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Virginia's Top 2023 Prospect Commits to Penn State

Offensive lineman Alex Birchmeier restarts Penn State's 2023 recruiting class by announcing his commitment.

Mark Wogenrich

Alex Birchmeier, a highly regarded offensive lineman from Virginia, helped Penn State relaunch its 2023 recruiting class by announcing his commitment Thursday. Birchmeier revealed his decision on social media.

Birchmeier technically is the second player to commit to Penn State's 2023 recruiting class. Mathias "Mega" Barnwell was the first in 2020 but reopened his recruitment earlier this year.

Birchmeier, who attends Broad Run (Va.) High, represents a strong restart to the class. He is a 4-star prospect, per Rivals and 247Sports, a 6-5, 275-pound interior lineman with time and room to grow. According to 247Sports, Birchmeier is the top-ranked overall prospect in Virginia for the 2023 cycle, and also the No. 1 interior lineman in the country.

Birchmeier received offers from more than 30 schools, including Virginia and Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Florida, Georgia and Auburn. He no doubt won over Penn State coach James Franklin with his wrestling skill as well. As a sophomore, Birchmeier won the Virginia High School League Class 4 heavyweight wrestling title in February.

July continues to be a big month for Penn State recruiting, as the program has received commitments so far from seven players across two classes. The run included three July 4 commitments, followed by running back Nicholas Singleton's announcement July 6.

The stretch has made quarterback Drew Allar, a headliner of Penn State's 2022 recruiting class, sound quite prescient

"I think as a whole we’re really a truly a special class," Allar said at the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles earlier this month. "... And I feel like we're going to have a really big month and we're going to add a lot of huge players, so I'm looking forward to who ends up pulling the trigger next."

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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