Penn State wrestling: Cael Sanderson not worried about veteran wrestlers after surprise upsets

Penn State wrestling dominated No. 17 Ohio State 28-9 on Friday night. However, the night wasn’t successful for a few top-five Nittany Lion wrestlers, as Aaron Nagao and Bernie Truax both suffered surprising upsets during the dual. What did Cael Sanderson have to say about the futures of Nagao and Truax moving forward?

Nagao will “keep getting better” after tough stretch

Aaron Nagao has had a tough past two weeks. The 133-pounder lost his third match of the season on Friday night, this time to No. 12 Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State. It was his second loss in his last three matches. He now holds an 8-3 record and will most likely fall outside of the top five when the latest rankings are updated this week.

Nagao has been solid this year, but has struggled against better competition. On Friday, he quickly fell behind 9-2 in the first period and couldn’t battle all the way back, falling 13-7 to Bouzakis.

Despite the difficult stretch, Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson remains positive that Nagao will continue to get better as the season progresses. “He’s going to keep getting better,” Sanderson said following the match on Friday. “He does everything right. His best matches are going to be when they count the most. We believe that 100 percent. I feel bad for him. But it’s all practice.”

Past Penn State wrestlers have had a tendency to perform at their highest level in the NCAA Tournament, often finishing higher than their seeding. Last season,  Aaron Nagao finished fifth at the NCAAs. It wouldn’t be surprising if he reached the podium again in March, although a national title might be a little bit out of reach.

Cael Sanderson not concerned with Truax following shocking pin

Transfer Bernie Truax has been a steady force for Penn State wrestling this year, posting an 8-2 record. But his second loss came Friday by fall to unranked Ryder Rogotzke of Ohio State at the 3:59 mark of the match.

It seemed Truax was in complete control early in the dual, leading 9-4 in the second period. But then the graduate transfer got caught in a bad position, and he ended up on his back for the pin.

While Cael Sanderson admitted that some adjustments to technique may be required, overall, he isn’t concerned about Truax’s surprising pin.

“I thought Bernie was wrestling really well. Hit a couple nice takedowns,” he expressed. “We probably need to challenge those positions a little bit. I think we were just kind of flee the position a little bit more instead of holding our ground and relying on the fundamentals. That stuff happens. It’s sports.” 

Bernie Truax was looking good and having success offensively this season, as Sanderson mentioned. Getting away from fundamentals can flip a match on its head in a hurry, and we saw that Friday. Sometimes, things just don’t go your way, no matter how talented of a wrestler you are.

But Truax has the talent to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament. He has finished fourth in the last three seasons at three different weight classes, with only three losses in each season. He subsequentially transferred into the Penn State wrestling program to try and get to the next level and win a national title. Often losses like Truax had on Friday can be a good learning experience and help a wrestler later in the postseason.

Penn State wrestling will next travel to Iowa for a highly anticipated matchup with the Hawkeyes this Friday at 9 p.m. The dual will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

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