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Braeden Davis injury update: Cael Sanderson gives latest on Penn State wrestling star

IMG_6598by:Nick Kosko•02/08/25•

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Peter Ackerman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It’s almost like Penn State didn’t miss 133 pounder Braeden Davis in a 39-0 shutout of Michigan Friday night.

Well, we take that back considering Davis won a Big Ten title at 125 last season as a freshman and is an All-American threat at minimum this season. But head coach Cael Sanderson is unsure if he’ll be back and good to go for Sunday’s dual vs. Maryland.

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Right now, it’s a wait and see approach.

“I don’t actually know the answer to that,” Sanderson said. “I mean, that’ll be a Sunday or tomorrow night, we’ll make a decision.”

Davis is 7-2 this season with his only losses coming to Nebraska’s Jacob Van Dee and Lehigh’s Ryan Crookham, the top ranked wrestler at 133.

His last match was a 2-1 decision over 2024 All-American Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) on January 24th. In Davis’ absence, Kyison Garcia came in and beat Michigan’s Nolan Wertanen 4-1 early in the dual.

“I thought Garcia did a really good job,” Sanderson said. “He hasn’t wrestled since November, I don’t think. And so, that’s a big match for your first match, and the first time he’s wrestling in a dual meet, so I think he did a nice job. He scored his points and, and I think he probably learned a lot, and hopefully he can just continue to build off of that.”

Michigan isn’t as loaded as last year following some graduations and injuries this season. But shutting out a perennial Big Ten power is no small feat.

In fact, out of the five shutouts this season for Penn State, Sanderson and crew have two of them against Big Ten foes, the other being Michigan State.

“I think we have really good team this year, and they’re very solid,” Sanderson said. “We have 10 good guys in 10 good weight classes, and we have guys that are ready to jump in there if the opportunity arises, as we saw with Kyison today. So yeah, we love our team, and just going to keep getting better. I know that’s been said a few times. That’s always the plan.”

Whether or not Davis is back for Sunday’s dual at home remains to be seen. But the Nittany Lions will be the overwhelming favorite once again.