Penn State wrestler Braeden Davis to be 'even better' health wise at NCAAs after trying season
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State sophomore Braeden Davis is hoping to have saved his best for last as the Nittany Lion 133-pound starter looks to close out his second season in State College with a strong showing at the NCAA Wrestling Championships this week in Philadelphia.
The Michigan native missed some time due to injury during the Big Ten portion of the dual meet schedule. Head coach Cael Sanderson said last week that Davis “just been banged up this year” and that “he hasn’t had a good stretch of time to train and get ready. This is the first stretch he’s had.” With the three-day tournament now just days away, the longtime leader of the Lions offered more encouraging thoughts on Davis Monday during the program’s pre-NCAAs media day in State College.
“I think as far as health, I think he’s going to be even better this week than he was at the Big Tens,” Sanderson said. “And I think outside of not having a lot of matches, he was feeling better and ready to go there. Won some good matches. Lost a couple close matches.
“But, I mean, it’s very competitive. [At] every weight, it’s very competitive. You just got to decide that it’s your day and go score points. But I think as far as health, he’s ready to go.”
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Watch everything Cael Sanderson said at the Penn State media day event below
Davis enters this year’s national tournament as the No. 8 seed at 133 pounds. A year ago, he parlayed a 125-pound Big Ten title into the top seed at nationals. But, things did not go as planned in Kansas City. The then Penn State freshman finished a win shy of All-American status.
This time around, he’ll kick things off against No. 25 Kurt Phipps of Bucknell. A quarterfinal date with No. 1 Lucas Byrd of Illinois stands as the potential biggest obstacle to his departure from the championship bracket before Friday night’s semifinals. But, Davis is capable of winning even that match, and certainly making the All-American stand by finishing in the top eight. If he is to get there for the first time in his career, finally being healthy will be one key. And, putting together all the pieces of the puzzle will be the other.
“Last year, he lost two matches,” Sanderson said. “One was in, if I remember correctly, it was less than 10 seconds of riding time was the difference. That’s life. There’s a fine line between winning and losing, here and there, and then he was in to finish a takedown to be an All-American, and kind of got flipped through. So, you know, it’s details. Little things matter.”
