Big Ten wrestling tournament preview: Breaking down the Penn State outlook at 125-157 pounds

Penn State wrestling heads to the annual Big Ten Confernece tournament this Saturday and Sunday in College Park, Md. The No. 1 Nittany Lions, who are led by head coach Cael Sanderson, bring five No. 1 seeds with them and a total of 10 entrants who all hope, and expect, to perform well enough to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in two weeks.

Blue-White Illustrated is previewing the conference championships all week long. Today, we start with the early outlook for the Lions at 125-157 pounds. Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at 165-285 pounds. Friday, we’ll have predictions. And, there will be complete coverage from start to finish Saturday and Sunday.

Without any further ado, let’s dive into the first five weight classes.

125 pounds: Penn State freshman Braeden Davis

Seed: No. 6

Expected opening opponent: No. 11 Justin Cardani of Illinois

Weight class breakdown:  Penn State freshman Braeden Davis did not officially become the team’s starter in the lightest weight class until January. He got off to a torrid start as the program’s main man here but cooled off down the stretch as the competition ratcheted up. Still, Davis projects as the No. 6 seed, at worst, at the conference tournament. With the Big Ten nine wrestlers to NCAAs at this weight, he should advance with ease by simply wrestling to form. However, in order to win his first conference tournament, he would likely need to avenge a loss to Iowa’s Drake Ayala, who beat him during the dual meet season, to make the finals.

133 pounds: Sophomore Aaron Nagao

Seed: No. 5

Expected opening opponent: No. 12 Andrew Hampton of Michigan State

Weight class breakdown: Sanderson told reporters in late February that starter and sophomore Aaron Nagao had been battling an illness that caused him to miss a January match with Maryland and a February meeting with Nebraska. The newcomer who transferred in before the 2023-2024 season has had some impressive results with the Lions but also some matches where his inability to create offense and/or finish shots left him on the wrong side of the scoreboard. A healthy Nagao should have no problem being one of the Big Ten’s seven qualifiers (and there are at-large bids available if not). And, he finds himself with a fairly favorable draw, as two wrestlers with wins over him this year, No. 2 seed Dylan Shawver of Michigan and No. 3 Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State, are on the other side of the bracket.

141 pounds: Penn State senior Beau Bartlett

Seed: No. 1

Expected opening opponent: A round one bye will give him the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 bout, which was not yet determined as of the time of this post. It will be updated when that information is available.

Weight class outlook: Senior Beau Bartlett cemented himself as the top dog both in the Big Ten and country by beating reigning No. 1 seed Real Woods of Iowa 7-2 when the two teams met back in February. He is one of the Lions’ five top seeds at Big Tens. Nebraska’s Brock Hardy will be a tough out for Barlett in the semifinals as the No. 4 seed, but he already beat him once this year.

149 pounds: Freshman Tyler Kasak

Seed: No. 4

Expected opening opponent: No. 13 Aiden Vandenbush of Northwestern

Weight class breakdown: Freshman Tyler Kasak took over the starting spot in January by beating out junior David Evans for the right to replace injured All-American Shayne Van Ness. Like Davis at 125 pounds, Kasak suffered some setbacks in February but is still a top-five seed. He is, however, on the same side of the bracket as No. 1 seed Ridge Lovett of Nebraska, who beat Kasak 7-3 during the dual meet season. A quarterfinals date likely awaits with No. 5 Dylan D’Emillio of Ohio State, who the Nittany Lion beat once earlier this year. The winner sees Lovett in the semis for the right to almost certainly wrestle either No. 2 seed Austin Gomez of Michigan or No. 3 Caleb Rathjen of Iowa in the finals.

157 pounds: Penn State sophomore Levi Haines

Seed: No. 1

Expected opening opponent: A first-round bye means he will face the winner of No. 8 Joey Blaze of Purdue and No. 9 Trevor Chumbley of Northwestern in the quarterfinals.

Weight class breakdown: Reigning Big Ten champ and sophomore Levi Haines could be on a collision course to again see Nebraska’s Peyton Robb in the semifinals. The Nittany Lion beat him 3-1 at last year’s conference championships and already once during the 2023-2024 season via a 10-3 decision at Rec Hall in February. With all of that said, Michael Blockhaus of Minnesota is undefeated in Big Ten matches this year and is the two seed. Robb fell to No. 5, which has him on Haines’ side of the bracket until a potential meeting in the semis.