There’s no question Penn State’s wrestling team is the best in the nation. It’s not even close. In fact, it’s a chasm from No. 1 to No. 2 — as the team proved against Iowa — and anyone after that.
Still, the program’s “Penn State … Wrestling Lives Here” promotional pitch falls short in terms of the biggest on-campus events of the season. When wrestling matches happen at the Bryce Jordan Center, they’re bigger, just because 15,000-some fans turn out, but they’re not better.
More isn’t better. Better is better.
And Penn State Athletics, the wrestling team, the Jordan Center, all parties involved, have plenty of room to make the special matches more special — something on par with the team’s performance, and, more importantly, something that serves fans in attendance.
First and foremost, more scoreboards. Or better use of the existing scoreboard.
It’s not easy, or maybe even possible, for anyone in attendance to be looking in the direction of the raised mat in the middle of the floor and easily to see the bout score and time. Let alone the team score. Sure, it’s on the ribbon boards, but some low-profile scoreboards on the corners of the raised platform sure would be fan friendly, helpful and informative.
You know, if whoever’s in charge thinks that’s an important thing, and it’s not clear they do.
Likewise, the information shared by public address and the main scoreboard could be better.
Fans were told the Penn State Lionettes dance team was the three-time defending national champion when they were announced to perform at one of the breaks in action. But not once, never, were fans informed of any wrestler’s season record, ranking in the polls or resume of accomplishments — like national championships. If it’s good enough for the dancers, maybe it should apply to the athletes fans are there to see compete?
Sure, wrestling fans are informed but it’s a certainty that not every fan last week knew every wrestler’s record or the specific ranking, and there were multiple matchups of competitors with top five rankings. That’d be good information to share — and there’s plenty of room on the big center-hung scoreboard so that when wrestlers’ names are shown that information could also be accompanied by their ranking and record.
Simple things like that would raise the match presentation closer to the level of performance on the mat by the wrestlers.
Penn State ditched the intern or student fan club member who followed referees while carrying a rolled-up towel during matches to inform them when a horn sounded to end a period. Kudos for that. It took a few years, and now it’s time to raise the presentation level even higher.
Additionally from last week, kudos for the pushup contest that benefitted THON (thanks to a sponsor), as well as the on-mat recognition of Olympians at the midpoint break. Both could be more polished, but they worked. The prerecorded get-to-know a wrestler piece with Mitchell Mesenbrink answering Google questions about himself was good as well, although captions would help pieces like that resonate more in the arena.
That said, the BJC was not overly noisy. There’s background music during all bouts anymore because coach Cael Sanderson does not want things sounding “awkwardly quiet.” However, Sanderson clearly owes the 4-year-old kid mentioned when he was discussing that matter an apology because there were several children and lots of grown men (it’s never a woman) starting “We Are!” cheers during the action against Iowa.
It’s just part of what happens, an accepted and expected tradition at a Penn State wrestling match, which is not so much quiet as a place where knowledgeable fans are watching the action, getting ready to roar at any positive action their guy and ready to boo any bit of inaction that might be worthy of stalling by an opponent.
Penn State has good wrestling fans. That’s why they deserve a little better.
They generally ignored (good on them) the cheerleading Mic Man’s question: “Are .. you .. ready .. for .. Penn .. State .. wrestling!” They also ignored an attempt by the cheerleaders to start a wave later in the night. Again, the fans were not lacking emotion or Penn State spirit. They were simply focused on the action.
More information and a few well-positioned small scoreboards would help them even more. These are not cost prohibitive investments, just pragmatic fan-first additions.
Again, down-to-earth traits generally define wrestling fans. And at this point Penn State has become so dominant that fans had no reason to really boo Iowa or its coaches, and some might have appreciated the Hawkeyes’ presence in the arena during the national anthem while the Penn State team did not enter the BJC until later.
It’s a loyal, knowledgeable bunch of fans, with many more casual fans part of the crowd when a match happens in the big arena. They just deserve a little better in terms of presentation.
Something worthy of the team itself.
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