Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1519242
4 2 M A Y 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M N ow that Penn State wrestling fans have had time to savor their team's third consecutive national championship and 11th in the past 13 seasons, they've turned an eye to 2024-25. But Cael Sanderson is way ahead of them. The Nittany Lion coach didn't pack up his newest NCAA Tournament tro- phy, souvenir hats and commemora- tive T-shirts, get on the team's charter from Kansas City to State College and start thinking about next season. That started quite a while ago. "That's what we do. We always think ahead preparing for the future," he said immediately after the final round of the NCAA tourney. "We'll be back in the room on Monday. We love what we do. We love to train. We love the sport of wrestling. You don't start thinking about next year tomorrow. We were thinking about next year three, four years ago. That's just the way it is." In that case, it's only natural to join that thought process by weighing some lineup options. Next season's lineup won't be unveiled until early November, but for now we can apply some common sense, taking into consideration that injuries, redshirting conversations, individual decisions, weight gain/loss, the transfer portal and the talent level of incoming freshmen will cloud the situation. Oddly, there is not one weight class in which you would use an ink pen on a prospective lineup card at this juncture. Let's take a speculative look at a lineup rife with options and questions: 125 pounds: Braeden Davis won a Big Ten title and claimed the No. 1 seed at Levi Haines won his first NCAA championship this year, capping a 23-0 season for the sophomore 157-pounder. There's been speculation that he might move up to the 165-pound weight class as a junior. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS JIM CARLSON | B L U E W H I T E C O N T R I B U T O R MAJOR DECISIONS Penn State has plenty of questions looking ahead to the 2024-25 season, but it also has plenty of options WRESTLING