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UNIVERSITY PARK - Penn State wrestling kicks off its 119th varsity season and the 18th year of the Cael Sanderson era this Thursday and Sunday, November 12 and 15, as the Nittany Lions play host to the Bloomsburg Huskies before traveling south to face the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman.
The Nittany Lions will open the year against Bloomsburg on Thursday, with the opening bout scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET) on B1G+ from inside Rec Hall. Sunday’s action on the road against the Sooners gets underway at 8 p.m. (ET), 7 p.m. (CT) from McCasland Field House in Norman, Oklahoma, with streaming available via ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
2025-26 IN REVIEW
Penn State remained atop the collegiate wrestling world in the 2025-26 season, with the Blue & White surging to their fifth-consecutive NCAA Championship crown and 13th in the prior 15 contested events. The Nittany Lions reset the NCAA Championship scoring record for the third year in a row, registering 181.5 points inside Cleveland's Rocket Arena. PSU crowned four individual national champions in the postseason, with sophomore 125-pounder Luke Lilledahl, redshirt junior 165-pounder Mitchell Mesenbrink, senior 174-pounder Levi Haines and redshirt sophomore 197-pounder Josh Barr standing at the top of their respective podiums. An additional group of four more Penn Staters garnered All-America laurels, with national runners-up Shayne Van Ness (149) and Rocco Welsh (184), third-place finisher PJ Duke (157) and fourth-place finisher Marcus Blaze (133) rounding out PSU's eight-member All-American corps. In recognition of his dominant 2025-26 individual season, Mesenbrink took home the Dan Hodge Trophy, becoming the sixth Nittany Lion to win a Hodge while netting PSU its eighth win of the award all-time. Penn State turned in an unblemished 15-0 overall dual schedule with an 8-0 mark in Big Ten contests, claiming the league's regular season crown in the process. The Blue & White additionally played host to the 2026 Big Ten Championships, mustering a program-record seven conference champions while amassing 184.0 points inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
OPEN SEASON
Penn State christens its 119th varsity season of wrestling on Thursday night against Bloomsburg inside Rec Hall. Penn State has been stellar in its opening dual meet competition of the year, registering a 92-24-2 team record in season-opening dual meets, good enough for a .788 winning percentage. Under the direction of 18-year head coach Cael Sanderson, Penn State is 16-1 in regular season openers. The Blue & White open their dual slate at home in Happy Valley for the fifth year in a row when they face off against Bloomsburg. PSU is unbeaten in its last five home-opening matchups, outscoring opponents by a 160-16 margin in that span. Penn State will open its season inside Rec Hall for the first time since November 17, 2024, when PSU booked a 41-3 result against Drexel. Last year’s home opener against Oklahoma came inside the Bryce Jordan Center, where the Nittany Lions published a 45-0 shutout. The Nittany Lions hit the road to battle No. 13 Oklahoma on Sunday, marking PSU’s first road dual meet of the year. Under Sanderson, Penn State is 15-2 when facing off against an opponent in the Nittany Lions’ first road dual of the season.
THE OPPOSITION
Bloomsburg is off to a strong start in the 2026-27 campaign, with the Huskies rattling off a pair of early dual meet victories en route to a 2-1 start. The Huskies started the season with a 32-7 loss to B1G-rival Wisconsin before rattling off back-to-back wins over Sacred Heart (45-0) and Duke (41-0) at Wrangle Mania in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The Huskies have one ranked wrestler per InterMat in their most recent starting lineup, with No. 28 Mason Rebuck leading the way at heavyweight.
Oklahoma heads into Sunday’s contest against Penn State wielding a 2-0 overall record while standing as the No. 13-ranked team in the nation per InterMat. The Sooners blanked local Division II opponent Northeastern State in a 46-0 result before turning in an impressive 41-4 victory over Northern Colorado last week. The Sooners’ most recent starting lineup features seven ranked individuals according to InterMat, namely No. 15 Isaiah Powe (133), No. 11 Tyler Wells (141), No. 14 Jack Gioffre (149), No. 16 Rafael Hipolito (157), No. 31 Ty Eise (174), No. 30 Jersey Robb (197) and No. 23 Bradley Hill (285).
STORY OF THE SERIES
Penn State prepares for its 23rd all-time meeting with Bloomsburg on Thursday night in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions boast a 16-5-1 lead overall and have won each of the last six dual meets. PSU most recently faced the Huskies on November 13, 2011, during Sanderson’s third season at the helm for PSU. The Blue & White registered a 39-3 victory inside Rec Hall powered by a trio of pins from Ed Ruth, David Taylor, and then-true freshman Nico Megaludis in his Penn State debut appearance at 125 pounds.
The Nittany Lions will challenge the Sooners for the 28th time on Sunday evening in Norman. Penn State owns a 15-11-1 overall record in dual meets against Oklahoma and won the most recent meeting between the two squads a year ago inside the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park. PSU blanked Oklahoma, the program’s first of eight shutouts on the season, in a 45-0 result. Eight Nittany Lions recorded bonus-point wins, highlighted by a second-period pin from Levi Haines at 174 and technical fall victories from Marcus Blaze at 133, Shayne Van Ness at 149, Mitchell Mesenbrink at 165 and Rocco Welsh at 184.
LOOKING AHEAD
Penn State wrestling takes a short break from dual meet action next Sunday, November 22, as the Nittany Lions travel to West Point, New York, for the C.J. Morgan Invitational (Black Knight Invite). Wrestling is slated to begin at 10 a.m. (ET), with streaming of all tournament matches available to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via FloWrestling.