Cael Sanderson Explains Why Penn State Is Skipping the National Duals Invitational

Penn State, the four-time defending NCAA wrestling champion, opens the season with a dual match against Oklahoma.

Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson walks onto the mat during a Nittany Lions match in State College. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The NCAA wrestling season kicks off this weekend with a tournament featuring 16 of the nation's top teams, more than $1 million in prize money and national television exposure. But the tournament will be without Penn State, the nation's top-ranked team and four-time defending NCAA champion.

Instead, Penn State opens the 2025-26 season Friday night at home against Oklahoma, leaving the inaugural National Duals Invitational without the biggest draw in college wrestling, Penn State coach Cael Sanderson explained why Tuesday.

"Just not really interested," Sanderson said at Penn State wrestling's media day in State College. "We’re always going to do what’s in the best interests of our kids and our team, and that’s my job and that’s what we’re going to do and that’s what we did."

The National Duals Invitational will be held Nov. 15-16 at BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, featuring 14 of the nation's top 25 dual-meet teams, according to InterMat Wrestling. Eleven of the top 12 finishers at the 2025 NCAA Championships are participating, minus Penn State.

The tournament champion earns $200,000, part of a prize pool of more than $1 million funded by sponsor Paycom, a payroll services company based in Oklahoma City.

Sanderson, entering his 17th season at Penn State, detailed several reasons why Penn State is not competing. One regarded the program's international schedule this offseason.

Seven Penn State wrestlers competed at the U23 World Wrestling Championshipn in late October in Serbia, where the Nittany Lions won three gold medals and where returning NCAA runner-up Josh Barr was injured. Sanderson said Barr, who placed second at 197 pounds last season, would be "good to go soon."

Because of the international schedule, Sanderson said that the team is behind in its preparation for the college wrestling season, which it begins Friday night at the Bryce Jordan Center against No. 15 Oklahoma. Sanderson also said that the November date didn't fit Penn State's scheduling style.

"Create big events, that’s cool, but I think they knew right away when they were putting it when and where they were putting it, we’re probably not [going to participate] because we’re pretty consistent," Sanderson said. "We haven’t really changed a whole lot in that regard."

The Penn State wrestling team celebrates winning the team title at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships. | Mark Wogenrich/Penn State on SI

Further, Sanderson said that the Nittany Lions "love" the current format of the NCAA Wrestling Championships. The three-day individual tournament concludes the college wrestling season in March. Penn State has participated in national duals before and will compete at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals in Nashville December. But Sanderson has called the NCAA Championships his favorite wrestling event.

"We love the national tournament the way it is right now," Sanderson said. "There’s always been kind of a push to move the team championships to a dual format, which we’d be fine at. We do fine at duals. But we just love the format that it is now."

Sanderson did not rule out Penn State from participating in a future national duals event, though.

"Maybe. It's been a discussion since we got here and even before," Sanderson said. "We’re going to do what’s in the best interests of the kids on our team. We just had seven guys wrestle in the [U23] World Championships maybe three weeks ago. But maybe in our future."

In an interview with Saturday Night Lights podcast, Ohio State coach Tom Ryan said that Penn State's absence is "a sign of how they see things."

"I think it's a shame that Penn State's not here," Ryan told the site. "We can stick to the positives, but I think the fact that they're not here is a bit of a sign of how they see things and do things. They should be here. They're not."

Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan didn’t hold back when talking about Penn State skipping the National Duals: pic.twitter.com/SXanT2gD3H

— Saturday Night Lights (@WrestlingSNL) November 11, 2025

What is the National Duals Invitational?

A general view of the floor at BOK Center during the 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. | Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

Organizers of the National Duals Invitational sought to revive the preseason college duals tournament through a big purse. The event guarantees $20,000 to each participating team. The winning team earns $200,000, and the second- and third-place teams take home $150,000. Teams finishing from fourth to eighth earn between $20,000 and $75,000.

ESPN2 will broadcast the championship match live at 7 p.m. ET Sunday. Flowrestling will stream matches live during the two-day tournament.

“The National Duals Invitational is about elevating the sport,” tournament director Matt Surber said in a statement. "We want to create an event that wrestlers dream of competing in — something that brings national attention, rewards programs and grows wrestling’s footprint. We look forward to an exciting weekend of high-stakes duals and incredible competition.”

Sanderson enters his 17th season at Penn State with the nation's longest active winning streak. The Nittany Lions have won 71 consecutive dual matches dating to the 2020 season, the second-longest streak in Division I men's wrestling history. Oklahoma State holds theDivision I men's record with 76 consecutive victories, a streak Penn State could break in December.

Penn State went 15-0 last season on its way to a fourth consecutive NCAA team title. The Nittany Lions have not lost a dual match since falling to then-No. 1 Iowa 19-17 on Jan. 31, 2020, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Sanderson's record at Penn State is 218-16-2, and his teams have won 12 NCAA team titles in 16 years.

The Nittany Lions will chase their fifth straight NCAA team title with another stacked roster. They return two national champions (Mitchell Mesenbrink in 2025, Levi Haines in 2024) and five All-Americans who placed fifth or better at their weight classes last season. In addition, Penn State signed former NCAA runner-up Rocco Welsh from Ohio State and 2024 world freestyle championMasanosuke Ono to its roster.