Men’s College Notebook: Penn State Seeks History at Collegiate Duals

Let’s take a look at where each team stands entering this weekend’s action.

#1 Penn State

2025-26 Record: 4-0

Top Result: Season-opening 45-0 win over Oklahoma, with eight bonus point wins.

News/Notes: The Nittany Lions have outscored their first four dual foes 164-15 … Penn State has won 75 consecutive duals, with a sweep of North Dakota State and Stanford, they will set a new DI record … Returning NCAA finalist Josh Barr will travel and could make his season debut … 141 pounds will be a weight to watch, as starter #7 Aaron Nagao has been out of action and true freshman Nate Desmond has bumped up to provide depth.

#2 Ohio State

2025-26 Record: 8-0

Top Result: National Duals title with a trio of top-10 wins: #10 Minnesota (29-6), #2 Nebraska (33-3) and in the final over #3 Iowa (27-12).

News/Notes: The Buckeyes picked up their fourth top-10 win of the year over #9 NC State last time out, 26-10 … In their 8-0 start, they have outscored opponents 275-44 with only Iowa (12) and NC State (10) reaching double digits … The Buckeyes have been dominant in the front-half of their lineup, as the starters at 125-157 have combined to go 40-2, and none rank lower than sixth in the nation.

#3 Iowa State

2025-26 Record: 2-0

Top Result: 2025 CKLV Invitational team champions. The Cyclones almost doubled second-place Michigan (183.5-99) as eight of the 10 wrestlers reached the semifinals and four claimed an individual title.

News/Notes: The Cyclones have not been in dual action since a 20-14 win at #3 Iowa back on Nov. 30 … 149 pounds will be a weight to continue to watch as #7 Jacob Frost was named the starter over Paniro Johnson.

#10 Illinois

2025-26 Record: 5-2

Top Result: Have beaten Missouri twice this year, 26-18 at the National Duals and then 21-16 just a week later in a dual in Missouri.

News/Notes: First dual action since that Nov. 24 dual at Missouri … More recently, Illinois took third at the Cougar Clash with #15 Spencer Moore (125) and #7 Kannon Webster (157) claiming titles … Defending national champion Lucas Byrd (133) is a perfect 7-0 on the season and scored a fall last time out.

#17 Cornell

2025-26 Record: 0-2

Top Result: At the CKLV Invitational, freshman Jaxon Joy captured the 149-pound title and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler after a tech fall in the semifinal and a fall in the final.

News/Notes: With the first semester done, Cornell will have a few wrestlers returning into the mix, most notably Meyer Shapiro at 157 pounds and Vince Cornella at 141 pounds … The Big Red will have both #16 Tyler Ferrara and Brett Ungar available at 133 pounds as they work out that starter … The first semester schedule was very tournament-heavy with guys out for the first semester; the last dual was Nov. 15 at the National Duals.

#19 Lehigh

2025-26 Record: 3-4

Top Result: 24-18 win over Arizona State at the National Duals. The Mountain Hawks started with a fall at 125 pounds and ended with a major decision at heavyweight.

News/Notes: All four dual losses have been to teams ranked in the top-15, three in the top-10 … Lehigh could be down multiple starters, as Ryan Crookham (133) and Sheldon Seymour (141) have yet to make their season debuts, and Logan Rozynski (157) had to injury default his last match.

#23 Stanford

2025-26 Record: 1-2

Top Result: Third-place finish at the CKLV Invitational. Five reached the podium with Nico Provo (125), Jack Consiglio (141) and Daniel Cardenas (157) all taking third.

News/Notes: The Cardinal have not wrestled in a dual since Nov. 15, a 29-12 win at Cal Baptist … Seven ranked wrestlers this week, led by Cardenas at #5 and Tyler Knox (133) and Hunter Garvin (165) both at #6 … R-So. Lorenzo Norman (174) did not wrestle the first semester, but he was a runner-up at CKLV last year and won the Midlands.

Little Rock

2025-26 Record:2-4

Top Result: A pair of dual meet wins to open the season on Nov. 2 against Carl Albert State and Central Oklahoma.

News/Notes: Three dual losses to teams ranked 13^th or better … Led by top-10 wrestlers #6 Matt Bianchi (165) and #2 Stephen Little (197) … Bianchi was an All-American last year with a seventh-place finish, while Little is a two-time All-American and was sixth in 2025.

North Dakota State

2025-26 Record: 1-3

Top Result: Three individual champions at the Daktronics Invite (Nov. 16). Ezekiel Witt (125), Devin Wasley (197) and Drew Blackburn-Forst (Hwt) all brought home titles.               

News/Notes: All three losses have been to teams currently ranked in the top-25 … Five wrestlers ranked this week, led by #17 Aidan Brenot at 184 pounds.

While a lot of the national attention will be on the duals in Nashville, here is a list of top duals from each day this weekend to keep an eye on as well.

UNC’s 6-0 start this season is its best since 2005-06. They have flipped their lineup, as only two starters return from last year, and now eight of the 10 are ranked this week. In addition to the trip to Nebraska, the Tar Heels will be at #15 Northern Iowa on Sunday.

Too bad this one is not outdoors; everybody loves a warm-weather team traveling to freezing conditions. But fans are going to have to settle for a sneaky, good match-up of two teams on the rise.

At 133 pounds, #5 Kyler Larkin will get a strong test from #9 Zan Fugitt. Then up at heavyweight, a good battle will be #17 Braxton Amos against #19 David Szuba.

These two faced off in the third-place match at the National Duals, but Nebraska will surely be throwing out a whole different lineup this time around, as only five starters saw action in that dual. The Cowboys dominated the first meeting, 33-6.

If all starters are a go, this matchup will have 18 of the 20 wrestlers ranked. The highlights would be #2 Sergio Vega versus #3 Brock Hardy in a rematch of their National Duals match-up when Vega announced his presence with a major decision over the returning NCAA finalist. Up at 157 pounds, it could be returning NCAA champion #6 Antrell Taylor against #2 Landon Robideau.