University Park, Pa. — The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team has announced its much anticipated 2011-12 schedule and the 2011 National and Big Ten Champions will once again have seven home duals, all in Rec Hall. Penn State, under the direction of veteran head coach Cael Sanderson, will also take part in the Nittany Lion Open as well as host an Intrasquad Dual in early November.
The season begins on Thursday, Nov. 3, when Penn State opens the Rec Hall doors for its Intrasquad Dual at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The regular season starts with the 2011-12 opener on Sunday, Nov. 13, when the Bloomsburg Huskies come to town for a 2 p.m. match-up.
Penn State's home schedule, as always, features four Big Ten duals. This year's conference slate gets an early start when the Nittany Lions host conference rival Minnesota on Sunday, November 20, at 2 p.m. The dual was moved from early January to November to accommodate a trip to the 2012 Southern Scuffle. Penn State then competes in the Nittany Lion Open on Sunday, Dec. 4. The Nittany Lions hit the road for the first time when they trek to Lehigh for the annual match-up with the Mountain Hawks. Penn State and Lehigh will battle in Bethlehem on Friday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m.
Purposefully creating a schedule to both please its ever-growing fan base and to help grow the sport of wrestling statewide and nationally, the Nittany Lions will close out December with two important non-conference duals. Penn State welcomes long-time eastern rival West Virginia to Rec Hall on Sunday, Dec. 11, at 2 p.m., before continuing its long-standing rivalry with local opponent Lock Haven. This year, the Nittany Lions make the short jaunt to LHU to battle the Bald Eagles in Thomas Fieldhouse on Sunday, Dec. 18, at 2 p.m.
Penn State returns to action on New Year's Day with a trip to the Southern Scuffle. This year, the event has moved to Chattanooga, Tenn., and will be hosted by Tennessee-Chattanooga on Jan. 1-2. The Nittany Lions return to Big Ten action a week later with their first conference road dual when they take on Michigan State in East Lansing on Sunday, Jan. 8, at 2 p.m. The battle with the Spartans is the first of three straight conference road contests. Penn State treks to Evanston, Ill., to face Northwestern on Friday, Jan. 13, at 8 p.m. (Eastern) and then heads north to Madison to meet the Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 2 p.m. (Eastern).
Penn State returns home to welcome the Iowa Hawkeyes to Rec Hall in January. The Lions and Hawkeyes will meet on Sunday, Jan. 22, at 2 p.m. in a rematch of last year's standing room only dual here at Penn State. A week later, rival Ohio State comes to town for a battle on Sunday, Jan. 29, also at 2 p.m.
The Nittany Lions head to Lincoln, Neb., for their inaugural dual against the Nebraska Cornhuskers as a Big Ten opponent. The Lions and Huskers will meet on Friday, Feb. 3, at 8 p.m. (Eastern). Penn State will then have a quick turnaround to get ready for its final home Big Ten dual on Sunday, Feb. 5, when the Nittany Lions meet Michigan in Rec Hall at 2 p.m.
Mid-February will afford the Nittany Lion nation yet another opportunity to continue to grow the sport, this time with an important Western road trip and with the continuation of one of Pennsylvania's oldest wrestling rivalries. Penn State will close out its non-conference schedule with a first-ever visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The Nittany Lions and UVU will meet on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 9 p.m. (Eastern). The trip to UVU marks the first time a Penn State team has wrestled a road dual west of the Central Time Zone since a road swing to Fresno State and CS-Bakersfield in 1996-97.
A week later, Sanderson's squad closes out its dual meet slate against long-time in-state rival Pittsburgh. The dual with the Panthers, the 67th meeting between the two teams, will be on either Friday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. or Sunday, Feb. 19, at a time to be determined (depending on the finalization of Pitt's own home schedule later this summer).
"We are excited about our schedule for next year," Sanderson said. "Once again, we have outstanding home matches and are looking forward to wrestling in front of our great fans in Rec Hall. There is a lot of hard work and organization that goes into putting this together and (associate head coach) Cody (Sanderson) did an excellent job of crafting such an exciting schedule. We are looking forward to the opportunities that next year will offer us."
The season will culminate in March with the 2012 Big Ten Wrestling Championships on March 3-4. Purdue University will host the event in West Lafayette, Ind. The 2012 NCAA Wrestling Championships take place two weeks after that in St. Louis. The three-day event is set for March 15-17, in St. Louis' Scottrade Center.
In all, Penn State will take on nearly half of the top 15 teams from last year's NCAA Championship (won by Penn State in Philadelphia). The Lions will take on third-place finisher Iowa, seventh-place Minnesota, eight-place Lehigh, 10th-place Wisconsin, 12th-place Nebraska, 13th-place Northwestern and 15th-place Michigan.
It is important to note that all dates and times are subject to change, particularly with the Big Ten Network still finalizing its wrestling broadcast schedule.
This year's season ticket package features seven home duals (the Nittany Lion Open is not part of the package and the Intrasquad is free) and costs only $42 for all seats, the same price as last year. Fans can place new orders for season tickets by calling Joel Diamond at 814-867-2557. A $5 per order handling fee will be added to new season ticket holders. Current season ticket holders from last year will receive their renewal notices later this summer and information on single dual tickets will come as the season approaches. With season ticket sales already brisk, Penn State will be capping the number of total season tickets sold (combining new applications and renewals from last year), so fans wishing to purchase new season tickets are encouraged to do so quickly.
All information for purchasing new season tickets is also available online at is www.GoPSUsports.com/tickets/m-wrestl-tickets.html . Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at www.twitter.com/pennstatepat and on Penn State Wrestling's facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling. The 2010-11 Penn State Wrestling season has been presented by The Family Clothesline.