Photo: Tony Rotundo

It's official: Marcus Blaze is moving up to 141.

Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson confirmed the move at his press conference on Tuesday ahead of Thursday's season opener against Bloomsburg, and he also announced that two Nittany Lions will miss the season to serve religious missions.

"Just confirming Marcus Blaze is wrestling 141. I feel like it was a good move for him personally, and obviously a really strong move for our team as well."

Why Blaze Is Moving Up

Blaze is coming off a World bronze at 61kg in Astana, and Cael said the move is about where he's headed long term, with the Olympics in mind:

"He's just getting a little bit bigger and he's very disciplined in his life. So he could do what he needed to do to get down to 33, but we feel like it was a good move for him. It just makes sense. He'll be a good size 41-pounder, we're not worried about his size."

"In the long term, as a guy that's planning on wrestling 65kg with this upcoming Olympic year, the move up makes a lot of sense for him."

Blaze steps right into a loaded weight. InterMat's newest rankings have him #3 at 141, behind #1 Bo Bassett and #2 Luke Stanich, who met in Bassett's college debut last Friday.

Penn State is still working on when Blaze makes his 141 debut, and Cael said several wrestlers would "love the green light" to compete there in the meantime.

Ono at 133?

With Blaze out of 133, Masa Ono and Nate Desmond are the two front-runners there. Asked if fans will see Ono on Thursday, Cael said, "Possibly, yeah, possibly," adding that the lineup isn't set yet, but "he was wrestling 33."

Cael also praised how Ono has handled the move to folkstyle and a new country:

"He's had to put in a lot of time in class. He's gotten A's and he's worked really hard. He can wrestle folkstyle. I don't see him get taken down too much, and he's wrestling really, really good guys."

He said Ono's goal is to be an NCAA champion, and that the NCAA's eligibility changes probably affect Ono "more than anybody" because of the timing of Japan's Olympic selection process.

Henckel and Cole Mirasola Leave on Missions

Cael also announced that Will Henckel and Cole Mirasola will take religious mission years and won't be on the roster this season.

"Both just strong men of faith, and I felt like it'd be a good opportunity for them to go out there and, their personal decisions, obviously go out there and share that with the world this year."

Cole's twin brother, Connor Mirasola, who won a U23 national title at heavyweight, is ready to take over at 285. Cael said Connor is now bigger than Cole:

"He's made the transition to heavyweight already. He's big and strong. I'm actually really excited, probably like everyone else, to see him compete at heavyweight."

On Levi Haines

Asked about Levi Haines after last week's 10th Circuit ruling, Cael said Penn State is still deciding the next step, and that he found out about the ruling from his wife:

"It doesn't make a lot of sense to give some kids the year and some kids don't give them the year. But yeah, I think we're kind of trying to decide how we proceed from here."

Cael said a separate individual lawsuit sounds like the next step if Haines wants to pursue a fifth year, and that Haines will "be around the program either way." Without Haines, Cael confirmed the expected lineup shift: PJ Duke moves up to 165 and Mitchell Mesenbrink moves up to 174.

Watch the Full Press Conference

Penn State opens its season Thursday, Nov. 12, against Bloomsburg at Rec Hall (7 p.m. ET, B1G+).