Former county standout Yonushonis helps carry Nittany Lions
By Guy Cipriano
UNIVERSITY PARK — He sat on the wooden bleachers and sifted through the program as he waited for his favorite wrestling team to trot onto the mat.
He always looked for the same thing when he gazed at the glossy pages.
James Yonushonis wanted to see matchups involving two ranked wrestlers.
It seems fitting that Yonushonis will end his Rec Hall career with matchups he once couldn’t wait to witness.
Yonushonis, a senior ranked seventh at 174, will face No. 15 Nick Hayes of Northwestern tonight and No. 2 Eric Luedke of Iowa on Sunday.
Yonushonis said he’s trying to approach this weekend like any other.
But he added the matchups bring back memories of his childhood when he his parents, Jim and Mary Ellen Yonushonis, or his uncle, Ed Hill, hauled the future All-American and his supportive sisters, Melanie and Megan, from their Philipsburg home to Rec Hall.
“I can remember when I was a spectator and you look in the program and go down the line and you’re excited to see that match where there are two highly-ranked guys, “Yonushonis said. “That should be a treat for the fans.”
Yonushonis (24-3) represents two wild anomalies that will clash this weekend.
First, he’s the lone Centre County wrestler in the lineup.
Second, he’s the lone member of Penn State’s 2002 recruiting class that has earned All-American honors for the Nittany Lions.
When the school announced the finishing touches of the class, 12 wrestlers who combined for more than 10 state titles were on their way to campus.
Five years later, Yonushonis and heavyweight Aaron Anspach are the only fifth-year seniors in the starting lineup.
Anspach’s career has been interrupted by multiple shoulder injuries while Yonushonis crept into the national rankings and finished eighth at the NCAA championships last season. Anspach has petitioned the NCAA for a sixth year medical hardship season.
“We had some very talented kids in that group, “coach Troy Sunderland said. “Some cases it was injuries and other cases it was some academic or desire issues. It’s probably ironic — I don’t know if that’s the right word — that James has become an All-American and put himself in a position to win a national title.”
State College High School graduate Matt Storniolo is the only other member of the class to earn All-American honors. Storniolo transferred to Oklahoma before his sophomore season. He has captured All-American honors twice for the Sooners.
Nathan Galloway, a three-time PIAA champion from State College, transferred to Rider last month. He has still not reached the NCAA awards podium.
Yonushonis attributed part of his success to another member of the class who didn’t claim a state title. Yonushonis lived with State College High School graduate Jeremy Hart, a three-time PIAA placewinner, during the 2002-03 season. Neither Hart, who ended his injury-plagued career last season, nor Yonushonis earned starting spots as freshmen.
“Living with Jeremy Hart was a good thing for me, “said Yonushonis, a two-time PIAA placewinner at Philipsburg-Osceola. “Both of us were really hungry for a national title. We trained like it even though neither of us wrestled freshman year. I think that’s the mindset I would give to young guys or new recruits. Train every day and every year like your national title is this year. Now here it is for me. I have one more shot to get it. I want it bad.”
Yonushonis has wrestled like somebody who understands his career will end next month.
After a first semester where student-teaching responsibilities fragmented his training schedule, Yonushonis went 9-0 in January. He enters this weekend 4-0 in Big Ten duals, with two of those victories coming by major decision.
“He’s somebody you can relate to in terms of not being an overly talented athlete that is kind of just getting all the accolades because of their ability, “Sunderland said. “He’s worked very, very hard for it. Other athletes can emulate him because we’re not all gifted the same way. I think people can see similarities with him and say, ‘Hey, I worked as hard as he did. I made the commitment that he did. Maybe those things can happen to me.'”
Junior 197-pounder Phil Davis and Yonushonis are the only Nittany Lions who enter this weekend undefeated against conference foes. The two wrestlers have used contrasting styles to become crowd favorites. The unorthodox Davis has pinned three straight opponents. Yonushonis uses conditioning and grit to score points at the optimal moments.
Penn State fans started developing an appreciation for both wrestlers’ styles last season when the duo went a combined 15-1 at Rec Hall.
“I didn’t realize that people were clapping louder for him, “said Mary Ellen, who teaches nursing at Penn State. “It’s just something I thought because I was his mother. But one of my students on a Monday after a match said, ‘Your boy is a hometown favorite.’ That seemed crazy at the time, but it made me realize a lot of people really do like James.”
Once this weekend ends, it might be a while before another Centre County wrestler mesmerizes a Rec Hall crowd. The program doesn’t have a county wrestler who figures prominently into its future plans.
“A lot of guys don’t have this opportunity, “Yonushonis said. “It happens to be that I’m sort of in the right place at the right time.”
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