Which Penn State wrestlers could compete at the Army Black Knight Invitational this Sunday?

Penn State wrestling will make its annual trek to the Army Black Knight Invitational on Sunday in West Point, N.Y. Head coach Cael Sanderson will take as many as 20 members of the roster to the one-day tournament. It starts at 9 a.m. ET and can be followed on FLO.

“We want to just practice competing the way we want to compete,” Sanderson said. “That’s just with enthusiasm, hustle. Just go do your thing, score points. The name of the game is just keep getting better, right? And that’s what we want to do.”

The Black Knight Invitational has long been a key event in finalizing any given year’s Penn State starting lineup. It’s why fans should be looking forward to potentially seeing PJ Duke and Joe Sealey in the 157-pound finals, if both make it there, and the same goes for Cole Mirasola and Lucas Cochran at heavyweight. All four of them are on the list of potential travelers for the tournament. The full list is below.

Who might Penn State take to the Army Black Knight Invite?

Penn State cautions that this list could change come Sunday. But, it’s a starting point for now. Note that the Lions’ starters from the Oklahoma match are in bold-face type:

125 pounds: Luke Lilledahl and Nate Desmond

133 pounds: Marcus Blaze and Kyison Garcia

141 pounds: Aaron Nagao and Cael Nasdeo

149 pounds: Shayne Van Ness, Connor Pierce, and possibly Dalton Perry

157 pounds: Joe Sealey and PJ Duke

165 pounds: Mitchell Mesenbrink and Ty Watson

174 pounds: Levi Haines and William Henckel

184 pounds: Rocco Welsh and Asher Cunningham

197 pounds: Connor Mirasola

285 pounds: Cole Mirasola and Lucas Cochran

Duke will be making his Penn State debut. Cochran is fresh off a Shorty Hitchcock Memorial title last weekend at Millersville. He competed there after Mirasola won the Lions’ heavyweight match in the Oklahoma dual.

It should also be noted that Sanderson said Monday that returning All-American Josh Barr is not yet ready to return to action this week. He continues to deal with a short-term rib injury that he suffered at the U23 World Championships in late October.

And, last but not least, we’ll point out the obvious: Japanese world champ and Penn State newcomer Masanosuke Ono will not compete with the Lions this weekend. Sanderso said he continues to train for a freestyle event in Japan next month that he must compete in as part of the process to try and qualify for Japan’s national men’s freestyle team.