Penn State Wrestling: 5 reasons Nittany Lions are National Championship favorites
By Chris Snyder
Taking a look at five reasons why Penn State Wrestling is the favorite to bring home yet another NCAA title
You might have noticed, Penn State Wrestling is rolling.
Ranked No. 1 in the nation, expectations for the Nittany Lions are sky-high, following dominant wins against No. 3 Michigan and at Michigan State, with Cael Sanderson’s squad firing on all cylinders.
“Hey Chris, why would you throw out a five page article explaining why Penn State is the National Championship favorites at the end of January?”
I know, I know. And you’re 100% correct.
Many things can change in the landscape of collegiate wrestling between now and the middle March.
But, with what Penn State Wrestling fans have seen so far this season, there are many reasons why this year’s team is far more poised for a team title than last year’s squad.
And right now, this very second, is a great time to highlight them.
So with that, let’s take a look a five reasons why Penn State Wrestling is the National Championship favorite
No. 1 – Additions of Max Dean and Drew Hildebrandt
Last year the Nittany Lions were well represented in the NCAA Championships at both 125 and 197 as Robbie Howard and Michael Beard held down these slots.
In the NCAA Championships, Howard was able to win two matches before bowing out in the round of 16 and Beard earned All-American honors by finishing 7th. Both freshman grapplers improved as the season progressed and they both rounded into competitive wrestlers by the NCAA’s.
Unfortunately for this year, Howard aggravated a previous injury to his shoulder and season ending surgery was needed. Which meant the Nittany Lions were going to have a giant hole at 125.
As for Beard, he showed a lot of promise last year but his main issue appeared to be consistency. And if he was going to take the next step and be a threat to crack the top 4 at 197, then plenty of work was still needed.
Well Cael Sanderson and his staff were quick to dip into the transfer portal and pluck out a former NCAA runner-up wrestler in Cornell’s Max Dean. Thus plugging the small hole at 197 with an immediate NCAA contender for at least this season.
Then we at Victory Bell Rings broke the news in early November that Penn State Wrestling had picked up Central Michigan’s Drew Hildebrandt to fill a large need at 125. This was a massive pick up for the Nittany Lions as they struggled to find a competitive wrestler at this weight class early in the 2021-2022 season.
And so far for Penn State, the returns on these two transfers has been very bountiful. The No. 7 ranked Hildebrandt has compiled a 4-1 record on the season and made his Nittany Lion debut back on January 7th.
Max Dean has been solid as a rock so far in putting together a 12-1 record which includes three victories over top 10 ranked wrestlers. Notice the “1” after the “12” in the prior sentence? Yeah, yesterday wasn’t the best day for Dean when the Nittany Lions faced Michigan State in their regular season dual matchup.
After Dean pulled out an incredible win against No. 8 Patrick Brucki on Friday evening, he didn’t look like the same guy when he faced No. 15 Cam Caffey on Sunday. But look, sometimes great wrestlers have bad days and that’s what I’m going to chalk this up to. Because in the end, the only matches that really matter are the ones which take place in March.
And for a Nittany Lion squad which finished in a distant second place last year, replacing a round of 16 participant with a top 4 guy at 125 and then replacing a 7th place finisher with someone who could contend with a title at 197, will be instrumental in making them national contenders for this season.