BY ANDY ELDER
For The Patriot-News
STATE COLLEGE – In his nine years as head coach of the Penn State wrestling team, Troy Sunderland’s fortunes can best be described as star-crossed.
Sure, he’s coached two NCAA champions, 15 All-Americans and five Big Ten champions. But, injuries and ineligible athletes have robbed him of at least one NCAA team championship and several more All-Americans.
Signs those star-crossed fortunes might be changing came in the offseason when both All-American 184-pounder Eric Bradley and national qualifier James Woodall were granted sixth, or medical hardship, years of eligibility by the NCAA.
Those two form the backbone of a team that will include two All-Americans — Bradley and Harrisburg High grad Philip Davis, a sophomore 197-pounder — and four other national qualifiers: sophomore 133-pounder Bryan Heller, Woodall, two-time 157-pound qualifier junior Nathan Galloway and senior heavyweight Joel Edwards.
“With Eric Bradley at 184 and James Woodall at 149 coming back for their sixth years, it really helps stabilize our team. They were weight classes where we had some questions marks, particularly 149, “Sunderland said yesterday at Penn State wrestling media day.
“I feel we have a good balance in our team, in our dual-meet team as well as in our tournament team at the end of the year. It all hinges on us continuing to stay healthy. We were hit pretty hard with some significant injuries last year. Hopefully, that’s something we can continue to minimize this year.”
With wrestle-offs scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday in Rec Hall, Sunderland said very few front-line wrestlers have injuries that will prevent them from participating. That’s in stark contrast to the past several years in which no wrestle-offs were even held at some weights.
Based on nothing more than last year’s starters and some educated guesswork, once the dust settles Sunday, the lineup could look something like this:
125: Tim Haas, soph.
133: Heller, soph.
141: DeWitt Driscoll, sr.
149: Woodall, sr.
157: Galloway, jr.
165: David Erwin, fr.
174: James Yonushonis, jr.
184: Bradley, sr.
197: Davis, soph.
Hwt: Edwards, sr.
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