Preview: Nittany Lion WC to host Tuesday-night event on Rokfin

The Nittany Lion Wrestling Club is hosting another dual Tuesday night live on Rokfin. The night will feature 20 bouts between NLWC and Wolfpack WC as well as five other exciting matchups. The NLWC tweeted earlier today that it would release the full card and bout order tomorrow. The undercard is set for 5:30 p.m. ET while the main card will take place at 8 p.m. ET.

Let’s take a look at some of the most anticipated bouts:

Women’s freestyle

Jane Valencia vs. Xochitl Mota-Pettis
Both of these wrestlers have been pretty active over the last few months.

An athlete for Mexico, Valencia became the first woman to qualify Mexico for the Olympic Games in wrestling with her gold-medal performance at the 2020 Pan American Olympic Qualifier in Ottawa, Canada, in March. Since then, Valencia, who trains with the NLWC, has been featured on two of their special event cards. Tomorrow will be her third.

So far, Valencia has collected big wins over multiple-time National Team member Julia Salata in September and rising Senior-level talent Vayle Baker in October.

On the other hand, Mota-Pettis has been on fire, winning multiple national titles since October. Training out of Texas, Mota-Pettis made a big splash, winning Senior Nationals at 57 kg and taking out two-time World silver medalist Alli Ragan along the way. Weeks later, she collected gold at the U23 Nationals.

Jennifer Page vs. Emma Bruntil
Like Valencia, Page has been featured on a few NLWC cards recently and she also claimed a Senior Nationals title in between.

A 2013 Junior World bronze medalist and a 2015 Pan Am champion, Page is in the midst of an impressive comeback after injuries stood in her way over the last few years. In September, Page stormed back from a 10-point deficit (continuation played out there) to defeat National Team member Desiree Zavala in NLWC’s first event. In October, she defeated five-time age-group World medalist Macey Kilty in the Senior Nationals finals, 4-3. Less than a month ago, she dominated Lauren Mason in the Nov. 24 NLWC event.

Page and Bruntil have a recent common opponent as earlier this month Bruntil wrestled Kilty in the main event of the Tar Heel Wrestling Club event. Kilty emerged victorious with a 3-0 win, but Bruntil does have a win over Kilty from the 2019 Senior Nationals semifinals.

Bruntil is a 2017 Junior Pan Am champion and 2020 National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling champion.

Men’s freestyle

Nick Lee vs. Tariq Wilson
Lee and Wilson will go head-to-head at 145 pounds as one of the 20 (!!!) bouts between Penn State athletes and North Carolina State.

Lee is a two-time All-American for PSU and was set as the No. 2 seed for the 2020 NCAA Championships before it was canceled. He was a 2020 Big Ten finalist, finishing second, and also collected third-place finishes at the 2018 and 2019 Big Ten Championships.

Wilson is a 2018 All-American, taking third at 133 pounds. He went on to qualify for the 2019 and 2020 NCAA Championships. Wilson is also a two-time ACC Championships finalist, finishing second in 2019 and 2020.

Other matches to watch between the two squads are Hayden Hidlay (WWC) vs. Brady Berge (NLWC) at 161 pounds, Daniel Bullard (WWC) vs. Carter Starocci (NLWC) at 178 pounds and Nick Reenan (WWC) vs. Michael Beard (NLWC) at 201 pounds.

Check out all the other NLWC vs. Wolfpack WC matches HERE.

Aljamain Sterling vs. Roman Bravo-Young
This will be an interesting matchup as current DI star RBY will take on established MMA talent Aljamain Sterling, who was a NCAA Division III All-American in his college days.

Bravo-Young, a junior year at Penn State, is a 2019 All-American, placing eighth at 133 pounds. He’s also proven his prowess in freestyle, taking 10th at the 2016 Cadet World Championships and claiming gold at the 2019 Junior Pan American Championships.

Sterling, as mentioned above, was a talented college athlete, who made successful transition into MMA. In 2014, Sterling made his UFC debut, and since then, he has compiled an 11-3 record in UFC. Overall, he is 19-3 in his MMA career.

Kyle Snyder vs. Ty Walz
Joining the NLWC last January, Snyder is a 2016 Olympic champion, two-time World champion (2015, 2017) and owns two other World medals, including silver in 2018 and bronze in 2019. He also owns three NCAA titles, wrestling for Ohio States. Snyder’s last international competition was the Pan American Championships in March, where he won gold.

Tomorrow, he’ll face Ty Walz, who is a 2018 U23 World bronze medalist, training at the Soueast RTC in Blacksburg, Va. Additionally, he was an ACC champion and three-time All-American. Walz most recently competed at the RTC Cup, where he collected two wins to help his squad to the finals.

Zain Retherford vs. Bajrang Punia
You have to imagine that this matchup will be the headlining bout as it features one of the USA’s best against one of the world’s best. This will serve as a rematch from the 2020 Matteo Pellicone International, where Bajrang outlasted Retherford, 5-4.

A three-time NCAA champion for Penn State, Retherford has represented the USA at the 2017 and 2019 Senior World Championships. Though he didn’t medal in either appearance, Retherford has proven himself to be one of the best 65 kg wrestlers in the country on more than one occasion. He has been an impressive freestyle wrestler since his youth days, winning a Cadet World gold medal in 2012.

Fresh off a solid winning performance at the FloWrestling 150-pound bracket this weekend, Bajrang is ready for more action. Wrestling for India, Bajrang has competed at five Senior World Championships, earning silver in 2018 and bronze in 2019. He is also a 2017 U23 World silver medalist.