Takedown Report

Penn State Wrestling Is Having a Remarkable Offseason So Far

After winning their fifth straight NCAA title, the Nittany Lions and Cael Sanderson are maintaining their strong roster.
After winning its fifth straight NCAA wrestling title, Penn State is winning the offseason as well. At least so far.
The NCAA Transfer Portal for wrestling opened April 1, and through the first 10 days, no Nittany Lions have entered. Which is remarkable, considering the program returns enough talent that it could be even better next season. Penn State loses just one starter, returns three undefeated national champions and brings back eight wrestlers who have won All-America honors.
Basically, Penn State’s 10-wrestler starting lineup has one opening, yet no Nittany Lions officially have announced decisions to leave yet. That makes Penn State an outlier in the portal, which closes April 30.
Flowrestling has built an exhaustive transfer tracker listing the dozens of college wrestlers who have entered the portal. Yet none are from Penn State. In fact, Penn State is the only team ranked in InterMat Wrestling’s top 15 without a portal entrant.
“We’re a blessed program. We follow the rules,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland. “There’s not a lot of that going on right now. And that’s one of the reasons we can sleep when the wind blows. We train hard and do the right things to the best of our ability and things will work out.”
“We’re a blessed program. We follow the rules. There’s not a lot of that going on right now, and that’s one of the reasons we can sleep when the wind blows.”
Penn State’s Cael Sanderson after winning his 13th NCAA Wrestling title. pic.twitter.com/LRet5BGyYB— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) March 22, 2026
Penn State broke the scoring record at the NCAA Wrestling Championships for the third consecutive season, finishing with 181.5 team points. Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds),  … more at … https://www.si.com/college/pennstate/wrestling/penn-state-wrestling-is-having-a-remarkable-offseason-so-far

April 26, 2026 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | ncaa, sports