Alumni Report: RBV’s Bernie Truax IV is living his wrestling dream at Penn State

Wrestling is a big deal at Cal Poly.

Fans in San Luis Obispo love their Mustangs, who compete as members of the Pac-12 on the mat.

But nothing Bernie Truax IV experienced in five years at Cal Poly prepared him for wrestling at Penn State.

“I can’t say one bad word about Cal Poly, but there are a lot of people at Penn State who really love the sport,” said Truax, who transferred to Penn State as a graduate student. “Wrestling is a main focus here. Cal Poly did a great job, but we started with crowds in the hundreds.

“Here in Rec Hall, it’s packed every match. Thousands of people spilling out of the stands onto the floor.”

Truax dreamed of wrestling at Penn State since he was a child. It just took the former Rancho Buena Vista High School star five years at Cal Poly to get to Happy Valley.

Truax placed third at 145 pounds at the California State Championships in 2018, finishing his senior season with a 43-5 record and his RBV career 89-11. He was the San Diego Section Division 2 champion as a senior.

“RBV was great,” Truax said. “Marty Nellis was a great coach. All the coaches at RBV were great. I could call Marty Nellis right now, go over and he’d fire up the BBQ. Those coaches and the guys on the wrestling team will always be in my life in some form.”

The RBV experience led Truax to Cal Poly, where he was a two-time Pac-12 champion and a three-time All-American, placing fourth at the NCAA Championships at 174 pounds in 2021, fourth at 184 pounds in 2022 and fourth at 197 pounds last year.

He went 67-20 in four seasons, not including a 14-7 record as a redshirt freshman where he wrestled unattached. He was Cal Poly’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2020-21.

Truax had a “COVID year” of eligibility remaining. He decided to finish his college career at Penn State. Truax is 5-1 this season, ranked No. 5 in the nation at 184 pounds.

“Every big program in the country wanted me,” Truax said. “But my dad wrestled in high school in Pennsylvania. We moved to California and when I was 4-5, we were in a Blockbuster (video) when he spotted a guy with an Iowa wrestling shirt. They got talking and he told the guy Iowa wrestling couldn’t compare to Pennsylvania.

“That lit my fuse and the next week, I signed up with No Mercy Wrestling.”

Rancho Buena Vista High School product Bernie Truax IV is ranked No. 5 nationally in his weight class.

(Mark Selders, Penn State athletics)

That spark, Truax hopes, can lead to an Olympic berth.

“I’m going to try for the 2024 Games with an eye on 2028 in Los Angeles,” Truax said. “When I’m finished at Penn State, I’ll stay back here and work with the Nittany Lions Club. The Penn State guys and the club guys are in the same room, so we help each other.”

The Lions won their 10th NCAA team title under coach Cael Sanderson last season.

Ranked No. 1 in the nation, Penn State shutout Indiana 46-0 last week in the Big Ten opener.

Truax was sick and didn’t wrestle against the Hoosiers. He’s back in the lineup this weekend and ready to go as the Nittany Lions travel to No. 5 Michigan on Friday for a match that will be televised on the Big Ten Network. Sunday, Penn State wrestles at Michigan State.

Of course, Penn State has taken some adjustment. Truax woke up Wednesday to find it was 7 degrees outside. His apartment was covered in snow.

“I miss waking up with the sun in my face, but this is the best place in the world for wrestling,” Truax said. “The energy for athletics is off the charts.”

More wrestling

• Jaden Abas (Rancho Bernardo), a redshirt senior at Stanford, is 8-6 at 149 pounds. Jason Miranda (Poway), a senior, is 11-5 at 141 pounds

• Cal Bapist senior Chaz Hallmark (Scripps Ranch) is 7-5 at 149 pounds.

Men’s basketball

• Phillip Willis (Maranatha Christian) leads 12-5 Vanguard in scoring at 13.7 points per game. A graduate student, the guard also leads the team with 5.6 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 46.2 percent (49 of 93) on 3-pointers. For his career, Willis has played 116 games with 1,460 points, 397 rebounds, 213 assists and 167 steals. Jackson Larsen (Christian/San Diego City College) is averaging 1.2 points and 4.3 rebounds and has started all 17 games.

• Jailen Nelson (Carlsbad) is averaging 13.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game for 6-8 Cal State Monterey Bay. He scored a season high 26 points vs. Central Washington.

• Tommy Griffiths (La Costa Canyon), a 6-7 senior forward, is having a big season for 12-2 Cal Lutheran. He’s averaging 9.8 points per game and leads the team with 5.7 rebounds a game. He’s also No. 1 with 14 blocked shots. He had a season high 20 points vs. Chapman.

• Freshman guard Kristian Gonzalez (Mater Dei Catholic) has played in 14 games for 7-9 Idaho and is averaging 4.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. He had a career high 11 points last week vs. Portland State.

• Junior guard AJ Burgin (San Diego High) has played in all 17 games for 6-11 Idaho State. He’s averaging 4.0 points and 1.5 rebounds per game; he scored a season-high 10 points against Warner Pacific.

• Two-time CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year Jurian Dixon (St. Augustine) is redshirting at UC Irvine. Cyprian Hyde (Vista), a 6-foot-11 freshman center, is redshirting at Portland.

Arizona forward Breya Cunningham (25) shoots over Texas forward Taylor Jones (44) during the second half of their Dec. 13 game.

(Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)

Women’s basketball

• Freshman center Breya Cunningham and point guard Jada Williams of La Jolla Country Day are off to great starts for 10-7 Arizona. Cunningham is averaging 8.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and leads the Wildcats with 36 blocked shots. She had a career high 18 points vs. Northern Arizona, and grabbed 10 rebounds against NAU and UC San Diego. Williams is averaging 8.2 points and 1.4 rebounds per game and has dished 40 assists. She had a career-high 18 points against Seattle.

• Mazatlan Harris (Cathedral Catholic), a junior forward, is averaging 4.4 points and 3.4 rebounds while starting 14 games for 8-8 UC Davis.

• Sara Ahmadpour (Mission Hills/Palomar College) has started 12 games for 7-6 Humboldt State. She’s averaging 8.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and scored a season-high 21 points against Concordia Irvine.

• Deajanae Harvey (Granite Hills/Palomar College) is averaging 7.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game as a senior at 10-8 Fresno State. A two-time Southern California Community College Player of the Year, Harvey scored a career-high 19 points vs. San Diego State.

• Aliyah Anderson (El Camino), a sophomore swing player, is averaging 12.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for 7-8 Redlands. She scored a season high 25 points vs. Pomona Pitzer. Nataly Bravo (Mount Miguel) has played in eight games and is averaging 3.8 points and 1.4 rebounds.

In the NFL

Two local players have been named to play in the Feb. 4 Pro Bowl.

• Linebacker Fred Warner (Mission Hills/BYU) of the San Francisco 49ers finished the regular season with 107 tackles and four interceptions in 13 games. In a six-year NFL career, Warner has 741 tackles and eight interceptions. He was the CIF San Diego Section Defensive Player of the Year in 2012.

• Rashid Shaheed (Mt. Carmel/Weber State) of the New Orleans Saints was named to the Pro Bowl as a return specialist. A receiver, he had 46 catches for 719 yards and five TDs. He returned 18 kickoffs for 384 yards and 25 punts for 339 yards and a TD. He was a four-time All-American at Weber State, finishing with 5,478 all-purpose yards.

John Maffei’s Alumni Report appears during the college seasons. Readers are encouraged to submit information to john.maffei@sduniontribune.com