True freshman David Taylor jogged back and forth from the end of the blue and white mat to the wall that read "Penn State Wrestling."
As Taylor approached the wall another time, he jumped and kicked off it -- attempting what looked like a karate move on the immovable object. Warming up next to Taylor was Brad Pataky, who focused straight ahead, seemingly unaware of any karate moves or other people jogging beside him.
The juxtaposition of the lighthearted Taylor and no-nonsense Pataky previewed two of the multiple and diverse personalities that will be on display this Sunday at the Nittany Lion Open -- many of whom are Lions looking to carry over previous open success this season.
Taylor will wrestle in the 157-pound weight class unattached from the Penn State singlet. So far this season, Taylor has gone 12-1 with two pins in open competitions. The true freshman won this past Saturday's Mat Town Open along with the Washington and Jefferson Open in mid-November.
The only grappler to defeat Taylor this season was unattached Lion Bubba Jenkins, who won in a 4-3 decision for the 157-pound title at the East Stroudsburg University Open.
Taylor said he is looking forward to competing this weekend because the Nittany Lion Open will feature tougher talent compared to the other opens, which featured redshirts and smaller-school competition.
Taylor and Jenkins aren't the only ones reaping open success this season. Quentin Wright, another unattached Lion, was the 184-pound champion at Mat Town, where he pinned fellow Lion David Erwin in the final, and ESU, where he defeated Penn State redshirt Ed Ruth by decision.
Redshirt freshman James English tallied a second-place finish at Mat Town after a tough start when he tied fifth at ESU and went 1-2 at Washington and Jefferson. English's second-place finish came after defeating future Lion Dylan Alton, who is ranked No. 1 nationally at the 152-pound high school weight class.
Assistant coach Troy Letters attributes English's success to wrestling hard and sees English's motivation continuing into the future. Letters said he also looks forward to the Nittany Lion Open because it benefits the redshirts by allowing them to cut weight and train at home.
"It's always more exciting for the wrestlers to wrestle in front of their home crowd," Letters said. "We expect to see Penn State finalists in every weight."
A Jenkins-Taylor or Wright-Erwin rematch in the finals will be possible again on Sunday, but added into the 157-pound mix will be No. 4 Cyler Sanderson.
Cyler Sanderson's brother and first-year Penn State coach Cael Sanderson believes the past open success will continue.
"We're seeing a lot of good things out of our redshirts, even our non-starters," Cael Sanderson said. "It will be a good test for us, but we expect these guys to go out there and compete hard. If they do that, they're going to have a lot of success."
Success for Taylor is defined by his 12 wins this season, but the true freshman doesn't want to stop there. Taylor said he didn't come to Penn State to lose matches but to improve through wrestling grapplers he hasn't faced yet and learning techniques.
"This weekend," Taylor said, "I'll get a better judgment of where I am."
