From: Gary Abbott [email protected] Subject: The White House visit Date: November 20, 2019 at 10:42 AM To: Girls Rankings [email protected]

For immediate release, November 20, 2019 Several 2019 NCAA champion Penn State team members and many 2019 NCAA individual champions to visit The White House, November 22

Members of the 2019 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championship team from The Pennsylvania State University, as well as many of the 2019 NCAA Div. I individual wrestling champions will be honored guests at the White House on Friday, November 22 in Washington, D.C.

The wrestlers and coaches were invited as part of an NCAA Champions Day, which will also include athletes from other sports.

The athletes will visit The White House during the morning of Friday, November 22 and are expected to meet President Donald J. Trump as part of their tour.

Invited to the White House were Penn State’s 2019 NCAA championship team, as well as all 10 of the 2019 NCAA Division I individual champions, which also includes athletes from Arizona State University, , Northern Iowa University, , the University of Iowa, and Virginia Tech University.

While college wrestlers have been previously recognized by President Trump and other administrations, this is reportedly the first time all of the NCAA Div. I individual champions have been invited.

Expected to attend are the following wrestlers, coaches, and university leaders:

Penn State University Jason Nolf, 2019 NCAA champion at 157 pounds Bo Nickal, 2019 NCAA champion at 197 pounds Mason Manville, Varsity wrestling student-athlete Nick Nevills, Varsity wrestling student-athlete Rick Kaluza, Senior Associate Athletic Director, Finance and Business Operations

Rutgers University , 2019 NCAA champion at 133 pounds , 2019 NCAA champion at 149 pounds Scott Goodale, Head Coach Donny Pritzlaff, Associate Head Coach

Cornell University , 2019 NCAA champion at 141 pound Rob Koll, The David Dunlop ’59 Head Coach of Wrestling Virginia Tech University Mekhi Lewis, 2019 NCAA champion at 165 pounds Tony Robie, Head Coach

University of Northern Iowa Drew Foster, 2019 NCAA champion at 184 pounds Randy Pugh, Assistant Coach

With the 2019-2020 NCAA wrestling season underway, some of those invited were not able to attend because the White House visit conflicted with scheduled competition. For instance, Penn State is competing at Arizona State on Friday, November 22. The University of Iowa will compete against Iowa State on Sunday, November 24. This affected invited athletes who are currently competing for their college wrestling team.

There has been a tradition of college national champion teams visiting The White House in years past.