Penn State wrestling updates on Bernie Truax, Braeden Davis, Tyler Kasak, and more

Penn State wrestling returned to the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex on Tuesday to continue preparations for the remainder of its 2023-2024 season. The No. 1 Nittany Lions are undefeated after blasting Indiana 46-0 last Sunday at Rec Hall. Head coach Cael Sanderson’s side did not surrender a takedown in the victory, something the longtime leader of the Lions sees as a good and bad thing.

“The takedown thing, I don’t always look at that as a great thing, because we want to make mistakes and learn from it,” Sanderson told reporters on Tuesday. “And, that’s how you get better and you can continue to climb to higher levels. But, we also don’t want to give up any unnecessary takedowns. So, I think the guys wrestled well. But, it’s always about the next match, right? It’s always about next week, and what’s coming up, and where are we going?

“And, more than anything, just like, where are we trending? Or where are we trending from an attitude standpoint, from an enthusiasm, from a technique; jow are we competing? We just want to make sure we’re always trending in the right direction and just being ready to compete and be to the best of our abilities.”

Here are some more takeaways from Tuesday’s media availability.

The latest on Penn State freshmen Braeden Davis and Tyler Kasak

Sanderson would not commit to whether or not freshman Braeden Davis would wrestle against either Michigan (Friday, 6 p.m. ET, BTN) or Michigan State (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, B1G+). The 125-pound first-year Nittany Lion has competed in five matches already this year. Taking the mat for another one would mean he uses a year of eligibility. He is expected to do so. But, Sanderson would not tip his hand to the Wolverines ahead of Friday. The same goes for fellow freshman Tyler Kasak. He has a couple of matches left before burning his redshirt but has secured two top-15 wins at 149 pounds since taking over for Shayne Van Ness, who was lost for the year due to injury.

“Still kind of up in the air,” Sanderson said. “But yeah, I mean, we probably won’t really know until they run out on the mat. I mean, we’ll probably know, but..”

He tailed off, meaning to say that he wasn’t going to reveal the Penn State plan. But, either being out of the lineup in Ann Arbor would be a shock. Sanderson did go on to praise both wrestlers.

“Staring with Braeden, I just think he’s just got that belief in himself,” Sanderson said. “He’s got a little bit of attitude, which is just somethingy ou kind of have or you don’t. He’s able to go out there and compete with a little fire, and that’s fun. If you’re going to do this, you might as well do it with some enthusiasm. And he’s doing that.

“Tyler, we knew both of these guys were pretty dang good, right? And I think he’s getting better each week and his confidence level. He’s a guy who can score a lot of points.  He’s just got to keep wrestling the score points. He’ss have obviously, if he wrestles on Friday, have a great test in I think a multiple time all American in [Austin] Gomez. So it’ll be a good opportunity for him to wrestle one of the title contenders in the weight.”

What’s up with Bernie Truax?

Penn State play-by-play radio broadcaster Jeff Byers reported on Sunday that starting 184-pound Nittany Lion Bernie Truax was out due to illness. He was replaced by freshman Josh Barr, who secured a major decision win. Will Truax be back in action this weekend?

“Yeah, he was sick last week,” Sanderson said. “So wasn’t able to wrestle, but he’s good to go this week.”

Truax, a multi-time All-American at Cal Poly who transferred into the Lions program this offseason, is 5-1 so far in blue and white. He is No. 5 in InterMat’s latest rankings. 

He said it

Sanderson, on transfer Mitchell Mesenbrink, who is 11-0 and No. 9 in the latest InterMat rankings:

“He really blew up, I think, his senior year in high school and then last year. So I mean, we were talking to him before that, before he chose to go somewhere else, but we obviously didn’t know he was going to be the killer that he is, or we would have camped out in his front yard.

“But yeah, he’s done really well. And, just a kid who wants to get better all the time. He very coachable. He believes in the program and the system and he’s competing the way we’d like him to, trying to to dominate and get better every time so yeah, he’s been he’s been great.”