Penn State kicked off its 2024 recruiting class Friday in a big way. 

U17 World bronze medalist Zack Ryder, the #6 prospect on the ‘24 Big Board, announced on Instagram that he’s committed to the Nittany Lions. 

“I am extremely excited and blessed to announce that I will be furthering my athletic and academic career at Penn State University,” Ryder wrote. “I’d like to thank everyone who has supported me and helped me get to the point I’m at right now in life. I am honored to be joining the legacy at Penn State and to be given the opportunity to help carry on that legacy. We just getting started.” 

Penn State has piled up seven NCAA titles at 184 pounds since 2011, and Ryder figures to slot in somewhere around 184 by the time he arrives at Penn State. 

The three-time New York state champion won his first title as a 126-pound eighth-grader. Since then, he’s grown in size and stature, winning a Fargo title before coming out on top of a loaded 80-kilogram bracket this past spring at the U17 World Team Trials. That performance in Las Vegas moved him up in the rankings. He’s currently ranked second at 182 after losing in a tiebreaker to Brayden Thompson at Who’s Number One.