Ono's eligibility clock frozen by court fight, per Mineo
The Penn State legal challenge could hand Ono a free redshirt year he never had, according to Pat Mineo.
Ono's eligibility clock is reportedly not running while Penn State's court challenge sits unresolved, which means the wait itself could function as a free redshirt year, per Pat Mineo. Mineo says Ono was originally expected to have just one year of NCAA eligibility at Penn State, and that the year should already have been exhausted. Instead, Mineo reports Ono currently has two years in play while Cael Sanderson and Penn State push for three.
That is the twist on top of the case we covered earlier. The challenge was filed to secure additional eligibility. Mineo's read is that it may be doing something else at the same time, banking development time that does not cost a season.
He cannot compete until it is settled
The catch is the obvious one. Mineo reports Ono cannot compete until his eligibility situation is resolved, so every day the case sits is a day he is not in the lineup. No timeline for a ruling has been reported, and nobody has said when the court might act.
Mineo frames the whole thing as information shared with him rather than a filing he has read, so treat the two years versus three years split as one reporter's sourcing and not a settled outcome.
Why it matters
A Penn State lineup spot and a potential multi-year run at an NCAA title hang on which number the court lands on. One year, two years or three years are three very different versions of this roster, and the difference between them is currently sitting in a courtroom rather than on a mat.
Watch for any ruling or settlement in the Penn State challenge, and watch for whether Ono appears on the competition schedule at all this season. Until the case is resolved, per Mineo, he does not wrestle.
I’m told Ono currently has two years in play, while Cael Sanderson and Penn State are pushing for three.
the time spent waiting could effectively function as a free redshirt year that wasn’t previously available to him
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