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The first Penn State wrestling non-conference match is set; here's who the Lions will face

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•07/08/25•

GregPickel

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Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson. (Photo courtesy of Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics)

Penn State wrestling will hit the road for at least one of its non-conference dual meets during the 2025-2026 season. Drexel announced this week that the Nittany Lions will travel to Philadelphia for a match on Dec. 5 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. It is the first known competition date of the season for head coach Cael Sanderson’s team, which seeks its fifth straight NCAA title this fall. This also marks the second year in a row that the Lions will face the Dragons. The Nittany Lions knocked out the EIWA school 41-3 to kick off the 2024-2025 dual meet portion of the schedule.

“Some of our guys got chances to wrestle that haven’t had a lot of opportunities in the past, so I think it’s a great experience for them, but it’s just the first week of the season for us and we just compete and try to get better,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said after last year’s meeting, per PennLive.

This will mark the third time Penn State and Drexel meet. They first took the mat against each other back during the 2002-2003 season.

Ticket and TV info for this year’s match will be announced at a later date. It will be the Lions’ first trip to the DAC, which is located on the school’s campus in Philadelphia.

What do we know about the 2025-2026 Penn State wrestling schedule?

At this juncture, not much. Drexel is the first non-conference opponent to announce a date with Penn State. We’re waiting on other schools to release their 2025-2026 schedules to see if the Lions are on them since Sanderson’s side never releases its full schedule until sometime in December or even early October. We do know which Big Ten foes the team will face, though, without dates and times. Here’s that list:

Home Big Ten duals: Ohio State, Nebraska, Indiana, and Rutgers.

Away Big Ten duals: Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, and Northwestern.

In addition to dates, times, and non-conference opponents, we also await word on how many matches will be held at the Bryce Jordan Center this season. That info will not come out until sometime in the fall, either.

Penn State returns multiple starters from its latest NCAA title team, including returning individual champion Mitchell Mesenbrink. The team also has seven of its 10 All-Americans back from last year, when it became just the second team ever to accomplish that feat.

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