It all starts with eight mats Thursday, and by the time it winds down on a single mat Saturday night, ESPN will have shared coverage of all 640 matches from the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia.
For Penn State fans, it’s a real-life survivor series, with winners from the team’s 10-member contingent advancing toward individual national championships and, fairly likely, the team itself moving toward a 12th national championship under coach Cael Sanderson and the program’s fourth in a row.
With all 10 of its wrestlers qualified and four No. 1 seeds, Penn State is favored to continue its dynastic run. Its presence and prowess will be prominent on ESPN’s coverage.
Here’s what you need to know if you’re watching on TV.
(And if you’re listening to the excitable and talented Jeff Byers online, or on the Penn State Athletics app, that’s perfectly fine. Following the team through him makes a lot of sense.)
Anyway, about ESPN …
Wednesday, March 19
• “Game On,” ESPN+
Hard-core fans probably already know this but a show that includes a segment about Penn State airs at 2 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN2. The show, “Game On: Journey to the NCAA Championship,” actually dropped on ESPN+ last week, and features what they’re calling a rare glimpse at the Penn State program and Sanderson. It’ll be interesting to see the focus of that segment.
Another part of the four-segment show will be a profile of first-year Oklahoma State coach (and Penn State Olympian and world champion) David Taylor. The connection with his alma mater, and the two individual national championships Taylor won wearing blue and white is clear — as is his charge to lead the Cowboys back to prominence in the sport.
Thursday, March 20
• Noon, First Round: ESPNU and ESPN+ along with feeds from eight mats via MatCast.
• 7 p.m., Second Round: ESPN and ESPN+ along with feeds from eight matches via MatCast.
Friday, March 21
‘• Noon, Quarterfinals: ESPNU and ESPN+ along with feeds from eight mats via MatCast.
• 8 p.m., Semifinals: ESPN2 and ESPN+ along with feeds from six mats via MatCast.
Saturday, March 22
• 11 a.m., Medal Round: ESPN and ESPN+ along with feeds from four mats via MatCast.
• 7 p.m., Championships: ESPN and ESPN+
• 10 p.m., Trophy Presentation: ESPN+
TV Talent
Some thin-skinned Penn State fans will complain about bias and/or not enough credit for the Nittany Lions at some point, but ESPN has a good team and works hard to do the sport justice.
It’s made a wise decision a few years ago to drop sport-adjacent celebrities who brought little or no expertise to the broadcast and instead had put people who’ve had success and, yes, who have opinions at times, into roles where they should be to serve viewers. And because more than Penn State fans are watching, it’s OK for not all those opinions to shine through a blue-and-white colored lens.
On ESPN and ESPN2, during primetime and the championship round, play-by-play man Mike Couzens gets lead duties for the eighth year in a row. Analysts Jordan Burroughs and Daniel Cormier are strong, with proven international and NCAA credentials, respectively. Yes, Burroughs and some Penn State fans might not have a lot of love or patience for each other (just Google it), but he’s generally good on TV and Cormier has been really strong in recent seasons at this tournament.
Of course, there’s a rules analyst, Rock Harrison. A former Virginia Tech wrestler, he has 10 years of experience as a referee and serves as the ACC Network’s lead wrestling analyst.
The most visible member of ESPN’s team might be reporter Quint Kessenich.
He’ll work both daytime and evening sessions, sharing stories and conducting those post-match interviews with breathless wrestlers that generally produce cliches but every once in a while unearth a gem (like Bo NIckal against Ohio State). Those moments are what TV types hope for, even while most post-match interactions feel like slow-speed chase scenes between two people before one of them talks just enough to make the other one happy.
During daytime sessions on ESPN, Shawn Kenney will have play-by-play duties with analyst Tim Johnson, who’s generally informative and steady and has worked the last 20 NCAA Championships.
The ESPN+ MatCast action will be described by Shane Sparks, who Penn State fans appreciate and know from his Big Ten Network duties, and Trent Hidlay, the former standout at N.C. State and Mifflin County High School. Sparks is solid, obviously, and the broadcasting gig is a good opportunity for Hidlay, a five-time All-American, to get into the sport in another manner.
ESPN has been covering this event every year since 1980, and coverage has improved through the years. Sometimes bout scores, team scores and team standings in a timely manner can be a challenge, but ESPN generally does a good job. Plus, Penn State’s success in recent seasons has sometimes made the team race a little less compelling, so it has not been as troublesome that the broadcast folks have not kept up with that in a timely manner.
We’ll see how things play out this year.
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