Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541276
4 8 D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A ll of the top wrestling teams in the country were en route to Tulsa, Okla., in mid-November for the newest version of the National Duals. All but one, that is. The top 12 teams from the 2025 NCAA Championships in Philadelphia were invited to participate in the $1 million event, and four wildcards were invited to round out the 16-team field. Eleven of the top 12 accepted. Penn State was the lone holdout. Rather than heading west, it was set to open its season on Nov. 14 against Oklahoma at the Bryce Jordan Center. It was not a difficult decision, nor was there much of a conversation. Penn State coach Cael Sanderson has been saying for years that he's not in favor of a dual- meet championship, despite an annual push and plea by various coaches from an assortment of conferences. The ex- isting NCAA Tournament in March has more than satisfied Sanderson through the years, particularly since his Nittany Lion teams have won 12 of the 14 titles that have been contested since 2011. Oklahoma City-based Paycom, which provides cloud-based software for pay- roll and human resources functions, put up $1 million for the event, with $200,000 earmarked for the winner. Sanderson noted that there was some pressure for Penn State to attend, but he was comfortable with the decision to pass up the event. "We're not really worried about out- side pressure or what people say or do. We're going to do what we feel is right, Cael Sanderson Comfortable With Decision To Bypass National Duals J I M CA R L S O N | B L U E W H I T E C O N T R I B U T O R Penn State was set to open its 2025-26 wrestling season against Oklahoma at the Bryce Jordan Center on Nov. 14. The Nittany Lions opted not to compete at the National Duals later that weekend in Tulsa. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS