Three storylines to follow in St. Louis

The collective eyes of the collegiate wrestling world are locked on the Scottrade Center this week for the NCAA wrestling championships. Here are three storylines to follow.

Nittany Lions letdown?

Penn State has won five of the last six NCAA team titles, but faces some major adversity heading into the 2017 tournament. Freshman

was the third overall seed at 125 pounds but will not compete following an ankle injury he suffered against Oklahoma State last month. It also kept Suriano out of the Big Ten tournament, allowing Ohio State to capture the conference title.

“We were trying to get him to a point where he would be competitive enough to compete and to protect himself,” Penn State coach said. “I don’t feel like he’s in that position. So he’s not going to wrestle.”

Olympic talent

Two competitors this week have already proven their dominance on the world’s stage at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ohio State junior

the reigning NCAA champion at 285 pounds, became the youngest United States freestyle wrestler to win gold (97kg) in team history. Missouri senior a two-time NCAA individual champion at 197 pounds, won a freestyle bronze medal (86kg).

Both Snyder and Cox enter the NCAA championships undefeated and as the top seeds in their respective weight classes.

Oklahoma State depth

Junior headlines the Cowboys’ championship push as the top overall seed at 141 pounds. But if OSU is to earn its first team title since 2006, it will require a total team effort.

“The route for us to win the championship is going to be 10 guys. I don’t think seven (or) six will get it done for us,” OSU coach

said. “What we’ve got going in is we’ve got 10 guys ranked in the top 12. If we can get 10 of them scoring points, which we might be the only team that has that, that’s what’s going to win us the championship.”