BREAKING: National Champion heavyweight announces return to Penn State wrestling for 2025

Penn State wrestling received yet another boost to its quest for a fourth consecutive National Championship on Wednesday, when heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet announced his return to the Nittany Lions for the 2024-25 season. Kerkvliet capped off a perfect 2024 with his first national title at 285 pounds in March. The senior becomes the third starter to redeem his COVID year of eligibility for one final go in the Blue and White, joining Beau Bartlett and Carter Starocci.

Greg Kerkvliet to return for 2025

On Wednesday, Greg Kerkvliet announced that he would be returning to Penn State wrestling for his final year of eligibility. After winning his first national title at the 2024 NCAA Championships in March, there were questions as to whether the Nittany Lions heavyweight would opt to use his COVID year to return to Happy Valley.

“Let’s keep it rolling,” he wrote on Instagram.

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A post shared by Daniel Greg Kerkvliet (@danielkerkvliet)

Greg Kerkvliet is the third multi-year starter to announce a return to Penn State wrestling for the 2024-25 campaign. Beau Bartlett, National Runner-Up at 141 pounds, had his return confirmed on April 8. Four-time National Champion Carter Starocci announced his return on May 1.

Kerkvliet will defend his title at 285 pounds this upcoming season after going a perfect 20-0 in 2024. The heavyweight’s return will be massive for Penn State wrestling, not just for a fourth consecutive national title push, but perhaps for an attempt to break its own NCAA Championship points record set this spring.

Penn State wrestling heavyweight looking for second NCAA title

Greg Kerkvliet has steadily improved each year of his Penn State wrestling career. Starting 8-0 during his redshirt season in 2020, he then finished with a seventh-place, All-American 10-4 record in 2021. But the 2022 season was where Kerkvliet really started to break through, finishing fourth nationally with a 22-3 record.

In 2023, Kerkvliet went 19-3, with all three of those losses coming to eventual National Champion Mason Parris of Michigan. With Parris gone, the 2024 season was finally Kerkvliet’s time. He rolled through the slate with a 20-0 record and a 70% bonus percentage on his way to a national title and to becoming a Dan Hodge Trophy finalist.

In 2025, the Penn State wrestling heavyweight will have an opportunity to join the elite list of Nittany Lions who have won two national titles. He will be heavily favored to repeat, and should be in the running for the Hodge Trophy once again this season. With some fresh faces added to the roster, the back half of the Penn State lineup should be one that the Nittany Lion faithful should expect to dominate once again.

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