Penn State wrestler’s title hopes improve after Crookham injury news

Braeden Davis has had an up-and-down year, dealing with multiple injuries and picking up a few losses on the mat. The sophomore is 8-3 on the season and holds just a 27.27% bonus. Yet, despite the uncertainty on how close to 100% he is as Penn State wrestling heads into the postseason, Davis now finds himself as one of the top contenders in the 133-pound weight class.

This week, Lehigh’s Ryan Crookham announced he would not be wrestling again this season after sustaining an elbow injury early in the year. The Mountain Hawks hoped that the No. 1 ranked wrestler would return for the EIWA and NCAA Championships.

Bummer: @ryan_crookham confirms he'll be out for the postseason. pic.twitter.com/LwPHIyyDNH

— Justin Basch (@JustinJBasch) March 4, 2025

The news created an opening at the top of the NCAA Tournament bracket at 133, a void that Davis can now fill.

Davis moves up in the latest rankings

Despite only wrestling five matches, Crookham held the No. 1 spot in the InterMat rankings at 133 pounds all season. He was the odds-on favorite to win the national title if he could return from the injury he suffered in December.

However, following Tuesday’s announcement, Crookham has been removed from the latest InterMat rankings. As a result, Davis moved back into the top five heading into the weekend’s Big Ten Championships.

Crookham beat Davis 4-1 when Penn State wrestling and Lehigh faced off in December. The field now opens up for new No. 1 Drake Ayala (Iowa) and No. 2 Lucas Byrd (Illinois), both of whom already have wins over the Nittany Lion sophomore.

Yet, one less top contender could shake up the path to a national championship appearance for Davis. Barring any upsets this weekend, Davis should see his seeding at the NCAAs improve as a result of Crookham’s absence.

From the team perspective, Penn State wrestling would if Davis advanced another round. The Nittany Lions are looking to win their fourth consecutive NCAA Championship for the third time under Cael Sanderson and possibly break the points record of 172.5 set by last year’s team.

Big Ten Championships await Penn State wrestling

We will see exactly how healthy Braeden Davis is when Penn State wrestling travels to the Big Ten Championships in Evanston, Illinois, this weekend.

On Wednesday, Davis was pre-seeded at No. 4 in a loaded field. Four of the top five wrestlers in the country at 133 are from the Big Ten. To repeat his performance from 125 pounds last year, Davis will have to contend with title hopefuls like Ayala, Byrd, and Braxton Brown (Maryland).

Based on the pre-seeding, Davis should expect to face Andrew Hampton (Michigan State), No. 10 Dylan Shawver (RU), Ayala, and Byrd to reach the Final. The path will be challenging, and there certainly could be some upsets along the way. But whoever emerges from Northwestern’s campus victorious after Sunday will have a strong enough resume to earn the No. 1 overall seed at the NCAA Championships in a few weeks.

The Big Ten Championships begin on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. on BTN.

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