Rivals100 OL Alex Birchmeier commits to Penn State
Penn State has restarted its Class of 2023 with a Rivals100 recruit.
The Nittany Lions landed Ashburn, Va., four-star offensive tackle Alex Birchmeier on Thursday.
A 6-foot-5, 275-pound prospect, the junior picked head coach James Franklin's program over offers from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, and nearly 30 other schools.
“I feel like I have a great relationship with them," Birchmeier told BWI earlier this year. "Me, [Phil Trautwein] and Coach [Ty] Howle have become pretty close.
"When Coach Trautwein was at Boston College, I looked at some of the accomplishments he had there and it was pretty cool to see. He had a lot of success there with his offensive linemen there.”
Mega Barnwell was originally Penn State's first Class of 2023 commitment back in June 2020, but the Virginia four-star tight end backed away from his pledge this past January to explore all of his available options. He recently put the Lions in his top group of schools, and Birchmeier is the first junior to pick PSU since then.
Birchmeier is a multi-sport standout with extreme athleticism; in addition to the obvious football talent, he also won a Virginia High School League Class 4 state championship in wrestling this past winter.
More: Harvard OL Spencer Rolland opens up about transfer to Penn State
The Lions have not been shy about their appreciation for recruits who excel in multiple activities: Current starting defensive tackle PJ Mustipher was also a state champion wrestler (albeit in Maryland), for example, and numerous members of the Penn State Class of 2021 excelled in basketball, track, and baseball.
“I’ve been wrestling since before I played football, so I love it,” Birchmeier told BWI. "It’s really helped me with football in a lot of ways.
"Staying low, staying balanced and moving other people are important in both sports, so that transitions a lot between the two. I think wrestling has really helped turn me into a better football player, for sure.”
Penn State has three offensive linemen committed to it in the current recruiting cycle. It signed two in the Class of 2020 (though only Landon Tengwall remains after Nate Bruce left the school), which means more players in the trenches will be sought in the next class.
The Lions are now one of 14 schools to hold at least one Class of 2023 commitment.
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