Army Black Knight Invitational preseeds: Penn State has 10 top seeds; see full list here

Preseeds are out for this year’s installment of the Black Knight Invitational. Penn State is one of sevens teams set to be on hand. The others are host Army, of course, in addition to Buffalo, Chattanooga, Columbia, Gardner-Webb, and LIU. Head coach Cael Sanderson and his staff will take 20 competitors across 10 weight classes to the one-day tournament in West Point, N.Y. A year ago, the Nittany Lions finished the event with nine champs and 18 place winners.

Each year, this event helps determine the Lions’ long-term lineup. Competition continues for the starting spots at 157 and 285 pounds. Right now, the leaders in the clubhouse for those jobs are freshman PJ Duke and redshirt freshman Cole Mirasola, respectively. But, they are being pushed by redshirt freshman Joe Sealey and senior Lucas Cochran, respectively.

“We’re just getting started,” Sanderson said. “We just need to get some matches in. We have some really good guys there. At 157, Joe Sealey is outstanding. He’s one of the best wrestlers in the country, for sure. Very committed, hardworking, talented, just a great kid. We feel really confident in him wrestling for us.”

“The Black Knight Open is always a deciding factor and depending on how things go there, then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do, [and] if there’s a next step or if there needs to be a next step in all weight classes.”

More: Notes: Josh Barr injury update, latest on Ono, Lions’ plan for Duke and Sealey at 157

Penn State is set to take the following wrestlers to the tournament:

Luke Lilledahl and Nate Desmond at 125

Marcus Blaze and Kyison Garcia at 133

Aaron Nagao and Cael Nasdeo at 141

Shayne Van Ness, Connor Pierce, and possibly Dalton Perry at 149

PJ Duke and Joe Sealey at 157

Mitchell Mesenbrink and Ty Watson at 165

Levi Haines and William Henckel at 174

Rocco Welsh and Asher Cunningham at 184

Connor Mirasola at 197

Cole Mirasola and Lucas Cochran at 285.

Penn State preseeds for the Black Knight Open

You can find the listing for each weight class’ top four seeds below courtesy of Flo.

125 Pounds

1. Lilledahl, PSU
2. Flynn, Chattanooga
3. Farmer, Army
4. Lane, G-WU

133 Pounds

1. Blaze, PSU
2. Berginc, Army
3. Davis, G-WU
4. Gursoy, Columbia

141 Pounds

1. Nagao, PSU
2. Basile, Army
3. Frezza, Columbia
4. Mason, Chattanooga

149 Pounds

1. Van Ness, PSU
2. Fedalen, Columbia
3. Ewing, Buffalo
4. Bonasera, LIU

157 Pounds

1. Duke, PSU
2. Sealey, PSU
3. Roberts, LIU
4. Burgess, Buffalo

165 Pounds

1. Mesenbrink, PSU
2. Filipowicz, Army
3. Alvan, Columbia
4. Reiniche, Chattanooga

174 Pounds

1. Haines, PSU
2. Fine, Columbia
3. Henckel, PSU
4. Munro, Chattanooga

184 Pounds

1. Welsh, PSU
2. Ayzerov, Columbia
3. Cunningham, PSU
4. D’Alesio, LIU

197 Pounds

1. Mirasola, PSU
2. Frable, Army
3. McCutchen, G-WU 
4. Dusza, LIU

285 Pounds

1. Mirasola, PSU
2. Colbert, Army
3. Mueller, Columbia
4. Sorenson, Army