By the time practice ends, Tyler Kasak has spent the afternoon wrestling some of the toughest opponents he will face all year. That’s the reality of training at Penn State.

Every day brings another battle against NCAA champions, All-Americans, and Olympic gold medalists. The Penn State wrestling room is unforgiving — a place where even the smallest mistake is quickly exposed.  

For two hours, Kasak is immersed in one of the most demanding training environments in college sports.  

Then he leaves.  

He gathers his practice gear and steps out of the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex into the late afternoon bustle of Penn State’s campus. As he drives away from downtown State College, the buildings give way to open fields, and the pressure of competing for national titles gradually fades into the quiet of central Pennsylvania.   

When Kasak arrives at his destination just about 20 minutes later, he is met by a herd of Boer goats. Some are loud and eager the moment they see him, while others hang back, content to watch from a distance.

Kasak knows all of them. Their personalities, their habits, and the little quirks that make each of them different.   

“When I show up at the goat farm, they have no idea what kind of day I had, nor do they care,” Kasak said. “They simply need someone to take care of them.”  

And for an hour or two each day, that’s exactly what Tyler Kasak does.   

Growing up on a farm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, caring for livestock was part of Kasak’s life long before he became one of Penn State wrestling’s rising stars.

His family’s farm was home to goats, chickens, pigs, and cows, giving Kasak an early understanding of the responsibilities that come with caring for animals. Along with the farm, his father, Joel Kasak, also owns a butcher shop that processes beef and pork. 

Though Kasak inherited a strong work ethic and a life around livestock from his family, wrestling was not part of the family tradition.

His father was never a big wrestler, only dabbling in the sport in middle school; however, many of his friends were wrestlers and encouraged him to get his kids involved.  

“I was kind of just an energetic and strong kid. I played soccer and was always aggressive, so my parents decided to put me in wrestling and see what I could do,” Kasak shared.  

As time passed, it became apparent that Kasak not only loved the sport but also had a future in it.

Throughout his three years wrestling at Bethlehem Catholic High School, he boasted an impressive 79-3 record. He finished first in his district and region all three years and also claimed a state title in the 2020-21 season.

After committing to wrestle at Penn State, Kasak decided to forgo his senior season and move to State College full-time to begin training with the Nittany Lion wrestling club.   

Not long after, Kasak’s family relocated to State College as well. The move not only allowed the family to remain close but also opened a new chapter for his younger brother, Nate, who will wrestle at State College High School this coming year alongside Teag Sanderson, the son of Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson.  

The brothers have always shared a close bond, with Kasak serving as both a role model and mentor. Having spent the past few years around the Penn State team, Nate quickly developed relationships with many of the coaches and teammates who helped shape his brother’s development.  

“He has been around the guys for the past couple of years, and he gets along with them well. I think that has helped him fall in love with the sport even more,” Kasak said.  

Now, after helping introduce him to the Penn State wrestling community and exposing him to the sport at the highest level, Kasak will have a front-row seat to watch his younger brother create his own success.     

As excited as he is to watch his younger brother continue his wrestling career in State College, the moment represents something bigger than the sport itself. It is a reminder of Kasak’s dedication to his family and the sacrifices they are all willing to make to support one another’s goals.  

“You know, my siblings and I were always raised to support each other in everything we do,” Kasak said. “There are not many people who I feel have my best interests at all times, and I feel like I never have to second-guess it with my family. They’re never going to say anything negative, and they’re always here to support me.”  

Through that support, Kasak learned firsthand from his parents about the food industry and what it takes to run a successful business, which ultimately sparked the idea to launch his own business. 

“The stars kind of aligned, with the resources and ability to actually execute a plan. When that all got figured out, it was kind of a no-brainer,” Kasak said.  

Pursuing a business venture followed the same blueprint that has guided much of Kasak’s wrestling career. He sets an ambitious goal, shares it with his family, and trusts they will be there to help him navigate the path forward.  

“There is no mountain too high and no valley too low for me to accomplish what I want to do because I know my family is there to help me,” Kasak said. “The only thing my family ever really asks for from me is that I put my best effort forward.”  

Kasak eventually launched his business, Nitt Food, which features homemade salsa, barbecue sauce, dry rub, and, most notably, the Nitt Stick meat snack.

Each product was developed by Kasak and his family in their own kitchen. So, while the products are now sold under his brand, their origins remain deeply tied to the people who made the business possible in the first place.  

“It was really fun trying a bunch of different recipes and tinkering with ingredients to figure out what we all liked,” Kasak said. “It was just a great experience as far as spending time with family and trying different foods.”  

For Kasak, the recipes are an opportunity for him to share the traditions that helped define his childhood. One of the recipes was already a household favorite long before Nitt Food ever existed.  

“The dry rub is a seasoning that my mom and dad made themselves. It used to be called J&J because Mom’s name is Janeice and my dad’s name is Joel,” Kasak explained. “They would put it on everything, and I pretty much grew up on it, so that was already set in stone as something I knew I wanted to sell.” 

While creating his products for Nitt Food, Kasak spent a lot of time in his father’s butcher shop. One day, a friend of his father came into the butcher shop and told the family about a property he had hunted on in State College.

That property was owned by a man named Frank Downey. Kasak was invited to hunt on Downey’s property and eventually became close with him.  

“I met Frank, and he took me around the property, and it kind of started from there,” Kasak said. “I think some of my best memories at Penn State have been on his property.” 

Through conversations with Downey, Kasak decided to take another step in his interest in food and agriculture: raising goats. 

“I was always attracted to the Boer goat because they are a big and strong type of goat,” Kasak shared. “It’s always been something that fascinated me, and it’s a big and fast-growing industry.” 

The Boer goat is a meat breed from South Africa that originally came to the United States in the early 2000s. However, Kasak doesn’t use them for meat. He uses them as show goats.

In his operation, Kasak raises the goats and sells their offspring to younger kids and families looking to get started in the show-goat world.   

During the school year, Kasak’s routine rarely changes. He wakes up, goes to class, attends practice in the early afternoon, and then heads to the farm, where he spends a few hours caring for his goats.  

“You kind of just have to focus on them for an hour or two a day, and it allows you to kind of forget about your problems,” Kasak shared. “They have a lot of personality to them, so they’re always nice to hang out with.” 

There is little separation between Kasak’s different passions.

Wrestling practice ends where farm work begins, and somewhere in between, he finds time to run a business. The schedule is relentless, but it isn’t one he carries alone.   

“The way I manage everything is that I pretty much make it my life. I like to try to cut out all the distractions I can,” Kasak said.

“It gets hard to juggle, but I am not just a one-man army. I have a great team of people around me, not just on the mat but off the mat, who help me with each and every thing that I am involved in, so it takes a little bit of the weight off of it.” 

Each part of Kasak’s life serves a different purpose, and by the end of the day, he finds fulfillment in more ways than one.  

“I just like to do things that I am passionate about, and I think that when you do things that you are passionate about, it doesn’t feel like a homework assignment. It feels like something you get to do rather than something you have to do,” Kasak said.  

That passion has been a driving force throughout Kasak’s entire career on the mat. It was never about building dominance, but about building a foundation for growth, success, and the person he wanted to become.  

“When I came to Penn State, the biggest thing was honestly thinking about how I could use this opportunity to accomplish all of my goals, short-term and long-term,” Kasak said. “It was also about where I could grow as a human being. Obviously, I spend a lot of time with the guys on the team, and I know they are going to help me grow as a wrestler and person.” 

This past season, Kasak took advantage of his redshirt year to shift his focus toward international wrestling. While he hopes to return to the collegiate stage this season, he has no plans to step away from international competition.  

Kasak has plenty of plans for what comes next, both in wrestling and with his business ventures.  But rather than focusing on one specific goal, he aims to keep building on the opportunities he has created for himself. He is constantly reminded that at the center of it all is the sport that has shaped his life.  

“Without wrestling in my life as guidance, I don’t really know what I would be doing,” Kasak said.