Breaking down Penn State wrestling's 2025-26 schedule

With a stacked roster that includes two former champions, two NCAA finalists and four additional All-Americans, the Penn State wrestling team looks poised for another championship run in 2026. Here's a breakdown of the schedule that will take the Nittany Lions from their home opener against Oklahoma to the big stage in Cleveland in March. 

Penn State wrestling schedule

A home dual with Oklahoma and the Black Knight Invite fill November for the Nittany Lions

While most of the nation's top-10 teams will spend their November competing in newly launched version of the National Duals Invitational in Tulsa, the defending national champion Nittany Lions have a more low-key approach to the start of their season.

They'll host Oklahoma — a solid team with eight ranked wrestlers — at home on Nov. 14 and then compete in Army's Black Knight Invitational the following weekend. The Black Knight Invite has been a staple for Penn State for the last several seasons and has been a testing ground for emerging stars like 2025 NCAA finalist Josh Barr to compete for a starting spot. Two-time All-American Tyler Kasak also picked up a defining win over his then-teammate Alex Facundo at the Black Knight Invite last year to further solidify him as the starter. 

Lehigh offers a useful, early in-state challenge at the lightweights after Drexel dual 

Following the Black Knight Invite, Penn State will take on Drexel on the road on Dec. 5 before turning its attention to Lehigh at home on Dec. 7 for what has become a traditionally fun in-state battle. For the last three years, one of the big storylines during this dual was in the upperweights with former Nittany Lion turned Mountain Hawk Michael Beard wrestling a series of Penn State stars including Max Dean and Josh Barr. Beard has graduated, but this dual still holds serious intrigue, this time at the lowerweights.

Lehigh's boasts one of the best 1-2-3 punches at the lightweights with All-Americans Sheldon Seymour, Ryan Crookham and Luke Stanich at 125, 133 and 141, but Penn State should be able to trot out its own trio of stars in this dual for three electric top-10 matches.

U23 World Team member and 2025 third place finisher Luke Lilledahl will have the opportunity to jumpstart the Nittany Lions in a revenge match against Seymour at 125 pounds after losing to the Mountain Hawk at NCAAs, and his bout could be followed by U20 world champion Marcus Blaze of Penn State vs. All-American Ryan Crookham for the biggest collegiate match of Blaze's career.

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Penn State has options at 133 pounds, but true freshman Blaze will certainly add excitement to this deep lineup and quickly give Penn State another podium threat. Crookham is 37-2 in his collegiate career thus far with his only losses coming against 2023 world champion Vito Arujau of Cornell. If Blaze can stay competitive with the Lehigh sophomore, he could establish himself as a title threat right away. 

At 141 pounds, Lehigh has U20 world champion Luke Stanich, and Penn State has options. If All-American Braeden Davis takes the mat, he'll get an early season test against the No. 3 wrestler in the country. The fun part about this potential match is that both of these athletes competed at 125 pounds two years ago and have been on an upward trajectory together since then. Davis wrestled at 133 pounds last year and took fifth while Stanich redshirted as he began his ascent up in weight. This bout is one of just three weights where Lehigh is favored in the dual, so while a team win won't be riding on this result for Penn State, the stakes will still be there for Davis and Stanich as they look for an early season resume builder. 

Lehigh also has ranked wrestlers at 157 pounds in No. 23 Logan Rozynski, No. 12 Max Brignola at 165 pounds, No. 29 JT Davis at 197 pounds and No. 8 Nathan Taylor at heavyweight, the last of whom will be favored on paper against the Nittany Lions, though Penn State's No. 12 Cole Mirasola still poses a threat. 

Wyoming, North Dakota State and Stanford round out the earlyseason non-conference foes 

Penn State will travel west the weekend after hosting Lehigh for a battle in Laramie, Wyoming against the Cowboys on Dec. 13. The biggest weight to watch in this dual comes at 197 pounds where Wyoming boasts an All-American in No. 3 Joey Novak. Penn State's 197-pounder No. 1 Josh Barr has never wrestled Novak in college, so this will be a good early test for the sophomore Nittany Lion, who could see two top-10 opponents in the first semester in Novak and Oklahoma's No. 8 DJ Parker. 

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Seven days after wrestling the Cowboys, Penn State will arrive in Music City for the Collegiate Wrestling Duals, where the Nittany Lions are scheduled to take on North Dakota State and Stanford. Both teams have at least five ranked wrestlers, but the Cardinal in particular have a sneaky deep lineup with a few athletes primed for potential statement wins. Stanford's Nico Provo is expected to return to the lineup at 125 pounds, giving the Cardinal a sharp, podium threat up top and filling a problem weight for Stanford from last season. The best version of Nico Provo can win a national title, and he showed that when he won the 2023 Cliff Keen Invitational with wins over Matt Ramos, Jore Volk, Kysen Terukina, Brett Ungar and Trever Anderson. Now he'll likely face Luke Lilledahl in a match that will be important for Stanford's momentum if the Cardinal want to stay in this dual. 

Following Provo vs. Lilledahl, fans could be treated to No. 8 All-American Tyler Knox of Stanford against Penn State's Marcus Blaze, a bout that would potentially be Blaze's second top-ten match of the semester.

Stanford will also field top-10 ranked athletes at 157 and 165 pounds, where No. 4 Daniel Cardenas and No. 5 Hunter Garvin, two All-Americans, will likely take on Penn State's No. 2 Tyler Kasak and No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink. Garvin has finished sixth in his last two NCAA tournaments with career wins over Cam Steed, Peyton Hall and Cameron Amine, but Mesenbrink has proven to be levels above everyone else at 165 pounds, at least coming into the season. The Cardenas vs. Kasak is much more interesting, though, as Cardenas is coming off of a redshirt season following a fourth place finish at NCAAs as a freshman. His career wins over Peyten Kellar, Meyer Shapiro, Brayton Lee, Matt Bianchi, Joey Blaze, Bryce Andonian and Will Lewan show that he can compete with the best and be a title threat at the weight. Kasak's gutsy through and thrives in these tight matches. 

The last weight to watch in the Stanford vs. Penn State dual is 174 pounds, where No. 1 Levi Haines will likely take on No. 15 Lorenzo Norman in a match that heavily skews towards Penn State's favor on paper but can't be overlooked. Norman can be a trap opponent for top athletes at 174 pounds and has been known to take down national champions in the regular season. Haines will need to wrestle smart in this one. 

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Even with a lineup that includes Provo, Knox, Cardenas, Garvin and Norman, among others, Stanford is still only favored at one weight (133 pounds) and will have an uphill battle against the reigning champs, but, at individual weights, this dual could be one of Penn State's most fun battles of the first semester. 

Big Ten bouts kick off against the stacked squads of Rutgers, Iowa

There's no easing into Big Ten competition for the Nittany Lions this year. Penn State will return from the holidays on Jan. 10 and host a deep Rutgers team that includes nine ranked wrestlers led by No. 6 Lenny Pinto at 174 pounds and No. 9 Dylan Shawver at 133 pounds. Pinto and Penn State's Levi Haines have wrestled twice, with Haines beating the now Scarlet Knight 9-2 and 12-1, so while this match is close on paper, history suggests this one will be all Haines.

The 133-pound contest is a little more intriguing, as this could be Marcus Blaze's second consecutive top-10 opponent. Shawver is an athlete who can catch fire and run through anyone, as he demonstrated when he won Big Tens in 2024, but he's also taken some funky losses, most notably to Sean Spidle of Central Michigan in last year's NCAA tournament and TK Davis of Gardner-Webb in last year's dual. If Marcus Blaze wrestles with the same level of success in folkstyle that he showed in freestyle this summer, he shouldn't have a problem with Shawver, but he can't give up an inch because Shawver is tough and gritty, and he can capitalize on opponent's mistakes. 

Rutgers always puts up a fight, but no dual will have more hype in 2026 than the Penn State vs. Iowa dual on Jan. 16. The Hawkeyes have all 10 of their wrestlers ranked this year, headlined by No. 2 Drake Ayala at 133 pounds, No. 2 Mikey Caliendo at 165 pounds and No. 2 Patrick Kennedy at 174 pounds. Here's a breakdown of what the Penn State vs. Iowa dual looks like based on expected lineups here in October. 

Based on these lineups, there's a scenario in which Penn State shuts out Iowa. There's also a scenario where Iowa flips three matches and forces the dual to be decided on bonus points. This rivalry is never as simple as what the rankings suggest it should be. 

This year, the weight to watch will be 184 pounds. Iowa inspired a frenzy last season when the Hawks sent out true freshman Angelo Ferrari to take on Penn State's four-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci in place of expected starter Gabe Arnold. Hawk fans became even more excited when Ferrari kept the match within two points and showed that he can hold his own against the best in the country. Now it's Ferrari's time to shine as a starter, and he'll have his chance against another Penn State star in NCAA finalist Rocco Welsh in January. 

This bout will mark Welsh's first time competing in this rivalry, as he wrestled his first two seasons for Ohio State. Welsh is one of two Nittany Lions and four Hawkeyes who will be part of this dual for the first time, and they'll be treated to one of wrestling's best atmospheres in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

Northwestern, Indiana and Maryland offer a combined 12 ranked matches for the Nittany Lions

While the Iowa dual on Jan. 16 is the centerpiece of the Penn State schedule, the battle with the Hawks is just the beginning of a long Big Ten stretch for Penn State that continues with an away bout against Northwestern on Jan. 18, a home match against Indiana on Jan. 23 and a road dual against Maryland on Jan. 25. Twelve of the 30 individual matches across these three duals will feature ranked wrestlers from both teams, but only one — the clash between Penn State's No. 2 Rocco Welsh and Maryland's No. 4 Jaxon Smith — will feature two wrestlers in the top 10. Smith shot up the rankings this season after finishing sixth at last year's NCAA tournament with wins over Jared McGill, Reece Heller, Deanthony Parker and Silas Allred, and he'll come into the season with the expectations of making the podium again. 

Welsh and Smith have never wrestled in college, as Smith competed his first two seasons at 197 pounds for the Terps while Welsh wrestled his freshman season at 174 pounds before redshirting last year. They'll meet in the middle now at 184 pounds. 

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While this individual matchup has rankings implications and offers a notable storyline for the dual, Penn State, as a team, will still be favored across nine of 10 weights against the Terps, with the lone weight in Maryland's favor being 133 pounds, where Penn State's U20 world champion Marcus Blaze is not yet ranked because he has yet to compete in collegiate competition. Penn State will also be favored in nine weights against Northwestern — with the lone holdout being 133 pounds — and 10 weights against Indiana, given that both of those teams have an unranked athlete at 133 pounds, and Penn State's unranked athlete won a junior world championship this summer. 

Nebraska, Michigan and Ohio State round out the Big Ten schedule in style 

The intensity picks up for Penn State on Jan. 30, when the Nittany Lions host Nebraska in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Huskers put eight athletes on the podium last year and have two NCAA champions in the lineup, making them potentially Penn State's biggest competition this year. In fact, Nebraska will be favored in four weights against Penn State, meaning the Huskers would only need to flip one weight to win. The problem for Nebraska, though, is that four wins is likely the ceiling in this match, barring any injuries. 

Nebraska is led by No. 1 Antrell Taylor at 157 pounds who is 0-2 against Penn State's No. 2 Tyler Kasak. The winner of this bout, assuming both come into the bout undefeated, will be the new rightful owner of that ranking. The Huskers also have a power player in No. 2 AJ Ferrari who will likely take on Penn State's No. 12 Cole Mirasola in a clash of personalities and experience. Ferrari comes to Nebraska after a third place finish at 197 pounds for Cal State Bakersfield, but he also wrestled unattached for Iowa and won a title for Oklahoma State in 2021. This will be the first time these two have wrestled in college, as Mirasola is just beginning his career. This will need to be a weight that Nebraska can count on this dual, and Nebraska may even benefit from an alternative order for the dual to get Ferrari's team points on the board early and build momentum. 

Nebraska's other two strongest weights are 141 pounds with No. 2 Brock Hardy and 133 pounds with No. 6 Jacob Van Dee, two athletes who All-American'd last year. Hardy will have the advantage over Penn State's Braeden Davis, but Van Dee will have a tougher test against Marcus Blaze. Nebraska also has top-six athletes at 165 pounds in No. 4 Chris Minto, 184 pounds in No. 5 Silas Allred and 197 pounds in No. 6 Camden McDanel, but Penn State's athletes at those weights — No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, No. 2 Rocco Welsh and No. 1 Josh Barr — will all be difficult to overcome. Allred perhaps has the best chance among the three for an upset, as he's topped NCAA champions and NCAA finalists before, notably beating Penn State NCAA champion Max Dean twice in 2023. Allred is tricky; if Welsh wrestles like he did when he advanced to the finals of the 2024 NCAA tournament, he'll be a tough out for the Husker though. 

Nothing slows down for Penn State after the Nebraska dual, as the Nittany Lions then roll into two consecutive Friday duals with Big Ten rivals including Michigan on Feb. 6 in Ann Arbor and Ohio State on Feb. 13 at home. Michigan is led by No. 3 Lachlan McNeil at 149 pounds and No. 4 Taye Ghadali at heavyweight, the latter of whom will be favored against the Nittany Lions. Both of these transfer All-American athletes will spend their final year in Ann Arbor looking to bring home more individual hardware as Wolverines, and they'll need to be bright spots for Michigan if the Maize and Blue want to keep this dual reasonably close. All-American Dylan Ragusin will also be in the mix 141 pounds and could also be a tricky test for Penn State's Braeden Davis.

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Despite having eight ranked wrestlers in the lineup, Michigan is only favored on paper at the moment at heavyweight. Much like Nebraska, Michigan would benefit from starting the dual at an unconventional weight to give Ghadali the chance to build momentum for his team with a win, though beating Mirasola will still be far from a given. 

The Buckeyes are in a similar position to the Wolverines and the Huskers in that they have ranked athletes up and down the lineup, boasting a full squad of 10 athletes in the top 20, but they're still only holding the advantage right now in three weights: 133 pounds, 141 pounds and 285 pounds. Two-time NCAA champion Jesse Mendez leads the Bucks at 141 pounds and will be looking for bonus points in every match this season as he chases not only a third championship but a Hodge Trophy as well. Mendez has not wrestled Penn State's Davis in college yet, as this will be the first year they compete at the same weight, but look for him to drive up the pace, even in this top-10 match up against the junior Nittany Lion, and light the scoreboard. 

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Ohio State will also be counting on No. 6 Nick Feldman to deliver a win for the Bucks, as he'll be favored against Penn State's No. 12 Cole Mirasola and actually already has a collegiate win over the Nittany Lion from last year's dual. Feldman beat Mirasola 10-3 in Ohio State's 27-13 team loss to the Nittany Lions last year, and this year's contest will be a measuring stick to see how each of these big men have improved after another year within their respective programs. 

Outside of Feldman and Mendez, Ohio State's best chance for team points on paper comes at 133 pounds, with No. 12 Ben Davino potentially taking on fellow freshman Marcus Blaze. Davino went 19-1 his redshirt season with his lone loss coming against All-American Dylan Shawver in tie-breakers. Given that this is the last Big Ten match for Penn State of the season, this kind of a rivalry win would be huge momentum for either athlete. 

The Buckeyes won three matches in their dual against Penn State last year, including Feldman's victory at heavyweight, No. 8 Brandon Cannon's win over Penn State backup Joe Sealey at 157 and an upset pin from No. 19 Brendan McCrone at 125 pounds against Luke Lilledahl. If McCrone gets the nod for this bout and can repeat that performance, he could keep Ohio State in this match. That kind of result is likely what it would take for Ohio State to stay competitive with the Nittany Lions this year, even with the kind of team trophy-caliber roster that head coach Tom Ryan has put together this season. 

Penn State wraps up the dual schedule with Princeton at home for senior night 

The final dual for Penn State will come inside Rec Hall on Feb. 20 when the Nittany Lions welcome Princeton on senior night. This will be a dual where Penn State's stars will look to rack up bonus points, and Nittany Lion seniors like Levi Haines will aim to put on a show for the home crowd one last time.

Four Nittany Lions who could see a ranked opponent that afternoon, including No. 3 Luke Lilledahl, No. 9 Braeden Davis, No. 2 Tyler Kasak and No. 2 Rocco Welsh, who could meet No. 17 Marc-Anthony McGowan at 125 pounds, No. 17 Elijah Rivera at 141 pounds, No. 16 Ty Whalen at 157 pounds and No. 17 Kole Mulhauser at 184 pounds.

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Penn State has beaten its senior night foe by a combined 190-9 score over the last four years. This kind of dual serves as a Nittany Lion athlete's last chance to add bonus points to his record before the postseason, and Princeton's job will be to avoid letting the score get out of control early. 

Following the dual against Princeton, Penn State will begin its march to another team title, chasing both NCAA glory and the tournament scoring record.