The reigning champion Penn State wrestling team will be favored in every dual this year because of its stacked lineup and depth at all 10 weights, but this Sunday’s matchup against No. 22 Lehigh does still yield some notable storylines.
Here are three of those key themes to pay attention to when the Nittany Lions take on their first ranked opponent of the season at 2 p.m. ET Sunday, Dec. 8. .
Big Ten champ Davis gets first big test at 133 pounds vs. All-American Crookham
Penn State’s Braeden Davis made a name for himself last season at 125 pounds when he rattled off wins against All-Americans Michael DeAugustino, Eric Barnett and Patrick McKee at the 2024 Big Ten tournament to win the conference as a true freshman. His performance helped him secure the No. 1 seed at the 2024 NCAA tournament, and while he ultimately fell short of the podium when he lost his Blood Round match to Jore Volk in overtime, Davis is back again — this time bigger and stronger at 133 pounds.
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The sophomore is ranked No. 10 with a 1-0 record on the year following a win over Kyle Waterman of Drexel. His expected opponent in the Lehigh dual — No. 1 Ryan Crookahm — will pose a different kind of test.
Crookham, similar to Davis, had a breakout season last year and solidified himself as a title contender when he beat 2023 senior world champ Vito Arujau at the Journeymen Classic and then beat him again at the EIWA championship. Crookham finished third last year at NCAAs after being majored by Arujau in the national semifinals, but he’s the current No. 1-ranked wrestler at the weight this year following Arujau and four-time NCAA finalist Daton Fix’s graduation.
In his lone match so far this year, Crookham won in dominant fashion, teching Morgan State’s Kevin Lopez in the first period. He and 125-pound teammate Sheldon Seymour will be the only two athletes favored on paper against Penn State in the first five weights, so Lehigh will be looking for statement performances from both of them.
Davis will pose a tough and scrappy challenge to Crookham, and while he’ll come in as a clear underdog, this is an opportunity for him to compete against the best of the country and measure his progress from one year ago as both athletes chase their first national titles this year.
Freshman Barr expected to take on former PSU placewinner Beard
While Davis’ match against Crookham will offer fans new insights into where the sophomore stands at 133 pounds, the bigger question in this dual surrounds the matchup at 197 pounds. Penn State has two possible athletes listed at the weight — freshman Josh Barr and redshirt junior Lucas Cochran — though Barr is expected to get the call after majoring Cochran at the Black Knight Invite. His reward for that win will be a shot against former Penn State All-American Michael Beard of Lehigh, a veteran big man known for his talent and composure on that mat.
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Beard comes into the dual ranked No. 6 in the country with nine wins on his resume this year, three of which came against top-15 opponents. Since transferring to Lehigh from Penn State in 2022, Beard is 2-0 against Penn State wrestlers, beating NCAA champion Max Dean 11-9 in his first Penn State vs. Lehigh dual as a Mountain Hawk and then majoring Cochran 20-6 last season. Beating Barr would give Beard undefeated record against his former team in his career in this final battle against the Nittany Lions for the senior.
Josh Barr on moving up to 197...from today's weekly media availability!
— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST)
Barr, however, will not be an easy match. The redshirt freshman is 4-0 with 100% bonus, and while he hasn’t faced the caliber of competition that Beard has seen, his dominance against his teammates Cochran and Connor Mirasola so far this season prove that he’s the best guy in the Penn State room, and that status counts. Barr also has the benefit of being sandwiched between two NCAA champions in the Penn State lineup in Carter Starocci and Greg Kerkvliet — he’s primed for a breakout season of his own this year. The big unknown is whether that breakthrough moment happens against someone as seasoned as Beard or if it takes Barr a little longer to adjust to the weight class and find his footing against these All-American opponents.
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Penn State fans will learn a lot about the potential of Barr and Davis in this dual, but for other athletes like returning national champions Levi Haines and Carter Starocci and NCAA finalists Mitchell Mesenbrink and Beau Bartlett, the dual is less about a litmus test and more about racking up bonus points as part of their early season campaign for the Hodge Trophy.
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Starocci and Mesenbrink are currently ranked No. 1 at 184 and 165 pounds, respectively, and will face unranked Lehigh foes in Caden Rogers/Jack Wilt and Zeke Dubler/Richie Grungo/Thayne Lawrence, respectively, while Haines is ranked No. 2 at 174 pounds behind two-time NCAA champion Keegan O’Toole. He will face an unranked Lehigh competitor in Rylan Rogers.
Bartlett is ranked No. 3 at his weight following an NCAA finals lost to No. 2 Jesse Mendez and the return of 2023 NCAA champion No. 1 Andrew Alirez. On paper, Bartlett could have a ranked matchup against No. 22 Blood Round finisher Malyke Hines — an athlete he’s beaten twice in his career, once by bonus — but the Mountain Hawks have junior Carter Bailey listed as a probable starter as well. Bartlett is 1-0 over Bailey by major decision.
Penn State heavyweight returning national champion Greg Kerkvliet is also ranked at the top of his weight class, but he could, theoretically, face a top-10 opponent in No. 10 Owen Trephan. Trephan, however, similar to Hines, is not listed first on the probables. If Kerkvliet wrestles Calvin Lachman instead, Penn State could expect another high-scoring performance from their veteran big man.
The last two members of the Penn State lineup are all All-Americans Shayne Van Ness at 149 pounds and Tyer Kasak at 157 pounds, though only Van Ness is expected to have a ranked opponent in No. 29 Kelvin Griffin. The bigger story at these two weights though is less about bonus points or the individual bouts and more about how Penn State handles its lineup at handles 157 pounds. Kasak is the expected starter after beating teammate Alex Facundo at the Black Knight Invite, but Penn State does have both athletes listed. This is a dual where the Nittany Lions will be favored regardless which wrestler head coach Cael Sanderson sends out on the mat. It could be an opportunity for either starter to make a statement with a dominant tech fall or pin.
With all 10 of its wrestlers ranked in the top 33 and eight ranked in the top 10, Penn State looks to once again have assembled a national championship-caliber squad. The bout against Lehigh will be a chance to take this deep squad and toe the line for its first ranked dual of the season.
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