It was a big weekend for Penn State Wrestling. On Saturday, the Lions landed two huge recruits in Erik and Mason Gibson, from Johnstown, PA. The brothers were initially committed to Cornell but decided to flip to Penn State.
"After a ton of tough decisions I have decided to conclude my time up in Ithaca and flip my commitment to Penn State University. Shoutout to everyone who has helped me get to where I am today. None of this would be possible without y’all. #WeAre," Erik Gibson Tweeted on Saturday afternoon.
Cornell projected Erik for 157 during his time in Ithaca. It is actually unclear if he ever joined the Big Red Wrestling program after he signed his NLI in December 2021. His Tweet suggests he was living at Cornell this semester but might have had second thoughts on wrestling for the Ivy League school
In addition to the commitments from the Gibson Brothers, several Nittany Lions arrived in West Point, New York to take on the Black Knight Invite.
Penn State walked away with five champions in Beau Bartlett, who took down teammate David Evans 3-1 in sudden victory.
Shayne Van Ness took the 149 crown with an impressive 5-3 win over no. 14 Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan.
Levi Haines took the 157 crown with a nailbiter over fellow Lion Terrell Barraclough. He reversed TB with just seconds to go and eliminated riding time to win 2-1.
At 165, Alex Facundo put on a clinic with a 10-2 major in the finals over Matt Lee, another fellow Nittany Lion.
Max Dean also picked up a pin in just 1:15 in the finals to go 4-0 at the Black Knight Invite. He won the OW award as well.
