Greg Kerkvliet (left) and Jordan Wood (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)#21 Lehigh at #2 Penn State
How to watch: 2pm on B1G+ (EST)
This afternoon, in-state powers Lehigh and Penn State will renew acquaintances after missing out on dual competition during the 2021 season as Penn State wrestled a conference-only schedule. These two Pennsylvania schools have historically been some of the most successful in the history of the sport collegiately.
Penn State and Lehigh sit at number five and number six, respectively, on the list of Individual NCAA champions by school. Penn State's recent success has distanced themselves from the Mountain Hawks with 48 to 28; however, those numbers are indicative of the rich history each has at producing top-end talent.
The best match on Sunday's dual will take place at the largest weight class as a pair of stars in Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) and Jordan Wood (Lehigh), will do battle once again.
The pair met last season in the second round of the NCAA Championships, as Wood was the eighth-seed and Kerkvliet the ninth. Though younger and less experienced on the collegiate scene than Wood, the freshman Kerkvliet dominated to the tune of 12-2. He went on to finish seventh in the nation, while Wood fell a match shy of returning to the national podium.
Earning All-American honors was a bit of a shock for Kerkvliet, not because of his talent, but because of the injury situation, he was fighting through. At one point, Penn State acknowledged his 2021 season would end prematurely due to injuries; however, Kerkvliet persevered and got a pair of wins in the Nittany Lions season finale at Maryland and made his way to the Big Ten Championships, though far from top shape. He ended up taking fourth in a loaded Big Ten weight class, before his national tournament performance. All three wrestlers that were ahead of Kerkvliet at the conference meet placed 1-2-3 at NCAA's.
Wood is a sixth-year senior that has captured an EIWA title in each of his prior seasons competing for Lehigh. He has never been seeded lower than 10th at the NCAA Championships and sports a 79-20 career record.
In 2018-19, Wood had a sparkling 25-5 record and made the NCAA semifinals, losing in sudden victory to the eventual national runner-up Derek White (Oklahoma State), 3-1. He would later lose 4-0 in the third-place bout to true freshman Gable Steveson (Minnesota) and settle for fourth place.
This year, Wood comes in with a perfect 6-0 record and is ranked #10 in the nation at 285 lbs. He owns a pair of wins over Gary Traub (Oregon State), who just won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational last night, and 2019 All-American Matt Stencel (Central Michigan).
Kerkvliet has been just as impressive, if not more. He is 3-0 and his “closest†bout has been a 14-3 major decision over Army West Point's Brandon Phillips. Now, Kerkvliet did not appear for Penn State during Friday's dual with Penn. He weighed in, but with the dual in hand, the Nittany Lions forfeited the weight. The ailment that hampered him Friday is not thought to be serious or long-term.
These two All-Americans' history against one another is not just limited to the collegiate mats. Kerkvliet defeated Wood in the finals of the U23 World Team Trials, two-matches-to-none. Both had success competing internationally, as Kerkvliet is a two-time Cadet World finalist and 2017 world champion. Wood was a 2014 Junior World silver medalist.
The next chapter in these two heavyweight superstar's rivalry could help decide Sunday's dual. Penn State is expected to be shorthanded as two of their 2021 NCAA Champions, Roman Bravo-Young and Aaron Brooks, were not in the lineup Friday. Lehigh is coming off a dominant 37-3 drubbing of Lock Haven.
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