Drew Hildebrandt already making monster impact for Penn State Wrestling

Drew Hildebrandt displays immediate returns on his addition to the Penn State Wrestling Team

For anyone who has followed the Penn State Wrestling program for the better part of the past five years, it’s no surprise they have struggled to field a top-tier grappler at 125.

From Brody Teske to Brandon Meredith to Robbie Howard to Baylor Shunk. It’s been a revolving door of potential coupled with mixed results and a sprinkling of injury woes for the Nittany Lions.

Well, Penn State Wrestling fans can kiss all of this goodbye!

At least for this season.

Because the Penn State Wrestling squad now has an All-American anchoring the top of its lineup and his impact is easily seen in both the box score and in the national rankings.

Drew Hildebrandt is now 2-0 on the season in picking up a fall in his Nittany Lion debut and a decision against his first-ranked opponent. In past duals, these results at 125 certainly weren’t a given, but Drew has given Penn State a six to nine-point swing in each of his first two duals.

And the fine folks over at InterMat have also noticed Hildebrandt‘s performance as they have him ranked in the top 10 in their 125 rankings.

Pay no attention to the grappler pictured above, clearly, InterMat is referring to Hildebrandt and not the wrestler whose name is currently slipping my mind. I’m not sure why …

For Penn State Wrestling and Cael Sanderson, the true return on the investment of Drew Hildebrandt should be seen in their remaining Big Ten regular-season schedule.

With duals coming up against No. 14 Rutgers (home), No. 3 Michigan (away), No. 2 Iowa (away), No. 9 Ohio State (home), and No. 6 Nebraska (home), there is some tough sledding ahead.

But a lineup of Drew Hildebrandt, Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, and Beau Bartlett, along with the back-end dominance of Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks, Max Dean, and Greg Kerkvliet, should have all of the teams in the Big Ten straight scared.

And this isn’t even accounting for Hildebrandt’s impact in post-season tournament wrestling.

You better buckle up Big Ten wrestling fans, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride for any team not named “Penn State”.