Penn State's Dominant Dual Season

Since we’re finished with the dual season, it is the appropriate time to look back in awe at some of the numbers that top-ranked Penn State has been able to amass during the 2025-26 regular season. Generally, in wrestling, “all that matters is March,” so we’re more likely to forget about what occurred in duals, compared to the postseason. Even though everyone is focused on March, the staggering numbers that Penn State has amassed over the past four months lead one to believe that this type of dominance will only continue at the Big Ten and NCAA Championships. 

• Penn State has finished undefeated in dual competition for a fifth straight season. They will take an 86-match winning streak into the 2026-27 season. 

• They had eight shutouts during the 2025-26 campaign. Coming into this year, they had 25 during Cael Sanderson’s entire tenure in State College (2009-10 - present). 

• The highest point total allowed by Penn State in 2025-26 was on January 30th, when Nebraska scored 12 points. Nebraska is the only team that won three individual matches in their dual against Penn State. 

• Lehigh and Nebraska are the only teams to earn two or more wins against Penn State in their home duals. 

• Across 15 duals, Penn State only lost 11 total matches. Their record in individual dual matches was 139-11. 

• 12 of Penn State’s 15 duals saw them win either nine or all ten matches. 

• Of their 139 dual wins, 108 of them have featured bonus points.

• Penn State wrestlers only surrendered bonus points in three of their 150 individual matches during the dual season. 

• They shut out half of their Big Ten opponents (four). 

• Seven of their ten starters will head into the postseason undefeated. Asterisk for 125 lber Luke Lilledahl, who did suffer a loss to teammate Nathan Desmond, but that doesn’t count for official purposes. 

• At the end of the regular season, six of the ten #1 ranked wrestlers are from Penn State. 

• Penn State had a 50-margin in three wins this year (51-0 vs. Maryland/Northwestern and 50-0 vs. Princeton). 

• The Nittany Lions outscored the teams that finished the year ranked #2/#5/#7 (Ohio State/Nebraska/Iowa) by a 95–20 combined score.