By: Herb Yost
Good Afternoon Fellow PSU Wrestling Fans:
It is a good afternoon, the temperature is 38 degrees on our front porch, compared to a minus one degree yesterday morning.
We have a lot of snow piled up everywhere, so a little melting can’t hurt.
Yesterday, both Flowrestling and InterMat released their weekly wrestling rankings.
Instead of doing both, I just thought I would use Flo’s and compared the rankings and records of the 20 guys who will be competing this Friday night in the BJC.
It’s truly a dream dual for wrestling fans, you have two undefeated teams ranked number one and number two.
You couldn’t have planned a better ending for Penn State’s last Big Ten match for the 2025-26 season.
I’m having cataract surgery tomorrow morning, so I hope I can actually see the wrestling Friday night.
Diane and I plan to be there, and are also eating a Valentine’s dinner at the BJC before the match.
So, Let me list the Probable Starters at each weight, and their rankings and records to date:
125: #1 Lilledahl (15-0) vs #4 Bouzakis (11-0)
133: #3 Blaze (17-0) vs #2 Davino (20-0)
141: #13 Davis (8-2) vs #1 Mendez (17-0)
149: #1 Van Ness (16-0) vs #9 Stiles (12-4)
157: #4 Duke (14-1) vs #1 Cannon (13-0)
165: #1 Mesenbrink (17-0) vs # 14 Gallagher (9-5)
174: #1 Haines (16-0) vs #5 Kharchla (14-3)
184: #1 Welsh (15-0) vs #8 Fishback (12-5)
197: #1 Barr (14-0) vs #11 Geog (11-4)
285: #8 Cole MIrasola (12-4) vs #3 Feldman (17-3)
Comments:
#1. I’m thinking that this is a once in a lifetime dual meet.
I don’t have any proof, but I believe that there has never been a dual with so many high ranked wrestlers facing each other and the Big Ten Team Championship being on the line.
Whatever you paid for your ticket, it was worth the price of admission.
You can say for the rest of your wrestling fandom, I WAS THERE!!!
#2. There are 8 wrestlers ranked number one in their weight classes competing Friday night. Penn State has 6 number ones, and Ohio State has 2 number ones.
There is no match where a number one guy is facing another number one ranked guy.
However there are four matches where both wrestlers are ranked in the top five in their weight classes.
That would be at 125, 133, 157, and 174.
#3. There are 11 undefeated wrestlers competing.
Penn State has 7 undefeated guys, Ohio State has 4 undefeated wrestlers.
#4. Out of the 20 wrestlers competing Friday night, there are only 3 that are not ranked in the top ten.
For Penn State that would be #13 Davis, and for Ohio State it would be #14 Gallagher and #11 Geog.
#5. It should be noted that the line-up above is not official, and until the wrestlers step out on the mat Friday night, we probably won’t know if one or more of the guys listed above are actually competing.
For Penn State the only weight in question, unless of course illness or injury intervene, would probably be Davis at 141.
For Ohio State there are some rumors about both Bouzakis at 125 and Cannon at 157.
We shall see, maybe even sooner than 7:00 PM Friday night.
#6. This dual will be the “BATTLE OF THE BEST”.
It will be a great tune-up for the two big tournaments coming in March.
You know, the one that is being held in our very own Bryce Jordan Center – The Big Ten Championship.
And of course the finale of every wrestling season, the NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP being held in Cleveland.
Our Nittany Lions as usual will be ready to rumble at both tournaments!!!
WE ARE PENN STATE – WRESTLING LIVES AND THRIVES HERE – ROAR LIONS ROAR!!!
PS: I’m assuming that everyone knows that this historic dual meet is being telecast live on the Big Ten Network. I intend to record it, so I can watch it and enjoy it until next season begins.
