You can take the boy out of Penn State, but you can’t take the Penn State out of the boy.

Former Penn State freshman sensation Nick Suriano might be sitting across from Cael Sanderson’s squad and wearing a scarlet singlet at the Rutgers Athletic Center Sunday, but make no mistake: He’s still very much a Penn Stater.

At the Scarlet Knights’ media availability Wednesday, Suriano firmly denied any rivalry between Penn State and Rutgers, as so many Nittany Lion fans have done for years.

“I don’t think it’s a rivalry. There’s gonna be a lot of hype, because they’re the No. 1 team in the country.” he said. “Rivalry? I don’t think so. It is what what it is. I left Penn State. Now, I’m at Rutgers, and we’re wrestling Penn State. It’s just another match”

Nick Suriano and Nick Gravina met with the media yesterday to discuss Sunday's matchup with Penn State.#RUWR | #RelentlessPursuit pic.twitter.com/eMCOrzBFTb

— Rutgers Wrestling (@RUWrestling) January 25, 2018

All this talk about who isn’t a rival and about treating every opponent the same sounds a lot like a certain football coach not named Chris Ash and is as cryptic as a sound bite from Cael Sanderson himself. When he was committed to and enrolled at Penn State, Suriano must’ve gotten a lot of experience responding to his insufferable friends from New Jersey, whose three favorite words rhyme with “Luck Men Kate” and can be heard at parties, on the streets of New Brunswick, and at football games that the Nittany Lions aren’t even playing in.

Suriano went on to elaborate that Rutgers has its hands full with his former teammates, who smacked the Scarlet Knights (37-6) last winter.

“They’re gonna come here to put on a show, score points, try some new moves, and win big,” he said. This is nothing anyone should be taking lightly. They’re the best team in the country for a reason.”