Penn State wrestling will look to win its fourth consecutive and 12th NCAA title in the past 14 seasons when the NCAA Championships begin in Philadelphia on Thursday. The Nittany Lions are heavy favorites to repeat as champions and possibly break their own NCAA points record from last year.
While most of the Penn State lineup is in the national title conversation at their weight class, 133-pounder Braeden Davis has fallen to the background, earning the No. 8 seed after an inconsistent regular season plagued by nagging injuries.
Despite the mixed results this year, Cael Sanderson is optimistic that Davis will be at his best when the NCAA tournament starts Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center.
“He’s been banged up this year. Davis, he’s shown that he can go with anybody,” Sanderson said on the Penn State Coaches show last week. “He hasn’t had a good stretch of time to train and get ready. This is the first stretch he’s had. So, you know, we’re expecting him to be at his best here in the national tournament.”
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Davis is 12-5 on the season, with six of those matches coming in the Big Ten Championships. He has beaten top wrestlers throughout the year, including No. 3 Nasir Bailey (Little Rock), No. 7 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State), and No. 9 Braxton Brown (Maryland).
However, Davis has been hampered by injury concerns since the start of the year. The sophomore was injured in the season opener against Drexel, scrapping out a 7-5 decision over Kyle Watterman. He missed the Black Knight Invitational and later appeared to tweak the injury during his 2-1 win over Rutgers’ Dylan Shawver on January 24. Davis sat out the next three duals before returning to the lineup on February 14. He also missed the regular-season finale against American to prepare for the Big Ten Championships.
Davis remains a question in Penn State wrestling’s quest for an All-American sweep
Last season, Davis earned the No. 1 overall seed after winning the Big Ten title at 125 pounds before losing in the NCAA Quarterfinals and later in the round of 12. He’ll look to improve upon that finish next week, seeded right on the cusps of All-American status.
Next week, Penn State wrestling will have an opportunity to be just the second team ever with all ten wrestlers earning All-American honors. Davis is the one question mark many believe will determine whether the Nittany Lions can achieve this milestone. If Davis reaches the Semifinals, he will likely face top seed Lucas Byrd (Illinois), who he lost to 7-1 on February 16.
We’ll find out how close Davis truly is to 100% when the NCAA Championships kick off at noon on Thursday.
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