With a wrestling tripleheader in Nashville on Sunday, Penn State will end the season and probably set a program record.
At 3, 5, and 7 p.m., respectively, the top-ranked Nittany Lions will play Binghamton, Little Rock, and Missouri at the Ensworth First campus, a high school located roughly 15 miles southwest of Nashville.
The Collegiate Duals is the event, and Lock Haven, Ohio State, Iowa State, and North Carolina make up the four-team pod competing on Saturday. Rokfin will stream the games on Saturday and Sunday, and the Penn State Sports Network will broadcast Penn State games.
In each of the three games, Penn State will be the favorite, and a victory over Binghamton would tie the school’s winning run of 60 games. On November 22, 2019, that run came to an end in a 19–18 defeat to Arizona State. Since a 19–17 loss at Iowa on January 31, 2020, which was approximately 1,785 days ago today, the Lions have not suffered a loss.
Naturally, a victory over Arkansas-Little Rock on Sunday would shatter that record. If the Lions’ success keeps increasing this season, they’ll probably leave Nashville with a 62-game winning streak and a chance to surpass Oklahoma State’s record of 76 straight games at some point next year.
Nashville’s weekend highs are only about 40 degrees, but it’s a far cry from chilly, windy State College. Even though head coach Cael Sanderson smiled this week and stated he wouldn’t mind a trip to a Waffle House, there won’t be much tourism in the country music hotspot as he and his team view it as just another business trip.
The Tigers’ top-ranked Keegan O. Toole is scheduled to play Penn State’s second-ranked Levi Haines at 174 on Sunday night versus Missouri, making it an intriguing trip in terms of individual matchups. Both, O Toole at 165 and Haines at 157, advanced in weight class this season after winning NCAA titles the previous year.
There are many exciting matches, and some of them have the potential to be NCAA semifinals or finals, so those are the exciting ones, Sanderson said. We’re excited for Levi because he has the potential to wrestle a national champion; it’s good stuff. Every match has a purpose, and you just kind of offer your best.
O Toole expressed his excitement for his match against Haines this week. In a September World Team Trials freestyle match, Haines defeated the opponent 6-0 with two takedowns, a pushout point, and a point off the shot clock (passivity). The two have only faced each other once.
Josh Barr at 197 might have a busy weekend as well. No. 3 Rocky Elam of Missouri and No. 5 Stephen Little of Little Rock are scheduled to face the sixth-ranked redshirt freshman, though Elam is recovering from an injury and it’s unclear if he will compete.
“As a competitor and a young man, I believe it’s good to just get his hands on some of the best guys in the country and then go from there.” “Barr has already won some good matches this year, as we all know, but I think the more good matches he gets in, the better he’s going to get,” Sanderson said. He will compete fiercely and react well. And it will benefit him no matter what happens.
Another battle to watch would be the Little Rock showdown at 133 between No. 3-ranked Nasir Bailey and Braeden Davis of Penn State. “There’s great competition,” Sanderson said of Davis, adding that he was an All-American there and might be a huge match at the nationals. He performed admirably on Sunday and simply moved through positions a little bit more effectively. We’re only looking for small steps for everyone, but he has a big weekend with some excellent competition.
“We’re thrilled to play against three strong teams,” Sanderson continued. Every man faces different difficulties. And for us, it really just comes down to doing what we do and improving at it. That’s why wrestling is such a fantastic sport. You see what we can do with the fact that each person is little different and distinct.
WEEKEND NOTES: Sanderson was unsure if the scorebook would include substitutions or if the ten starters would play in all three games. Additionally, the head coach reported that Alex Facundo (157), who was injured during last Sunday’s game versus Wyoming at the Jordan Center, was using crutches. Facundo would be off the mat for a few weeks, but he didn’t think surgery would be required. The wrestlers, some from Nashville and some from State College, will depart for Christmas break after the team leaves for Nashville on Friday night. Sanderson also mentioned Little Rock and the rapid advancements made by that program. According to him, they are reliable throughout the lineup, and their accomplishments are quite remarkable. When asked about the success of the Penn State football and women’s volleyball teams, Sanderson responded that everyone benefits from one another.
Penn State is the brand that we are all attempting to establish. “Penn State Athletics, Penn State University,” he stated. We collaborate, we know each other, and we all work together to solve problems.
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