Penn State-Oklahoma wrestling: Some top Sooners starters might be out against the Lions

No. 22 Oklahoma comes to the Bryce Jordan Center Friday to face No. 1 Penn State in both teams’ 2025-2026 college wrestling season opener. The Nittany Lions are already set to be down one starter. And, the Sooners look unlikely to be at full strength, as well. The Big 12 school released a projected lineup on Thursday for a two-dual weekend that also includes a Saturday stop at Bucknell. It does not include the following ranked wrestlers:

125 pounds: No. 29 Beric Jordan

149 pounds: No. 11 Jack Gioffre

157 pounds: No. 7 Rafael Hipolito

165 pounds: No. 17 Peyten Kellar

College wrestling fans know well that posted projected lineups — both those that include starters who do not end up wrestling and vice versa — are never an end-all, be-all before match day. But, if most or all of the quartet above are out, it will suck some of the star power out of the non-conference match.

Hipolito, the 2025 ACC champ and an NCAA qualifier, was scheduled to be a big initial test for Penn State freshman PJ Duke, for example. And Jordan vs. Nittany Lion All-American Luke Lilledahl, Gioffre opposite All-American Shayne Van Ness, and Kellar against defending NCAA champ Mitchell Mesenbrink all offered entertainment value.

Perhaps some of them will still happen. For now, though, those matches are in doubt. And, we already knew that No. 1 Josh Barr is out for Penn State at 197. That will pit redshirt freshman Connor Mirasola against No. 8 Sooner DJ Parker in that weight class.

More: How did Penn State land Masanosuke Ono and Rocco Welsh this offseason? Cael Sanderson discusses the additions

“[Barr is] a tough dude,” Lions coach Cael Sanderson said this week. “I mean, you saw him come back from a pretty nasty injury in the Big Tens to make the finals of the national tournament.

“And you really don’t know how annoying that (a rib injury) is until you actually have one. I used to kind of give guys a hard time, and then I had a rib injury, and I was like, ‘OK, I understand. It’s everything’s twisting and you’re trying to breathe.’ But, yeah, he’ll be good to go soon.”

Other ranked matches still on the online lineup listings include (Oklahoma wrestlers listed first): No. 33 Carter Schubert vs. No. 1 Levi Haines at 174, No. 13 Brian Soldano vs. No. 2 Rocco Welsh at 184, and No. 11 Cole Mirasola vs. No. 24 Juan Mora at heavyweight.

Here is the full Oklahoma lineup as seen on its website:

Weight	Wrestler
125	Conrad Hendriksen (4-1) OR Sebastian Degennaro (3-1)
133	Tyson Charmoli (0-0)
141	Tyler Wells (2-1) OR Alex Braun (2-2)
149	Layton Schneider (2-2)
157	Landyn Sommer (0-2)
165	Owen Eck (4-2)
174	No. 33 Carter Schubert (2-1)
184	No. 13 Brian Soldano (2-1) OR Anders Thompson (2-3)
197	No. 8 DJ Parker (3-0)
285	No. 24 Juan Mora (3-0)

And here is the probable Penn State lineup it posted:

Weight	Wrestler
125	No. 3. Luke Lilledahl
133	Marcus Blaze OR Kysion Garcia
141	No. 11 Aaron Nagao
149	No. 1 Shayne Van Ness
157	PJ Duke OR Joe Sealey
165	No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink
174	No. 1 Levi Haines
184	No. 2 Rocco Welsh
197	Connor Mirasola
285	No. 11 Cole Mirasola