Jake Kemerer had to wonder "What if?" when Penn State University teammate Dan Vallimont returned from the NCAA Division I tournament with a silver medal. "It was awesome to see Dan make it to the NCAA finals," said Kemerer, a 2009 Hempfield Area High School graduate. "I was glad because it showed me that I'm capable of matching his accomplishment." Kemerer has good reason to believe that. In fact, he could have been in Vallimont's shoes if he didn't redshirt. "I was allowed to wrestle-off with Dan, even though I was redshirting, and I beat him, 3-2." Vallimont was a senior and a returning All-American last year. Kemerer was an incoming freshman who was quickly designated as a redshirt at Penn State. He wasn't eligible to wrestle immediately at Penn State because he had signed a letter of intent with the University of Oklahoma during his senior year at Hempfield.

Vallimont rebounded from that intrasquad loss to Kemerer and went on to place second in the country in the 165-pound weight class. "I couldn't go to nationals," said Kemerer, who would have had to pay his own way to attend the event. "In fact, I didn't even watch the finals. I was coaching my [11-year-old] bother in a [Junior Olympic] tournament." Vallimont has since graduated and Kemerer will most likely replace him in the upcoming season. "Redshirt freshman Michael Lorenzo and incoming freshman Dirk Cowburn are also at 165, so it should come down to a battle between us three," Kemerer said. Kemerer received a late Christmas present in January, when Oklahoma finally released him. Kemerer signed to wrestle at Oklahoma in large part because Robby Waller, a Mount Pleasant graduate, was an assistant at Oklahoma at the time. It was Waller who played a roll in his recruitment. That changed last summer when Waller left Oklahoma to coach at Lock Haven. Kemerer was not happy with the coaching change and requested a release from his letter-of-intent. When Oklahoma refused, Kemerer enrolled at Penn State knowing that he might lose a year of eligibility. "I was really worried that I might lose a year," Kemerer said. "In January, coach [Cael] Sanderson told me Oklahoma finally gave me my release. It was great to know that I still have four years of eligibility."

Kemerer was allowed to work out with the Nittany Lions during the season and did wrestle in four open tournaments as an unattached wrestler. "I won the Edinboro Open and placed third at the W&J Open, then hurt my knee in the Penn State Open. Fortunately, I was only out one week. "It was a boring year. It was frustrating working out with everybody, but not being able to wrestle." Kemerer is expecting a little more excitement during his second year of college. He is one of four probable Penn State starters who took a redshirt last year. The other three are Quentin Wright, David Taylor and Ed Ruth. Wright was an All-American as a 174-pound freshman. Taylor and Ruth, like Kemerer, were freshmen last year. Kemerer won two PIAA Class AAA titles and had a 174-21 record during his career at Hempfield.

Thanks to Ken Wunderley (Tri-State Sports and News Service) and the "Pittsburgh Post Gazette" for the article