First Match of Penn State Wrestling's 2025-26 Schedule Announced

We know where Penn State won't be wrestling next season. Now we're beginning to learn where the Nittany Lions will begin competing in 2025.

The Drexel Dragons announced that they will host Penn State for a non-conference match Dec. 5 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia. The match is the first date announced regarding the Nittany Lions' 2025-26 wrestling schedule that could make history.

Penn State brings not only four consecutive NCAA titles to the season but also the nation's longest active winning streak. The Nittany Lions have won 71 consecutive dual matches dating to the 2020 season, the second-longest streak in Division I men's wrestling history. Oklahoma State holds the Division I men's record with 76 consecutive victories, a streak Penn State could break early in its season.

The rest of Penn State's 2025-26 schedule remains unannounced and intriguing. Penn State knows which Big Ten teams it will face but has not yet released dates. The Nittany Lions' conference schedule includes four of the top-8 finishers at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Penn State will host Nebraska (second) and Ohio State (tied for fifth) and visit Iowa (fourth) and Minnesota (tied fifth). Penn State also will host Indiana and Rutgers and visit Michigan and Northwestern.

An interesting point of the schedule is where Penn State will not wrestle. Nittany Lions coach Cael Sanderson chose not to enter his team into the National Duals Invitational, a $1 million duals event scheduled for November in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Penn State is the only top-10 team from the 2025 NCAA Championships not in the field for the inaugural tournament.

Penn State, which will pursue its fifth straight NCAA title, returns the best roster in college wrestling. Two national champions are back (Mitchell Mesenbrink in 2025, Levi Haines in 2024), and five other returning Nittany Lions placed fifth or better at their weight classes. The Nittany Lions also signed former NCAA runnerup Rocco Welsh from Ohio State and 2025 world freestyle champion Masanosuke Ono to their roster.

Further, Penn State has two of the top freshmen in college wrestling with Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke, who will be busy on the world stage before the season. Duke is scheduled to compete at three world championships, including Senior Worlds in Croatia in September.

In fact, the U.S. men's freestyle team that will compete at the 2025 U23 World Championships will be 70-percent Nittany Lions. Seven of the 10 wrestlers on the U.S. team will come from Penn State's 2025-26 roster.