Penn State wrestling eyeing NCAA record in 2024

Penn State wrestling dominated No. 18 Oregon State on Friday night to improve to 3-0 in duals on the season. We saw multiple true freshmen at key weight classes pick up upset wins as the Nittany Lions flexed their lineup depth. With these new contributors in tow, do Cael Sanderson and Penn State have a chance to break a significant NCAA Championship record in 2024?

Emergence of Braeden Davis and Tyler Kasak

Penn State wrestling entered the Oregon State dual on Friday night with some questions at both 125 and 149. The question of who would step up at 125 has been a long-standing issue in recent years under Cael Sanderson, but Braeden Davis appears to finally be the answer.

The true freshman Davis is off to a 9-0 start to the season, including an 11-6 upset win over No. 15 Brandon Kaylor on Friday night. The Nittany Lions may finally have someone who will not only make the NCAA Tournament, but can score some points once he gets there.

It is a different situation at 149, where true freshman Tyler Kasak is looking to earn the starting role after national title contender Shayne Van Ness was ruled out for the season a few weeks ago with an injury. Kasak also picked up an upset decision over No. 11 Nash Singleton of Oregon State and is 5-1 on the season.

An NCAA record is back within reach for Penn State wrestling

The Nittany Lions have had plenty of success in the NCAA Championships during the Cael Sanderson coaching tenure. Penn State wrestling has won 10 of the past 12 national titles, with plenty of individual champions. But there is still one record that Penn State has yet to achieve: the NCAA Championship points record.

Iowa currently holds the points record of 170 set back in 1997. The highest Penn State wrestling has scored was 146.5 in the 2017 tournament. Only five times in NCAA Championship history has a team gone over 150 points. Four were achieved by Iowa (1983, 1986, 1991, 1997) and one by Oklahoma State (2005).

Entering the season, it was looking like a strong possibility that Penn State had a shot at the 170-point record, given its seven national title contenders. The Nittany Lions entered with four wrestlers ranked No. 1, three wrestlers ranked No. 2, and one wrestler ranked No. 4. With Van Ness out, it looked like that possibility was over. But getting production from Kasak at 149 and Davis at 125 puts the possibility back on.

It is still too early to see just how good the two true freshmen will be this year. Both could find themselves ranked by the time the NCAA Tournament rolls around. That isn’t even accounting for redshirt freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink, who is off to a 10-0 start and has been steadily climbing in the rankings at 165. If the three freshmen continue to win and improve, not only is breaking 150 points a possibility, but the all-time points record may not be as far out of reach.

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