NCAA champ Cassar returning to Penn State

The Penn State wrestling program -- and its fans -- got some doubly big news Friday afternoon.

Current NCAA heavyweight champ Anthony Cassar will be returning to the Nittany Lions this fall to continue his collegiate wrestling career ... and train for the 2020 Olympic Team Trials, which is expected to be held at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Arena.

"After much thought and prayer, I've decided that I will be returning for another year of college wrestling as I prepare for the 2020 Olympic Trials," Cassar posted on Instagram Friday. "Let's run it back!"

That message from Cassar was a good-news follow-up to reports from last week that the New Jersey native had been granted two more seasons of collegiate eligibility ... but, at that time, did not commit to returning to Penn State.

"I knew there was a chance I could get zero, one or two years back and I was prepared to roll with it either way," Cassar told NJ.com at the time. "The school has been working on it for a couple years, so it was great to get two years back."

In that NJ.com interview last week, Cassar continued, "It's not 100 percent right now, but I'm leaning towards wrestling for Penn State next year. Nothing is out of the equation for me, but I'm not looking too far ahead. Not having those four years of starting, it would be nice to have another couple matches in front of the Rec Hall crowd. It's really just an honor to compete there. I'll do what's best for me."

Penn State fans at Rec Hall -- the school's iconic wrestling home -- and throughout the U.S. will no doubt welcome the return of Cassar. As a first-year starter in 2018-19, Cassar tallied a 30-1 record over the course of the season, culminating by winning the 285-pound crown at both the 2019 Big Ten conference championships and at the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Pittsburgh.