Former Penn State wrestler Cody Law's eligibility to continue wrestling this season at University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown may come down to his choice of uniform for an open tournament last month.
This week the NCAA denied an appeal from Law seeking to overturn the organization's earlier decision that the redshirt sophomore would not be eligible to wrestle for Pitt-Johnstown this semester because he wore a Penn State uniform at the Nittany Lion Open in December, according to an exclusive story by Eric Knopsnyder for the Tribune-Democrat .
"Open tournaments often feature wrestlers who are taking a redshirt year or are unable to make the starting lineup, as was the case with Law at Penn State," wrote Knopsnyder. "Those redshirting compete under an 'unattached' tag and wear something other than a school-issued uniform."
Other than wearing the traditional blue-and-white Penn State singlet at the Nittany Lion Open, it appears that Law complied with basic requirements for a redshirt wrestler to be able to transfer from a Division I program and immediately compete for Division II UPJ. Law didn't wrestle in any dual meets this season, nor did he represent Penn State in any team tournaments. Law was granted a release by Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson. Expectations were that Law would wrestle for the Mountain Cats right away.
Wearing the Penn State singlet at the Open was not an oversight on the part of Law. In an earlier interview, the 157-pound native of Windber, Pa. said he hadn't considered transferring from Penn State until after the tournament.
The article also reported that neither Law nor his new coach, Pat Pecora, were optimistic that the NCAA would reverse its decision on a second appeal.
"We're going to ask them to overturn it and see," Law said. "It's hard to be optimistic, because we're not appealing to anyone higher up - there's nothing higher than the NCAA - just the same people that denied it the first time."
Pecora, who owns the distinction of having the most wins of any active college mat coach, weighed in on the issue by saying, "I don't think he violated the intent of the rule. I think that's what the NCAA has to look at (is) what's the intent of the rule and why. They're very strict with these things. I thought there would be a chance. I guess there still is an outside chance."
Expectations were that Law would wrestle for Pitt-Johnstown right away, and help boost the Mountain Cats' chances to take the team title at the 2016 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships.
"He's the last piece, the last piece of the puzzle," said Pecora.
A product of Forest Hills High School, Cody Law compiled an overall record of 115-26, and had been ranked among the top 15 160-pound wrestlers in the nation by InterMat. In his first season at Penn State in 2014-15, Law emerged as a starter at 157, starting in seven dual meets and posting a 13-7 record.
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