Penn State wrestling signee Elijah Brown might have gotten more of a workout after the match than he did during.
In this past weekend’s Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic, held at Peters Township High School, Brown, a Pittsburgh guy from Belle Vernon competing for the Pennsylvania team, faced a tough customer in Kal-El Fluckiger, competing for Team USA.
Fluckiger came in ranked No. 7 by FloWrestling, and Brown was ranked No. 16.
The “underdog” won in 72 seconds.
Brown scored 15 points and didn’t give up any, so, yeah, there might be a change to those rankings.
He got his first takedown five seconds in and never looked back.
“I think going in there, I wanted to kind of hit him where he was weak,” Brown told reporters afterward. “Attack little mistakes he was making. And I think his stance made that double (leg takedown) really easy. So yeah, I was trying to catch him sleeping a little bit, you know, right off the whistle.”
Try, and you shall succeed.
Brown’s dominance may have surprised those who haven’t been following, but this is what he’s been doing at the high school level for years.
Over his last two seasons, Brown went 94-2 with 82 bonus point wins and two state championships.
At this year’s PIAA tournament, Brown went 4-0, with his first two wins coming in a combined 78 seconds.
“I‘m super satisfied,” Brown said.
Then, he caught himself.
“Well, I shouldn’t say satisfied,” he said, “you know, I did good, but still want to improve. I am still working to improve, so yeah, super exciting.”
What are some things Brown feels he can improve on?
“I think when I’m tired, attacking more,” he said. “I think I can hold a good position, but I think I struggle to get to my attacks the same way.
Brown had been committed to Pitt, but de-committed and eventually signed with Penn State because he wants to be in the best wrestling room in the world, which is a pretty good place to sharpen skills.
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An effect of that is that it will be harder to crack the starting lineup at Penn State right away than it would be at other places.
PSU’s 2025-26 heavyweight, Cole Mirasola, has three years of eligibility left and could well be one of the best heavyweights in the country next season.
Although the two will be teammates, Mirasola is the guy Brown would have to beat out to get a starting job.
But Brown doesn’t like to focus too much on his opponents.
“Regardless, I think best guy wins,” he said. “I’m going to work as hard as I can. But you know, at the end of the day, that’s still my teammate.”
If Brown does have to redshirt, he’s ready for that, too, and will use the opportunity to put on more pounds competing at heavyweight.
“I think redshirting for a year would be good to develop,” he said, “because I’ve been wrestling heavyweight. So definitely have to put some weight on. “But yeah, it’s just whatever the coaches want from me.”
It’s also worth noting that Cael Sanderson himself was in attendance to watch Brown’s dominance and chatted it up with Brown after.
One person who helped Brown get to Penn State is Taylor Cahill.
Cahill, owner of “The Shop 814” training center in Somerset, Pennsylvania, began working with Brown when Brown was in middle school and utilized his connections, including five-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci, to help bring Brown to Penn State’s attention.
Cahill realizes that Brown going to Penn State is a risk, but also knows that not going to Penn State could have led to years of regret.
“He has these aspirations to go on and become, you know, an Olympic champion when we’re talking about that at seventeen years old,” Cahill told Nittany Sports Now in January, “then you have to put them in a position where, hey man, look, you actually want to do this, and you need to do it the right way. And, you need to do it to actually give yourself a chance where ten years down the road. We’re not looking back and saying, ‘Hey man, we (fouled) this up. You know I don’t mean to swear, but like we messed this up.‘”
Cahill also made a prediction.
“He’s going to be the heavyweight of Penn State,” Cahill said. “I guarantee it. He’s going to be a multiple-time national champion, and I don’t think it’s crazy to say that he’ll be an Olympic champion. He’s going to the best program with the best guys around him and the best coaching in the whole world.”
