inside trip extraordinaire vs the cradle master, you have to think Bono and Reader will have Wick running at full tilt for this one.

Jan 20 - Nebraska At Penn State
141 - #6 Chad Red vs #5 Nick Lee - Maybe the greatest state finals match ever if you consider the circumstances.  The two missed each other last year, we need this rematch.  We’ll get it January 20th.  
157 - #5 Tyler Berger vs #1 Jason Nolf - We are legally obligated to remind you that Tyler Berger one time beat Nolf at FloNational’s in 2013. Thanks for understanding.
165 - #9 Isaiah White vs #1 Vincenzo Joseph - Though Zay Zay DNP’d at Nationals, he gave Cenzo his toughest match at NCAA’s, a 4-2 win in SV2.  
184 - #3 Taylor Venz vs #5 Shakur Rasheed - Venz got red hot at NCAA’s last year after falling to Chip Ness beating #4 Pete Renda, #9 Max Dean and #6 Zach Zavatsky en route to a 4th place finish.  Both these dudes love cradling guys up, we’ll continue to learn more about Shakur’s spot in the 84 pecking order as he faces more elite guys.

Jan 25  - Penn State at Purdue
125 - Gavin Teasdale vs #16 Devin Schroder - Schroder may be under the radar, but this kid is a flat out goer.  His pace vs Gavin’s slickness will be an interesting dichotomy.  People will leave this dual with a growing appreciation for the Purdue squad.  These guys go hard.

Jan 27 - Penn State at Indiana
133 - Roman Bravo-Young vs Paul Konrath - I’m excited to see what Konrath can do this year.  In general, Indiana is a very interesting squad to keep an eye on with a practically brand new coaching staff with Angel Escobedo as head coach, Mike Dixon as associate head coach and Isaac Jordan as assistant coach. 

Feb. 1-3 - Michigan at Penn State (BJC Dual)
133 - #2 Stevan Micic vs Roman Bravo Young - RBY may be a bit outmatched here at this point, but I don’t see how this one doesn’t have 1-2 insanely exciting moments.
141 - #18 Kanen Storr vs #5 Nick Lee - These two only wrestled one of the most exciting Fargo finals ever.  It’d stand to reason it’d be fun in Folkstyle too.
157 - #4 Alec Pantaleo vs #1 Jason Nolf - A year ago, Pantaleo made this insanely interesting.  He could be the man with the best shot (and it’s not a good one) to knock off Nolf at some point.
165 - #5 Logan Massa vs #1 Vincenzo Joseph: Sandwiched around Joseph’s major in the Michigan/Penn State dual last season were a pair of one point matches between these two. During Joseph’s improbable run to a national title in 2017,
174 - #3 Myles Amine vs #2 Mark Hall: Their matches last year were both one point decisions for Hall, but went drastically different. In the dual, an early konkrete special for Hall turned into an insurmountable lead in riding time, after which they traded reversals in the next two periods. Then in the Big Ten finals, Amine picked up another reversal and fended off Hall on his feet for five and a half minutes until a single leg doomed the Wolverine. If Amine can keep Hall off his left wrist when he’s on bottom, it becomes a far more interesting match.

Feb 8-10 - Penn State at Ohio State (BTW, we'll have Ohio State's Wrestle Offs Live This Thursday, Watch Here)
125 - Gavin Teasdale vs Malik Heinselman - Two fun Freshman who err on the side of offense.  Let’s see it.
133 - Roman Bravo Young vs #4 Luke Pletcher - Who knows what RBY will have done at this point.  Pletcher is a super tough match up for a young buck in RBY.  If at this point in the season RBY can get through Pletchers rock solid D, it has huge team race implications down the line.
141 - #5 Nick Lee vs #2 Joey McKenna: This might have been the best individual match in the dual of the year, and it was not without controversy. McKenna’s takedown at the end of the second period proved to be the margin in the match, as Nick Lee cut him twice in the third period but could not overcome the Buckeye’s riding time.

149 - Brady Berge vs #2 Micah Jordan - Who knows if Micah will be the guy here or not, as he’s set to challenge Ke-Shawn for this spot.  But assuming it is Micah, I think this could have an outside shot at upset potential given Micah’s leg attack frequency coupled with Berge’s re-attack game.

197 - #1 Bo Nickal vs #3 Kollin Moore - Probably #1 vs #2 at this point in the year.  You just love to see it. 

Feb 15 - Michigan State vs Penn State
174 - #15 Drew Hughes vs #2 Mark Hall - Hughes had a very solid true freshman campaign two years ago (ok, yeah I guess Mark didn’t have a bad one now that I think about it) and redshirted last year.  He’s a full on monstrous leg rider on top.  He’ll struggle to get takedowns against Mark, but an opportunity on top won’t be fun. 

Feb 17 - Penn State at Illinois
141 - #5 Nick Lee vs #10 Mike Carr - Carr took out Lee last year at Big 10’s.  I think what is most exciting is we’ll be able to really compare Lee year over year.  Will Lee be able to shore up the issues (bottom) that lead to the surprising upset a year ago?
184 - #5 Shakur Rasheed vs #2 Emery Parker  - Parker went incandescent on the backside last year at NCAA’s.  Both guys are comfortable in various positions.  If Shakur is winning matches like this for PSU, it is additional buffer for them to win their fourth straight.

Feb 24 - Buffalo at Penn State
165 - Alex Smythe vs #1 Vincenzo Joseph - A year ago, Buffalo’s Noah Grover put Cenzo on his back at Rec Hall. This year, Cenzo’s competition could be more formidable with Alex Smythe coming to town.  Though very much under the radar and an underdog here, his two wins over Evan Wick at Akron can’t be discounted. Smythe’s pace, strength and re-attacks are his biggest weapons.

Mar 9-10 - Big 10 Championships - Interestingly, PSU hasn't won B10's the last two years.

Mar 21-23 - NCAA Championships - PSU's quest for their 2nd 4-peat in 9 years.