3 questions for Penn State wrestling amid its first off week of the 2025-2026 season

Penn State wrestling is amid its first off week of the 2025-2026 season. The No. 1 Nittany Lions kicked off their dual meet season by shutting out Oklahoma 45-0 two Fridays ago in State College. Then, last Sunday, they won nine of 10 team titles at the Army Black Knight Invitational in West Point, N.Y. Head coach Cael Sanderson’s team is now done competing until a double dual weekend next Friday and Sunday. It goes to Drexel on Dec. 5 before hosting Lehigh on Dec. 7. However, the program won’t take a ton of time away from the mat during the Thanksgiving holiday.

“Just the standard couple days,” head coach Cael Sanderson said last week when asked about the team’s plan for this week. “We like to give our guys time to enjoy the holidays and be normal people, right?”

We take a look at three questions now facing the Lions below.

What is the status of Aaron Nagao?

Penn State starting 141-pound wrestler Aaron Nagao’s status moving forward is up in the air. The 2022-2023 All-American who missed all of last season due to injury was forced to medically forfeit out of his Black Knight Invite title match with Army’s Braden Basile following a collision between the two. On film, it looks like an upper-body injury, but we’re not 100 percent sure of that just yet. At any rate, one of the first questions Sanderson gets next will focus on Nagao’s status and what the Lions’ plan is at 141 moving forward. Braeden Davis, who moved up from 133 to 141 like Nagao after winning All-American honors at the former weight last year, could be forced to come off an expected redshirt season if Nagao is going to miss a substantial amount of time.

2. Are the starting spot battles decided?

Penn State went to the Black Knight Invite looking to see who won if their two entries squared off at 157 and 285 pounds. And, they did. Cole Mirasola beat Lucas Cochran 3-1 in one 285-pound semifinal at the tournament. It was the heavyweight’s second head-to-head win over Cochran this year, with the other coming inside the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex. Both wins should assure him the starting job in that weight class.

Beyond the heaviest of the 10 starting spots, we also saw PJ Duke make his Penn State debut in West Point. He rolled to the finals where he beat redshirt freshman teammate Joe Sealey in the finals, 2-1. All signs continue to point to this being Duke’s starting spot moving forward. But, Sanderson will be asked about the plan moving forward next week after Sealey started and won against the Sooners.

3. Is Josh Barr ready to return to the Penn State lineup?

All-American Penn State 197-pound wrestler Josh Barr hurt his ribs at the U23 World Championships in late October. Sanderson called it a short-term injury. There have been no updates since. We know Barr is getting close to returning, though. Redshirt freshman Connor Mirasola has wrestled well in his place. He won his bout in the Oklahoma match and then won a title at Army on the strength of a pin and two technical falls. Is this spot now a competition, or will Barr simply get his place back by virtue of past accomplishments? We assume that is the case. But, time will tell.