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What's the Penn State-Michigan wrestling point spread? The Lions are picked to win big

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•about 9 hours•

GregPickel

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Penn State wrestler Joshua Barr (Tyler Mantz/Penn State Athletics)

Penn State wrestling kicks off its first double dual weekend of the season on Friday night when it hosts No. 21 Michigan at the Bryce Jordan Center. The match starts at 6 p.m. ET. Big Ten Network will televise it. And, the No. 1 Nittany Lions are heavily favored to win their 11th meet of the season and 67th in a row. DraftKings makes head coach Cael Sanderson’s side a massive 38.5-point favorite. PSU then hosts Maryland on Sunday.

“I think these weekends are really good training for the national tournament and the conference where you have a multiple-day tournament, so we look at it all as training,” Sanderson said this week.

“Obviously, Michigan’s one of the top programs in the country and has been forever. So we’re looking forward to that match, another match in the Jordan Center, and then being able to turn around and wrestle Maryland, who’s wrestling really well. They’ve done a really good job there and they’re very competitive.”

Taking a closer look at Penn State-Michigan

Before facing the Terrapins, the Lions will first deal with the Wolverines. Head coach Sean Bormet’s side is 5-4 on the season. Michigan has lost three of its last four matches. WrestleStat projects a 34-3 Nittany Lions triumph. Like most everyone else who is making predictions about the match, it thinks the Wolverines will win just one bout. It has No. 2 Jacob Cardenas beating No. 4 Nittany Lion Joshua Barr by decision, 6-5. Penn State will be favored in the rest of the bouts, assuming all of its starters wrestle. The status of 133-pound sophomore Braeden Davis is in question. He missed last week’s match due to injury. And, Sanderson would not commit to him returning to the mat this weekend back on Monday.

“Davis was just a little banged up from last week,” Sanderson said. “So, we figured it would be in his best interest to kind of let him rest a little.”

Here are the projected lineups for both teams as of Friday morning. Note that the bout sheet could change after weigh-ins later this afternoon:

125 pounds: No. 7 Luke Liledahl, PSU vs. Wilfried Tanefeu, Michigan

133 pounds: No. 7 Braeden Davis, PSU vs. Nolan Wertanen, Michigan

141 pounds: No. 3 Beau Bartlett, PSU vs. No. 12 Sergio Lemley, Michigan

149 pounds: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness, PSU vs. Dylan Gilcher, Michigan

157 pounds: No. 1 Tyler Kasak, PSU vs. No. 14 Chase Saldate, Michigan

165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU vs. No. 10 Beau Mantanona, Michigan

174 pounds: No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU No. 29 Joseph Walker, Michigan

184 pounds: No. 1 Carter Staorcci, PSU vs. No. 24 Jaden Bullock, Michigan

197 pounds: No. 4 Josh Barr, PSU vs. No. 2 Jacob Cardenas, Michigan

285 pounds: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet, Penn Sate vs. No. 8 Josh Heindselman, Michigan

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