Don't see any PSU kids in the portal. Wonder if their NIL coin for wrestling meets or exceeds their football team?
Just sayin': I saw somewhere that Penn State does spend ≈ $1.5M NIL on wrestling.: which has to be far less than they spend on football. As long as nobody else is outspending them I suspect that their continued "dominance" will keep attracting the top wrestlers.
Cael Sanderson says this era of college sports will "be an advantage" for Nittany Lions wrestling.
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How Penn State Wrestling Remains Dominant in the NIL Era
Cael Sanderson says this era of college sports will "be an advantage" for Nittany Lions wrestling.
This really wasn't what college wrestling coaches wanted to hear. After No. 1 Penn State overwhelmed Ohio State 36-5 to clinch its sixth straight unbeaten Big Ten season, coach Cael Sanderson said his team might be getting better because of NIL and revenue sharing. Even if his staff doesn't outbid other programs for talent.
"We have a great team," Sanderson said after Penn State won its NCAA-record 85th consecutive match. "Our culture, the friendship and the camaraderie, I don't think it's ever been anything as close to what we have right now. I think a lot of that has to do with all the changes in college athletics, and the kids are coming here because they want to be here and they want to be part of something special."
The top-ranked Penn State wrestling team has another "something special" season brewing. The Nittany Lions finished their Big Ten campaign 8-0 and with some truly dominant numbers. Penn State outscored conference opponents by a combined total of 328-23, beating second-ranked Ohio State by 31 points, fifth-ranked Iowa by 29 and sixth-ranked Nebraska by 14.
The Nittany Lions shut out four Big Ten opponents, and no team won more than three bouts against them. Ohio State and Iowa won one apiece. Penn State's lineup went a combined 74-6 against Big Ten opponents for a winning percentage of 92.5 percent. Its average Big Ten margin of victory was 38.1 points.
Penn State even outpaced its Big Ten supremacy of last season. The Nittany Lions went a combined 67-13 in individual conference bouts during the 2024-25 season, when they broke their own NCAA tournament scoring record.
Four Nittany Lions went 8-0 in conference duals last season. This year, seven Penn State wrestlers were 8-0 against the Big Ten.
Penn State set the NCAA Tournament scoring record in 2024, broke it in 2025 and has a tremendous opportunity to break it again this season. Seven Nittany Lions are unbeaten and ranked first or second at their respective weight classes, according to InterMat Wrestling.
Nine Penn State wrestlers rank among the top six, and the team enters its regular-season finale against Princeton with a combined dual-meet record of 129-11. With a win over Princeton, the Nittany Lions would complete their sixth straight unbeaten season under Sanderson and 10th in 17 seasons.
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