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Penn State Wrestling: Can Greg Kerkvliet make National Championship leap?

By Chris Snyder

PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 18: Head coach Cael Sanderson of the Penn State Nittany Lions during the Keystone Classic on November 18, 2018 at The Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 18: Head coach Cael Sanderson of the Penn State Nittany Lions during the Keystone Classic on November 18, 2018 at The Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /
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Penn State Wrestling
Head coach Cael Sanderson and assistant head coach Cody Sanderson of the Penn State Nittany Lions (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

Penn State Wrestling’s Greg Kerkvliet Expectations for 2021-2022 season

Greg Kerkvliet is a former No. 1 overall recruit in the nation. And with that tag on your back it’s generally followed by a pile of expectations as high as Mount Everest.

Furthermore, Kerkvliet wrestles for the premier collegiate wrestling program in the country. Oh, and his legendary coach believes he’s going to be so good that he supplanted the former top 10 wrestler at the 285 spot (Seth Nevills). And the guy he replaced had so much hope in regaining his starting spot that he joined the Nittany Lion Football team as a walk on.

So needless to say, the expectations for Kerkvliet for this upcoming season are going to be sky high.

But the bigger question is what are my expectations and what are the expectations for the Nittany Lion faithful?

Let’s first take a look at the landscape in the 285 division:
-The B1G currently has six of the top seven ranked wrestlers at 285
-The top three are all B1G wrestlers
-The top two are head and shoulders above everyone else in the country
-The top wrestler is the best heavyweight wrestler in the world in the freestyle discipline (and probably also folkstyle)

Talk about an uphill climb.

But Kerkvliet still has status as a freshman and I believe one day he will rule the 285 weight class in college. However I don’t believe that day will happen this season.

If Kerkvliet can stay healthy this season I believe a reasonable expectation for him is to finish in the top three at the B1G Championship and top four in the NCAA Championship, thus earning his second consecutive All-American award.

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