A Penn State wrestling great will be training at somewhere different than Nittany Lions Wrestling Club.
Austin Sommer reported Monday night that Greg Kerkvliet will be signing on with the Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club.
This comes across as a bit of a surprise.
After all, it’s generally presumed that a Penn State wrestler will stay training with NLWC following his college career. But everybody’s journey is different, and Kerkvliet has decided to give it a go with Lehigh Valley.
“Our goal is to become the prime location,” reads Lehigh Valley Wrestling’s website, “for athletes who want to pursue World Championship and Olympic teams, serve the local community and set themselves up for success after their competitive careers come to a close. When the club was originally formed, we planned to expand to other sports, hence the name Lehigh Valley Athletic Club. As time passed and the landscape of the Regional Training Site model evolved, we narrowed our focus to wrestling only, which led us to change our name to the Lehigh Valley Wrestling RTC.”
Kerkvliet wrapped up a stellar college career this past March.
He has the rare distinction— shared with past teammates Aaron Brooks and Carter Starocci—of being a five-time All-American, this being made possible by Kerkvliet competing in the “COVID era,” where he had five years of eligibility.
The crowning moment of Kerkvliet’s career took place in Kansas City on a March 2024 night when he became a national champion.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.One could argue that had Kerkvliet wrestled in a different heavyweight era, he would have had more titles.
But three of his NCAA Tournament losses were to Hodge Trophy winners: Gable Steveson (2022), Mason Parris (2023) and Wyatt Hendrickson (2025). We’ll never know what Kerkvliet’s accolades might have been had the competition been just a tad less brutal.
Kerkvliet’s last NCAA Tournament didn’t go as he had hoped. First, the defending heavyweight champ lost his chance to repeat by falling to eventual champ Wyatt Hendrickson(Oklahoma State) in the national semifinal.
He didn’t get a chance to bounce back in the consolation bracket and had to medically default in the first consolation match.
So Kerkvliet went from king of the hill in 2024 to sixth place in 2025, which was a steep fall
But Kerkvliet had a great career at Penn State, and having a successful knee surgery in April will open the door for him to get back on the mat.
