Penn State Wrestling Will Take on the World — Almost Literally

Penn State will wrestle against the world, almost literally, in October. USA Wrestling announced the 10-wrestler men's freestyle team that will compete at the U23 World Championships in Serbia, with seven current or future Nittany Lions on the roster. Several Penn State wrestlers will compete in multiple world events, with a freshman earning his spot on three U.S. teams.

PJ Duke, the soon-to-be Nittany Lion who is the biggest story of the freestyle season, will represent the U.S. at 70 kg at U23 Worlds. By making that team, the recent high school graduate will compete at three world championships from August to October. Duke also made the U20 world team that competes in Bulgaria in August and his first Senior team that will wrestle at the World Championships in Croatia in September.

Duke stunned the wrestling world in June when he defeated Yianni Diakomihalis in a best-of-three series at Final X to earn the Senior World freestyle team spot at 70 kg. The win continued a freestyle season in which Duke, a four-time New York state champ at Minisink Valley High, also won the U.S. World Team Trials and the U20 national championship.

"We never thought he would do it," Jordan Burroughs said of Duke on the FloWrestling broadcast at Final X. "He's proven to be not only the match of the night but also the superstar looking forward for Team USA. It's insane. He's 18 years old. ... We've got a superstar in the making here."

Duke currently is the youngest member of the U.S. Senior World team and will compete at three world championships before his first match at Penn State. Duke likely will begin his Penn State career at 157 pounds, a weight class occupied by two-time NCAA medalist Tyler Kasak.

The U23 U.S. men's freestyle very nearly is a complete Penn State roster. Seven of the U.S. representatives will compete for the Nittany Lions next season. Penn State is represented in six straight weight classes from 65 kg to 92 kg. And just one Penn State wrestler, Levi Haines, will be a senior.