Clay Steadman doesn't remember his match against Matt Powless. Though most of his teammates can specifically recall the tall figure in a blue-and-white singlet falling over onto the mat, the 197-pounder can not.
It wasn't until a couple days after the redshirt freshman pieced together his match with his teammates -- watching film of him shooting for his opponent's leg -- only to end up lying on the ground, surrendering a takedown.
After sitting out almost a month with a lingering concussion, Steadman is back in the lineup at the 197-pound weight class, looking to make a run at the Big Ten tournament.
"I'm excited to wrestle him this weekend," Steadman said, referring to Indiana's Powless. "That whole night was pretty hazy. I don't remember it totally. The whole night was pretty goofy."
Steadman brings a 5-14 season record into the tournament, admittedly going into his first conference tournament as an underdog. But the McKean native, who also admitted he will probably be a little nervous at the Bryce Jordan Center, is simply happy to be back out on the mat for Penn State.
The first day he was cleared to wrestle, Steadman wrestled assistant coach Aaron Anspach, a former heavyweight wrestler for the Nittany Lions. After not being able to wrestle for almost a month, Steadman said he poured everything he had onto the mat.
While he was hurt, he spent time watching film, figuring out what he needed to focus on to improve his wrestling.
His assistant coach was impressed.
"After the match, he was just like, 'Clay, how does it feel to be in the room, and to feel like you've improved even though you really haven't been wrestling?' " Steadman recalled. "To have him saying that, it really has been pushing me to try and step up. Every day I step on the mat I'm trying to dominate."
Although he probably won't dominate, with a record that's "not even close to .500," the redshirt freshman said he has met with the coaching staff multiple times to get over a mental block he has been going through this season.
In prior seasons, he said he has always been an offensive wrestler, but for some reason he has not been able to do it this season.
But it's a whole new season for Steadman. He said the missed matches, missed experience and missed practice are "over with," and it's time to pull off some upsets against opponents he knows "really well."
"I can't give up any takedowns," he said.
"I'm always going to look at the score, based on when they shoot I have to be ready to shoot again. Being on the offense and wrestling my match is really the only way of winning these matches."
