Penn State wrestling: Tyler Kasak jumps into the top 3 of the national rankings

No. 1 Penn State wrestling hasn’t competed as a team since December 22, when the Nittany Lions participated in the Journeymen Duals. A few of the younger wrestlers had strong performances in the Southern Scuffle and Edinboro Open over the weekend, but the starters have had about three weeks of rest as the Big Ten dual schedule looms ahead.

Sometimes, it takes wrestlers losing around you to help improve your ranking – that is where Tyler Kasak finds himself heading into the second half of the season. This week, Kasak moved up one spot from No. 4 to No. 3 in InterMat’s latest 157-pound rankings.

The sophomore passed Antrell Taylor of Nebraska, who suffered his first loss of the season to then-No. 5 Ryder Downey of Northern Iowa in a 5-2 sudden victory. Taylor’s loss dropped him to 13-1 on the year.

Kasak and Taylor will face off in a dual on January 17 in Lincoln. That will start a challenging stretch for Kasak in what is probably the deepest weight in the Big Ten this season.

Kasak faces tough path as Penn State wrestling prepares for dual season

Currently, the Big Ten has eight of the top 11, including five of the top seven in InterMat’s 157-pound rankings.

No matter which way you slice it, Kasak will face multiple tough matchups throughout the dual season and into March. The sophomore’s future schedule includes No. 1 Jacori Teemer (Iowa), No. 5 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska), No. 6 Ethan Miller (Maryland), No. 9 Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State), No. 16 Chase Saldate (Michigan), No. 27 Jason Kraisser (Illinois), and No. 31 Conner Harer (Rutgers). That means that seven of Kasak’s eight Big Ten matches will be against a ranked opponent, with only Michigan State currently not featuring a ranked wrestler.

The path forward for Kasak is simple: come out of that schedule undefeated and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament is a guarantee. That will be a tall task for someone who just moved up to the weight class this season. However, it’s not an uncommon feat for a Cael Sanderson wrestler. But ultimately, the benefit to a difficult schedule is that Kasak can take a loss or two and still find himself ranked inside the top three or four when the season is over.

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