Free Republic

Prior to Saturday night, only five wrestlers had ever won four national titles. By Saturday’s end, the list had grown to seven. Aaron Brooks and Carter Starocci won their fourth national titles only three matches apart from one another. The two cemented themselves in history since they were also the first set of teammates to win four NCAA titles in the same year. Starocci was the first to achieve four titles by a matter of minutes, knocking off Ohio State’s Rocco Welsh 2-0. Brooks quickly followed suit with a 6-1 decision over NC State’s Trent Hidlay. Starocci and Brooks, who...

Penn State wrestling has done it again. Cael Sanderson and the Nittany Lions secured the program’s 11th NCAA championship since Sanderson was hired in 2009 and Penn State’s 12th NCAA championship overall. The program’s first title came in 1953 and, under Sanderson as coach, Penn State has become one of the top dynasties in sports. The Nittany Lions, winners of the Big Ten championship and the Big Ten regular-season crown, entered T Mobile Center in Kansas City as the heavy favorites to secure a third consecutive team title and, while the three-day event concludes Saturday night, PSU has already blown...

By Rich Scarcella | rscarcella@readingeagle.com | Reading Eagle PUBLISHED: October 17, 2023 at 4:23 p.m. | UPDATED: October 17, 2023 at 4:23 p.m. Olu Fashanu didn’t really know Drew Allar that well until Penn State’s Rose Bowl trip almost a year ago. Neither one was interested in touring the Los Angeles area, so they wound up staying in the team hotel and spending a lot of free time in the players’ media room squaring off in the FIFA video game for hours. Fashanu, the Nittany Lions’ outstanding offensive tackle, played as the Netherlands and Allar as France. “The most important...

Penn State head coach James Franklin had a hilarious way of preparing his undefeated Nittany Lions for a road game at Northwestern this Saturday: turning the music down. Yes, you read that right. Franklin told reporters after practice Wednesday that the team has spent time practicing with the music off to prepare for a quieter road atmosphere at Ryan Field in Evanston. Northwestern is averaging just 17,500 fans per game this season, by far the lowest mark in the Big Ten. For reference, Penn State’s Beaver Stadium has a capacity of 106,572, more than six times higher than Northwestern’s average...

No. 11 Penn State rode big plays to 21 straight points in the second half on the way to a 35-21 win over No. 8 Utah in the Rose Bowl. After the two teams were tied 14-14 at halftime, PSU freshman running back Nick Singleton broke off an 87-yard run to put the Nittany Lions up by seven in the third quarter. Less than 10 minutes later, QB Sean Clifford found WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith behind the entire Utah secondary for an 88-yard TD. The longest pass play in Rose Bowl history gave Penn State (11-2) a two-TD lead that was...

From the video: Tucker Haas was just two years old when he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Fraternity members at Penn State University took him under their wing. CBS News correspondent Nancy Chen traveled to State College, Pennsylvania to see how Haas, who is now a senior at PSU himself, is paying it forward.

STATE COLLEGE — More than two weeks after unsealed search warrants revealed at least one Pennsylvania State University athlete was reportedly extorted last fall into sending sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves and others, the university has refused to answer specific questions about how it handled the situation. University officials rebuffed Spotlight PA’s questions about whether all individuals who were filmed naked or partially naked have been identified and notified. Penn State also declined to specify how many students were involved, when exactly campus police were brought in, and whether additional crimes were investigated. According to the search warrants,...

Thanks PSU Students. You always find a way to come through. And God bless the cancer kids at Hershey Medical Center. Charles Milard started something really special almost 50 years ago.

PSU has won 8 of the last 10 NCAA Championships under Cael Sanderson. Iowa won last year's while PSU redshirted and lost some guys. When they get together in a dual, it's usually off the charts exciting.

Legendary Women’s Volleyball Coach Russ Rose Announces Retirement Winningest coach in NCAA Division I history retires after 43 years as the leader of the Nittany LionsUNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State women's volleyball head coach Russ Rose announced his retirement today after 43 years leading the Nittany Lions. Rose retires from his post as the winningest coach in NCAA Division I women's volleyball history with 1,330 victories in his illustrious career.Rose will remain in an advisory role within the athletics department. Katie Schumacher-Cawley will serve as interim head coach as Penn State opens a national search for its next head...

Despite a federal judge declaring President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate unconstitutional, Penn State University will keep its Jan. 4 deadline requiring employees to get vaccinated, and some employees who choose not to get vaccinated will be given education and counseling.“Many of you know (the mandate) is being challenged in the courts so we don’t know the outcome of that process yet, but we are planning around it prevailing, and so implementing that mandate,” Penn State Provost Nicholas P. Jones said Tuesday in the University Faculty Senate meeting. “We’ve got to prepare because there’s not a lot of runway between now...

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania—More than 200 people attended a medical freedom rally on the steps of Old Main at Penn State University on Friday. They are part of a national trend as more people facing unwanted COVID-19 vaccinations are gathering and speaking publicly about the difficult choice they face: get the shots or leave your job. The measure stems from President Joe Biden’s mandates requiring many workplaces to ensure employees are vaccinated. At Penn State, employees may apply for religious or medical exemption from the vaccine mandate. Those who get the exemption would have to get tested weekly to assure they...

At Penn State University, 117 students have been placed on interim suspension for failure to comply with the university’s weekly COVID-19 testing requirement. Students at University Park who are subject to required weekly COVID-19 testing and who have missed at least three weeks of testing have been notified by Penn State that they are out of compliance with the university’s health and safety policies and have been placed on interim suspension through the Office of Student Conduct, a statement from Penn State said. Students on interim suspension may not participate in classes, in-person or remotely; are not allowed on university...

A professor at Pennsylvania State University is facing multiple misdemeanor charges after he allegedly attacked a student who protested against the advocacy of COVID-19 vaccination mandates. The incident occurred on Aug. 27, when faculty, students, and community members rallied at the center of Penn State campus and called on the university administrators to immediately issue a vaccine mandate. Student newspaper Daily Collegian reported that the event attracted counterprotesters who held up signs toward the back of the rally attendees. A video posted to Twitter by Centre County Report appears to show a male, later identified as 36-year-old Walter Oliver Baker,...

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State won’t require fans at Nittany Lions football games this fall to present proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test in order to gain entrance to Beaver Stadium, vice president of intercollegiate athletics Sandy Barbour said Saturday. “The required vaccination is not in our plan at this point,” Barbour said over Zoom. On Friday, Oregon and Oregon State became the first Power Five football programs to announce they will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to attend games at Autzen Stadium and Reser Stadium, respectively, this fall. Earlier this month, Tulane became...

Penn State's director of athletic medicine, Wayne Sebastianelli, says 30-35 percent of Big Ten athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 also had myocarditis, a condition that inflames the heart muscle and can potentially be fatal. Per Parth Upadhyaya of the Centre Daily Times, Sebastianelli said Monday during a State College Area board of directors meeting: "When we looked at our COVID-positive athletes, whether they were symptomatic or not, 30 to roughly 35 percent of their heart muscles (are) inflamed. And we really just don't know what to do with it right now. It's still very early in the infection. Some...

Visitors, students and residents of State College will have to immediately take heed of a new borough law that requires mask-wearing and severely limits gathering size — or they’ll face $300 fines. In a bid to better fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the State College Borough Council unanimously voted Tuesday to pass an ordinance that would require a mask when in public, forbid long lines and cap indoor or outdoor gatherings at 10 people. Those who refuse to comply will be hit with a $300 fine by police (or other officials). The local law officially went into effect Tuesday night. “We’ve...

An entire academic department at Pennsylvania State University is advocating for courses on “structural racism” to be added to the required course load. The Penn State African American Studies Department published an open letter to university President Eric Barron titled, “How We Can Make Black Lives at Penn State Matter.” They alleged that Penn State is an unwelcoming environment for non-white students. . . . Coursework on the subjects of oppression and racism is supposedly necessary in order to “educate our students and community about the history of structural racism, racial violence, and the meaning of transformative justice.” The transformative...

PARIS -- French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armee finally met its match when it encountered frigid winter weather in Russia. Perhaps cold weather could work in France's favor this time, as French public-sector workers have announced a massive general strike for this week just as temperatures are expected to plummet to near zero degrees Celsius. Not much has changed since Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812: The French still bring out the scarves before summer officially ends. And leftist union leaders here still haven't figured out how to get their way without taking the citizenry hostage. The national strike was scheduled...

What's more dangerous: rugby, or a walk in the woods? At Pennsylvania State University, the administrators apparently think it's the latter. The student "Outing Club," which has gone backpacking, kayaking, and hiking in state parks over the course of its 98-year-existence, will no longer be allowed to host outdoor events after administrators conducted a risk assessment, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "The types of activities in which [Penn State Outing Club] engages are above the university's threshold of acceptable risk for recognized student organizations," according to an official announcement. A key issue for administrators was that the Outing Club frequently...