For the past few decades, Penn State wrestling has been voiced by one man and one man only, Mr. Jeff “Ironhead” Byers. This iconic Penn State figure has voiced many of the program’s legendary takedowns, near escapes, and championship-winning moments. To his listeners, Byer’s narration is nothing short of memorable, as he is a proud ambassador of the wrestling program. 

Byers’ connection to the sport began as a child growing up in State College. As the son of a high school wrestling coach, he was involved with wrestling from the start.

“My dad was an assistant high school coach at Penn Valley down the road when I was a toddler, so I grew up around the sport and loved it. We even started going to Penn State matches when I was a young,” said Byers.

Naturally, Byers decided to attend Penn State, where he began his communications career. Initially, Byers was a journalism major with hopes of becoming a sports writer. But after spending the summer working at the college radio station, WPSU, Byers made the career switch. 

“I had a buddy who got involved that first summer with the campus radio station, and said they were looking for other people to help out over the summer,” said Byers. “I went up and did that. I pretty quickly fell in love with radio as a medium and just the opportunities that were provided at WPSU.”

While working at WPSU, Byers began covering all Penn State sports, including wrestling. His work caught the attention of Jerry Fisher, who had a wrestling show at the time. When Fisher left for television work, Byers was asked to run the wrestling show.

“I loved the sport, followed it closely,” said Byers. “When Fisher got asked to do TV, he asked if I would fill in for him on the radio. I did and loved it. Then he let me help out a couple more times later that year with some of the broadcasts. Then the following year, he focused on women’s basketball, so I mainly covered wrestling. My first year out of Penn State, I actually started doing all of the home and away meets, and it was just kind of right place at the right time,” said Byers.

Byers still remembers his first broadcast as lead announcer, Penn State vs. Iowa. 

“Penn State had a very good team and actually pulled the upset that night,” said Byers. “It was kind of like that Penn State vs Ohio State 2016 football game being your first broadcast experience. I was thrown into the fire as far as, yeah, this is what big-time wrestling is all about.”

Since that monumental moment for the program, Byers has done his best to keep his announcing fresh and entertaining for his listeners. 

“I really just want to try to paint the scene, the gym, the mat, the singlets, but really kind of focus in on the action that the wrestlers are engaged in,” exclaimed Byers.

When preparing for big matches such as the NCAA Tournament, Byers keeps it old-school. 

“I still like to write stuff down,” said Byers. “I like having the physical note cards. I go back after each weekend and I’ll update the notes on the Penn State kids, and then I’ll put in all of the information that I can find on the opposing kid.”

Byers also likes to attend at least one practice a week during the season to get a first-hand look at the players’ progress. Byers believes this step is essential to delivering a high-quality broadcast to his audience. 

When asked about the biggest challenge of announcing Penn State wrestling, Byers replied, “It’s trying to get the stories in or little tidbits without missing any of the action. Sometimes, figuring out the timing is difficult because you don’t know when the action is coming or when the big move is coming.”

In those moments, Byers takes a moment to backtrack, describe the play-by-play, and then resumes his storytelling. One match Byers described as “pure storytelling” was Bo Nickel’s famous win over Ohio State’s Myles Martin in 2018.  

“Bo Nichols’ match with Miles Martin, where he gets the pin that wins the national title for himself, but also secured the team race for Penn State… that’s certainly just one of those signature storytelling moments you get to see once in your career,” said Byers.

For those who want to get involved in sports broadcasting, Byers’ advice is to take advantage of all the resources around you. 

“Go talk to the coaches, the Penn State coaches, and even some of the high school coaches locally; they’ll open up a practice to you if you tell them what you want to do and why you want to do it,” said Byers. “Take advantage of any opportunity, even if it’s a sport that you have no interest in. Also, keep yourself up to date in terms of broadcasting the sport, and obviously, whatever sport it is you want to broadcast.”