VESTAL, N.Y. - The Binghamton wrestling team is back in action this Friday night, November 17th, as they get ready to host No. 1 Penn State. The showcase match, presented by NBT Bank and HH&K will take place at 7 p.m. in the Events Center and will be broadcast on ESPN3. This is the first time in Binghamton athletics history that the school has hosted a defending national champion in any sport.

"This is a premiere event for our program but it's also a premiere flagship event for the entire athletic department," head coach Matt Dernlan said. "I think somebody compared them to UCLA basketball coming to the Events Center. It should be a point of pride for everyone in the athletic department that we're actually able to attract and bring the number one team and most dominant team in their sport to our home facilities."

This is just the second time a Binghamton team has faced the reigning national champion and the first time hosting a number one ranked team in the country. It will also be the second time Binghamton wrestling has faced the nation's top ranked team. The Bearcats wrestled then No. 1 Iowa State back in 2007.

"There's no better opportunity for the guys to wrestle in a big time environment than in our own Events Center," Dernlan said. "And you can't really overhype this when you're talking about the most dominant team in college wrestling over the past seven years. They've won six out of the last seven NCAA titles. Even their mediocre guys are All-Americans. We're really cranking it up."

The Bearcats will face eight ranked wrestlers in the matchup Friday night. Of these eight guys, four hold a number one ranking in the country. The NCAA defending national champions also return all five of last year's individual national champions and six All-Americans.

Penn State is coming off a 2-0 weekend at Rec Hall, with wins over Army West Point (45-3) and Bucknell (36-6). The Nittany Lions collected seven pins in their 20 matches, five of which came in the dual victory over Army. Junior Jason Nolf led the charge, going 2-0 with two pins.

Binghamton will be making its seasonal dual debut Friday night, having wrestled in open tournaments to date. The Bearcats are led by senior Steve Schneider, who is ranked No. 14 at 184 pounds. The Bearcats lineup features a veteran line-up that includes eight upperclassmen, including redshirt junior Vincent DePrez at 165 pounds and senior Jacob Nicholson at 133 pounds.

In the Bearcat Open this past weekend, Binghamton had ten wrestlers place in the nine weight classes it competed in. Freshman Lou DePrez (184) and redshirt juniors Vincent DePrez (165) and Connor Calkins (285) all placed second in their respective weight classes while freshman Dane Heberlein placed fourth at 141, and sophomore Audey Ashkar (125), redshirt juniors Joe Nelson (125), Joe Russ (141), Mark Tracy (197) and Anthony Lombardo (174), and redshirt freshman Parker Kropman (149) all took fifth in their respective weight classes.

"We're really going find out what we're about Friday night," Dernlan said. "But that's what we want. A lot of people talk about developing National Champions and All-Americans, but if you're not putting yourself into the fire with these people that have actually done it, then it's hard to figure out how to handle that process. Once we actually put our hands on these guys, you get a bit of insight and you realize what it takes emotionally, what it takes physically and what it takes mentally. That's the output we're looking for out of this experience. It's a test from 125 to heavyweight and we know that, we can't hide that fact. We know who they are and we're embracing who they are and we're going to get better from this experience."

Penn State owns a 2-0 lead in the all-time series with Binghamton, including last year's 46-0 victory in Rec Hall on December 11th. The last time Binghamton hosted Penn State in 2008, the Nittany Lions won 36-8 on November 23rd.

The doors to the Events Center will open at 5:30 p.m. for a 7 p.m. match start time.
 

BINGHAMTON BEARCATS (0-0, 0-0 EIWA)

125 Joe Nelson R-Jr. Oxford, N.Y./Oxford
133 Jacob Nicholson Sr. Waterloo, N.Y./Waterloo
141 Joe Russ Jr. Smithtown, N.Y./St. Anthony's
149 Frankie Garcia So. Norwich, N.Y./Norwich
157 Tristan Rifanburg So. Norwich, N.Y./Norwich
165 Vincent DePrez Jr. Hilton, N.Y./Hilton
174 Anthony Lombardo Jr. Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic
184 #14 Steve Schneider Sr. Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur
197 Mark Tracy Jr. Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East
285 Connor Calkins Jr. Almond, N.Y./Aldred-Almond
 

#1 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (2-0, 0-0 B1G)

125 Devin Schnupp Fr. Lititz, Pa./Warwick / 0-2
133 #15 Corey Keener Sr. Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Blue Mountain / 2-0
141 Jered Cortez Jr. Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North / 2-0
149 #1 Zain Retherford Sr. Benton, Pa./Benton / 2-0
157 #1 Jason Nolf Jr. Yatesboro, Pa./Kittanning / 2-0
165 #1 Vincenzo Joseph So. Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic / 2-0
174 #2 Mark Hall So. Apple Valley, Minn./Apple Valley / 2-0
184 #1 Bo Nickal Jr. Allen, Texas/Allen / 2-0
197 Anthony Cassar So. Rocky Hill, N.J./Montgomery / 1-1
      #4 Matt McCutcheon Sr. Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area / 0-0
285 #3 Nick Nevills Jr. Clovis, Calif./Clovis / 2-0