Wrestling team to face top-ranked Penn State at Events Center

The Binghamton University wrestling team will kick off its 2017-18 season with a bang when the Bearcats host reigning NCAA champion Penn State on Nov. 17. The showcase match, presented by Hinman, Howard & Kattell and NBT Bank, will be held at 7 p.m. in the Events Center. This is the first time in history that Binghamton has hosted a defending national champion in any sport.

“The idea of wrestling Penn State originated about a year ago,” head coach Matt Dernlan said. “They were in a position where they needed a home match and given my connections with the coaching staff, they reached out to me. Obviously we jumped at this opportunity, with the agreement they would come to us this year. It’s great for us to get the chance to expose the community to our deep wrestling roots.”

Prior to taking over as head coach at Binghamton, Dernlan spent seven years at Penn State, helping orchestrate the rise of the Nittany Lions. He started as the head assistant and director of recruiting for three years before serving as the director of operations under current head coach Cael Sanderson. In his time at PSU, he helped lead the Nittany Lions’ to a 2011 Big Ten crown and the school’s first NCAA wrestling title since 1953.

The connections go further than Coach Dernlan, though, with founder and longtime coach of Binghamton Wrestling Steve Erber tied into the mix.

“There are deeper reaching connections between Binghamton and Penn State that you wouldn’t naturally know about,” Dernlan said. “Steve Erber actually wrestled at Penn State and was an All-American there. The wrestling community is a pretty small world and we’re glad we get to take advantage of those relationships and bring the best team in the country to Binghamton.”

This is just the second time a Binghamton team has faced the reigning national champion and the first time hosting a No. 1 ranked team in the country. If Penn State holds its No. 1 ranking, 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. “You can almost say it’s unprecedented for our department. To bring in a team of this caliber shows our relevance on the Division I level that we could actually entertain the number one team in the country.”

Last season, Penn State went undefeated with a 14-0 dual record to earn the spot as the top-ranked team in the country. The Nittany Lions have won six NCAA titles in the last seven years, including back to back wins in 2016 and 2017. Since 2010, PSU is 99-8-1 in duals, going 30-0 in the last two years. All five NCAA champions are returning for the 2017-18 season under Sanderson, who, to this day, is considered the most dominant collegiate competitor in NCAA history. Prior to reaching Olympic champion status, Sanderson posted a 159-0 career record at Iowa State, the only wrestler in NCAA history to do so.

The Bearcats are also coming off one of their most successful seasons to date, as they finished with a 9-7 overall record and an 8-4 conference mark. Eight Bearcats earned a top-8 finish at the 2017 EIWA Championships, the highest in program history and in Dernlan’s five-year tenure. They also finished eighth as a team with 66 total points, another program high. Seven of the eight place-winners are returning for the 2017-18 season, including two-time NCAA qualifier Steven Schneider.

“There’s no better test as an athlete than going up against the best team in the country,” Dernlan said. “And there’s no better place to do it than on your own home mats.”

Individual tickets can be accessed through www.bubearcats.com/tickets. Group discounts (parties of 20 or more) will also be available. Chairback tickets are $10 each and reserved bench seating is $7 each.