Teasdale’s change is Penn State gain
Gavin Teasdale did what a lot of teenagers do when it comes to major events in their lives.
He changed his mind.
Teasdale, a three-time undefeated state champion from Jefferson-Morgan, decommitted from Iowa and will instead attend Penn State University when he graduates in June 2018.
Teasdale tweeted this post Tuesday evening: “After a long and hard consideration I’m proud to announce I will be attending Penn State University! #Weare.”
Teasdale is not commenting on the change.
“They are young kids and they are impressionable,” said Mike Lesko, Teasdale’s head coach at Jefferson-Morgan. “I just want everything to work out for him. He puts in a lot of hard work and he deserves everything he gets out of it. He has friends at Penn State and I’m sure that helped the decision. I just hope he gets what he wants.”
Actually, nothing is official until Teasdale signs a letter of intent that binds you to the school of choice.
“It’s funny because my principal and the custodian at our school both said, ‘Now, I can go watch him at Penn State.’ I’ll go watch him. I hope he gives me tickets,” Lesko said with a chuckle.
“Hey, I’m behind him no matter what. He’s put in the hard work, and I’ll back him.”
Last April, Teasdale and Spencer Lee of Franklin Regional made a joint oral commitment to the Hawkeyes. The two are close friends and work out together at the Young Guns Wrestling Club in Murrysville.
Teasdale won his third PIAA Class AA title at 126 pounds March 11 to move his career record to 122-0. Lee saw his hopes for becoming the 13th wrestler in PIAA history to be an unbeaten, four-time champion dissolve in a last-second loss to Austin DeSanto of Exeter in the state Class AAA 126-pound finals.
Lee announced after that first loss of his varsity career that he was wrestling with a torn ACL, putting into question whether he would wrestle his freshman season at Iowa or take a redshirt.
Now that Teasdale and Lee are at different Big Ten schools, the chances might be good the two will compete against each other in the regular season and Big Ten Tournament. Maybe even an NCAA final.
Teasdale is part of a strong recruiting class for Penn State. The Nittany Lions already have commitments from No. 3-rated Travis Wittlake, a two-time Oregon wrestling champion at 160, and No. 4 Roman Bravo-Young, a three-time Arizona champion at 126 pounds. Penn State lost A.J. Nevills, brother of heavyweight Nick Nevills of Clovis, Calif. The 220-pounder will attend Fresno State.