Penn State wrestling: Cael Sanderson updates timeline to name starter at key weight class

Penn State wrestling has national title contenders at almost every weight class so far this season. But as we pass the midway point of the dual season, the Nittany Lions still have questions about who is going to be the starter at 149 pounds for the remainder of the year. During media availability, Cael Sanderson gave an update on the status of the battle for the starting role between Tyler Kasak and David Evans ahead of Friday night’s dual against Ohio State.

Still no decision at 149

True freshman Tyler Kasak is currently ranked No. 12 at 149 with a 10-1 record this season. His only loss came to teammate Beau Bartlett in the Black Knight Invite at 141 in November. Kasak currently has a 45.45% bonus percentage in his 11 matches.

Junior David Evans is also having a successful season. Evans is 12-3 this season with a 40% bonus percentage. His most recent loss was a 4-2 decision to Tyler Kasak in the Mat-Town 2 Tournament in Lock Haven over the weekend.

So far this year, both wrestlers have shown that they could advance far in the NCAA Tournament. But will it be Tyler Kasak or David Evans who gets the nod for the remainder of the Nittany Lions’ dual season? According to Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, the decision doesn’t have to be made just yet.

“I think they both had three or four matches, which kind of helps their match count, and gives us a little bit of flexibility and takes a little bit of the urgency off of that decision,” Sanderson said on Tuesday. “But obviously head-to-head, and being in the same event, plays a big role in where we’ll go with it.

“This Sunday, obviously, was an important part of the process,” he continued. “But, now that they both were able to pick up some more matches, we have a little bit more flexibility in timing. It’s not something that we have to decide by Friday night. We could let it play out a week or two.”

Will Cael Sanderson burn Kasak’s redshirt?

Tyler Kasak was expected to redshirt this year and enter the 2024-25 season with four years of eligibility. Penn State was expected to start No. 2 Shayne Van Ness at 149 pounds this season. However, Van Ness went down with a season-ending injury, putting the starting spot up in the air.

The Nittany Lions don’t really need Kasak to start to win another National Championship. Currently, with him projected in the lineup, Penn State has more than double the NCAA Tournament projected points of second-place Iowa, according to InterMat. Additionally, if David Evans was named the starter, he would most likely be ranked somewhere within the top 20.

More importantly, Cael Sanderson doesn’t like to tip his hand with any of these decisions. We saw last year with Levi Haines that sometimes the public won’t know until the wrestler runs out on the mat for his fifth appearance.

While a starter likely won’t be named this week, the decision should be coming soon so either Kasak or David can build a resume for NCAA Tournament seeding.

Penn State wrestling returns to action Friday night against Ohio State inside Rec Hall at 6:30 p.m.

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