Over the last few seasons, the Lehigh and Penn State wrestling programs have come to depend on each other.

For one, they know how to pack an arena full of rowdy Pennsylvanians, be it the Nittany Lions’ Rec Hall or the Mountain Hawks’ PPL Center. More importantly, it's usually the first opportunity for both lineups to test themselves.

No non-conference opponent has pushed the dominant Nittany Lions like Lehigh has over the past few seasons. Since 2021, only Iowa State has held Penn State to fewer team points among the Nittany Lions’ non-conference opponents.

The Mountain Hawks, who fell 36-6 inside the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday, gave their cross-state rivals another measuring-stick moment at a crucial point of the season when lineup decisions start getting tougher for Penn State’s staff.

“They’re going to show you what you need to work on and we count on that every year,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said.

With certain lineup spots likely solidified, the Nittany Lions still have time — and plenty of options to evaluate others, namely at 141, 157 and 197.

At 157, where Tyler Kasak is redshirting, Penn State has had multiple chances to get a look at freshman PJ Duke and redshirt freshman Joe Sealey. Duke got the nod against Lehigh and faced his first top 10 opponent in Logan Rozynski on Sunday.

Up to his program’s typical standards, Rozynski put up a fight, slipping Duke’s initial attacks before forcing a late scramble to post a scoreless first period. Sanderson was eager to see how Duke would respond in the second, and the freshman didn’t let him down.

Duke, who had forced Rozysnki to stall late in the first, picked up the first takedown and a point on stalling in the second. He added three more takedowns before Rozynski had to take an injury default with the score 14-3.

“That was a good test for him and opportunity to wrestle somebody that knew him pretty well and he had to be persistent and just kind of stay aggressive and he did that,” Sanderson said. “That’s how tough matches usually go. Usually you’ve got to wear guys down and use your time and you start scoring points later on.”

Decisions, Decisions

Duke’s performances so far will likely make it tough for Penn State’s coaches to pull the plug on their hard-charging true freshman.

Sanderson will have to decide sooner rather than later between him or Sealey, who is 6-2 with one of his losses to Duke at the Black Knight Invitational.  

“PJ is going out there and wrestling great and crushing people,” Sanderson said. “We love Joe, he’s awesome too, and he’s gotten better and better, and he’s somebody we have a lot of confidence in as well.”

Per NCAA rules, true freshman can wrestle in up to five events without burning their redshirt. So far, Duke has wrestled in two duals and one open tournament. The Nittany Lions have a dual at Wyoming on Saturday before heading to the Collegiate Duals in Nashville, where Duke technically could wrestle against both North Dakota State and Stanford.

Bumps And Bruises

Penn State will continue to roll with Cael Nasdeo indefinitely at 141 while junior Aaron Nagao recovers from an injury suffered at Army on Nov. 23.

Nagao, who missed portions of 2024 and all of last season due to injury, is 4-1. Sanderson said he does expect Nagao back in the lineup at some point this season.

“It’s just one of those where he just needs time,” Sanderson said. “So we’re just giving him time, being patient.”

Nasdeo, meanwhile, is still looking for his first dual win at Penn State. He’s 1-4 with his lone win this season coming against Columbia’s Lorenzo Frezza at Army.

“You can see he’s right there and every match he seems to be getting better,” Sanderson said.

Meanwhile, that is the case health-wise with 197-pounder Josh Barr.

Last season’s NCAA runner-up, Barr suffered a rib injury in the U23 World Championships in October. He has yet to wrestle a collegiate match this season, but has been going live inside the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex over the past few days.

“He’s getting close,” Sanderson said. “He’s in here scrapping already, so he should be back soon.”