3 thoughts on the 2024-2025 Penn State wrestling schedule

Penn State wrestling and the Big Ten Conference released the 2024-2025 wrestling schedule on Tuesday. Blue-White Illustrated has been reporting on various non-conference opponents for more than a month. But, now, everything is official and all in one place. See the full schedule here, and do note that time and TV info will be released at a later date. And read our thoughts on the slate of dates for head coach Cael Sanderson’s defending NCAA champs below.

1. Penn State got its BJC picks right

When looking at the non-conference slate in addition to the four home Big Ten opponents, it was clear which two schools should face Penn State at the Bryce Jordan Center. They are Iowa and Michigan, of course. Ranked Nos. 2 and 4, respectively, in InterMat’s dual meet team rankings, they are the best two opponents coming to State College this year. It’s why the Lions made the logical choice to wrestle the Hawkeyes and Wolverines across campus from Rec Hall on Fri., Jan. 31 and Fri., Feb 7, respectively. Some fans will surely wish these matches were on Saturday instead of Friday, but that decision is largely outside of Penn State’s control. Thus, it all equals up to the best situation possible for fans, the teams, and the Big Ten’s media partners.

Full 2024-2025 Penn State wrestling schedule

November

16 – NWCA All-Star Classic at Rec Hall, 7 p.m.

17 — vs. Drexel, 1 p.m.

24 — Army Black Knight Invitational, 10 a.m.

December

8 — Penn State vs. Lehigh at PPL Center in Allentown, 2 p.m.

15 — vs. Wyoming, 1 p.m.

22 — Collegiate Wrestling Duals: vs. Binghamton (3 p.m.), Little Rock (5 p.m.) and Missouri (7 p.m.)

January

10 — vs. Michigan State, TBD

17 — At Nebraska, TBD

24 — Penn State At Rutgers, TBD

31 — vs. Iowa at the Bryce Jordan Center, TBD

February

7 — vs. Michigan at the Bryce Jordan Center, TBD

9 — vs. Maryland, TBD

14 — Penn State at Ohio State, TBD

16 — at Illinois, TBD

21 — vs. American, TBD

March

8-9 — Penn State at Big Ten Championships at Northwestern

20-22 — NCAA Championships in Philadelphia

2. There are only two double dual weekends

Penn State has just two double dual weekends during the regular season. Both come in February. After wrestling Michigan at the BJC on Feb., 7, PSU will be back at Rec Hall to host Maryland on Sun., Feb. 9. Then, the Lions face Ohio State in Columbus on Fri., Feb. 14, and then take on Illinois in Champaign on Sun., Feb. 16.

Penn State is like most Big Ten schools in that it only has two double dual weekends. However, Michigan State, on the other hand, has four of them. It’s likely just how the scheduling chips fell based on venue availability.

3. The Collegiate Wrestling Duals matches will be great

Penn State did not attend this event a year ago but decided to go back to it this year, and we’re glad that it did. Binghamton is unranked and the Lions should roll over them. But, it will face far stiffer tests against No. 13 Missouri and No. 16 Little Rock. The latter is headlined by No. 2 Nasir Bailey at 133 pounds and No. 5 Stephen Little at 197. The former is anchored by No. 1 Keegan O’Toole, who will lock in for a battle with defending 157-pound NCAA champ and new 174-pound Penn State starter Levi Haines at 174 pounds. The Tigers also have senior star Rocky Elam, who is No. 4 at 197, in addition to other ranked grapplers. All three matches should be terrific ones for both Nittany Lion fans and just fans of college wrestling in general.