How close is Penn State wrestling to breaking the Division I consecutive dual meet wins record?

Penn State wrestling puts its 74-match win streak on the line this weekend at Wyoming. The Cowboys will host the Nittany Lions for the first time. Last year, head coach Mark Branch’s team was not at full strength and lost 54-0 in State College. This year, the Big 12 team’s lineup looks healthier and could win a couple of bouts, even if the visitors will still be a heavy favorite to leave victorious.

“Wyoming has some good wrestlers,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said this week, per PennLive. “As part of your non-conference schedule, you try to get out and wrestle some teams. It’s a long trip and there are a lot of programs in the West, so I think it’s good for them, it’s good for their programs and it’s good for us. Good for team bonding and all that fun stuff.”

Penn State enters Saturday’s match, which starts at 8 p.m. ET on FLO, in need of two wins to tie Oklahoma State‘s current Division I record of 76 consecutive dual meet victories. It will pull within one of that mark if it beats the Cowboys, of course. That would mean it could set a new record at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals next Saturday in Nashville by beating both North Dakota State and Stanford.

Penn State superlatives for the first three matches

Note: During wrestling season, Blue-White Illustrated The Magazine makes superlative picks plus a prediction for the future. A version of this month’s story is below. Click here to learn more about magazine subscription options. Note that it is separate from your On3/BWI online subscription.

Three best Penn State wrestlers

PJ Duke | Fr. | 157

Duke is off to a roaring start in his first year as the Nittany Lions’ starter at 157 pounds. After sitting out the Oklahoma dual to get back into folkstyle shape after dominating the freestyle scene for much of the summer, the New York native won three of four matches at the Army Black Knight Invitational by fall before beating redshirt freshman teammate Joe Sealey by decision, 2-1, to take the title. That locked him into the team’s top spot in this weight class. And, all he did with it was win his dual meet debut at Penn State by fall over Drexel’s Luke Nichter before beating Lehigh’s Logan Rozynski by injury default while already leading 14-3 in the third period. 

Levi Haines | Sr. | 174

The Pa., native and multi-time All-American has started his final season in style. After beating Oklahoma’s No. 33 Carter Schubert by fall in 4:15 to start the season, Haines won a Black Knight Invite title by beating freshman teammate William Henckel in the finals, 4-0. He won the three matches before that by technical fall. Then, after beating Drexel’s ranked Josiah Queen by major decision, 12-1, Haines turned around two days later and pinned Lehigh’s Bekhruz Sadriddinov in a tidy 2:15.

Connor Mirasola | R-Fr. | 197

Mirasola will eventually give his starting spot back to All-American Josh Barr, who continues to recover from a rib injury he suffered at the U23 World Championships in late October. But, the young Nittany Lion is certainly taking advantage of this moment. After beating Oklahoma’s Deanthony Parker by major decision, 11-1, to start the year, Mirasola won a Black Knight Invite title by racking up two falls and a technical fall triumph. He then ended his bout in the Drexel dual early by beating Justin Griffith by technical fall, 23-5, in 5:28 before topping Lehigh’s Remy Brancato by decision, 8-3.

Key moment

Let’s put a pair of Army Black Knight Invite finals in focus. Penn State entered the year with starting spot battles at 157 and 285 pounds. Both were resolved in West Point, N.Y. The aforementioned 2-1 win for Duke over Sealey at 157 pounds in the finals made the former, a true freshman, the starter in that weight class. And, at heavyweight, redshirt freshman Cole Mirasola took out redshirt senior Lucas Cochran by decision 3-1, to cement his status as the Lions’ first-teamer at 285 pounds.

Best highlight

Marcus Blaze dazzled in his dual meet debut for Penn State on Nov. 14 against Oklahoma. Wrestling at the Bryce Jordan Center for the first time, the freshman standout from Ohio beat up Sooners’ 133-pound starter Tyson Charmoli from start to finish en route to a 18-3 technical fall triumph in 5:13. 

Bold Penn State prediction

This isn’t a long limb to go out on: PJ Duke will be in the top five of all of the major media rankings by the time December ends. He continues to crush all opponents that come his way and will only see his profile grow nationally at this level because of it.