TAKEAWAYS: Penn State wrestling caps another undefeated year with senior day blowout

Penn State wrestling cruised to its 71st consecutive dual win in a 50-3 victory over American on Friday evening. The Nittany Lions capped off their fifth straight undefeated season and will now look to prepare for the Big Ten and NCAA Championships this March.

What is there to take away from another dominant performance as Cael Sanderson sets his team’s sights on the postseason?

Tyler Kasak returns to the mat

Tyler Kasak wrestled after missing the previous two duals against Ohio State and Illinois with injury concerns. The sophomore had sustained an apparent head injury against Ethen Miller of Maryland on February 9. It was a welcomed sight for Penn State fans who were unsure the severity of the injury.

Kasak wore a foam protector over the stitching on his forehead, an upgrade over the typical bandaging that had previously been protecting the cut on his head. Depending on how quickly he heals, this could be a look that we continue to see in the postseason.

Ranked No. 1 at 157 pounds, Kasak’s only loss this season is to Miller. He likely won’t receive the top seed at the Big Ten Tournament as Miller is 20-0 on the year. However, Kasak will have a chance to earn the No. 1 seed for the NCAAs if he wins the conference title.

Kasak is a testimony to Cael Sanderson’s coaching prowess. While a highly rated recruit, he didn’t arrive in Happy Valley with expectations to compete for a national title immediately. Nevertheless, Kasak finished third at 149 as a true freshman in place of Shayne Van Ness. Now moving up another weight this year, the sophomore is a favorite to take home the title.

So far, I haven’t seen anything from Kasak to think he can’t be a multi-time National Champion, starting with this season.

Health questions for Braeden Davis still linger

Penn State 133-pounder Braeden Davis. © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Braeden Davis returned last week to compete against Ohio State and Illinois after missing three consecutive duals. He went 1-1 on the weekend and seemed to be back on the mat despite some conditioning concerns.

On Friday, Davis was once again out of the lineup. Instead, Kyison Garcia took the only loss of the dual for Penn State wrestling.

After the dual, Sanderson described Davis’s absence as precautionary. Though logical, the response offers more questions than answers heading into the postseason. How healthy will Davis be at both the Big Ten and NCAA Championships?

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This isn’t a Carter Starocci-like situation where the coaching staff knows if they can just get Davis to the NCAA Championships, he can battle through the injury to win it all. Despite winning the Big Ten title last year, Davis has yet to show he can compete for a National Championship. He got knocked out in the round of 12 last season at 125 and has been flirting with the All-American cut line at 133 this year.

It seems probable that Davis would again fall short of an All-American finish if not fully healthy. Not wrestling in the Big Ten Championships isn’t really an option, as he needs to earn some quality wins to make up for missed time during the regular season and improve his seeding.

If Davis gets as close to 100% as possible, I would say that a Semifinal finish is he ceiling this season. He has the ability to go on a run when wrestling well, but hasn’t fully shown the ability to win it all just yet.

Penn State wrestling is one step closer to another NCAA record

With Friday’s win, Cael Sanderson has Penn State wrestling one step closer to breaking a 74-year old record.

Oklahoma State won 76 consecutive duals between 1937 and 1951. By the time the 2025-26 season kicks off next winter, the record will have stood for three quarters of a century. However, the Nittany Lions will undoubtedly enter the year favored to smash the longstanding feat.

We don’t yet know what the schedule will look like for next season. But Penn State wrestling returns seven starters, all currently ranked inside the top 10: No. 9 Luke Lilledahl (125), No. 7 Braeden Davis (133), No. 2 Shayne Van Ness (149), No. 1 Tyler Kasak (157), No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), No. 2 Levi Haines (174), and No. 2 Josh Barr (197).

That lineup doesn’t even account for the insertion of new Nittany Lions, such as the highly-touted Mirasola twins. Even if they aren’t title contenders as first-year starters, both have the talent to compete for All-American spots in their second years on campus.

Once again, it already looks like it will be challenging to find any team that can compete head-to-head with Penn State wrestling next year. Even teams that hit the transfer portal hard this offseason – like Oklahoma State and Iowa – don’t seem capable with keeping up with the explosiveness of the Nittany Lions lineup for all 10 matches.

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