Penn State Wrestling, Chasing 6th Straight NCAA Title, Unveils 2026-27 Schedule

The Nittany Lions have won 86 consecutive matches and can reach the 100-win milestone this season.

The Penn State Nittany Lions wrestling team poses with the team trophy at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships. | Mark Wogenrich | Penn State on SI

The Penn State wrestling team is headed to Oklahoma this season, though not to face David Taylor's Oklahoma State Cowboys. Instead, the Nittany Lions will complete their home-and-home series with the Oklahoma Sooners.

Penn State wrestling at last unveiled its 2026-27 schedule, just six weeks before the Nittany Lions begin pursuing their sixth straight NCAA team title. Penn State brings an NCAA-record 86-match win streak into the season, as head coach Cael Sanderson seeks to win his 14th national championship.

Here's a breakdown of Penn State's 2026-27 schedule.

Three matches at Bryce Jordan Center

Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Mitchell Mesenbrink celebrates a win at the 2026 Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Bryce Jordan Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Penn State will wrestle a 16-match season, with seven home duals on the schedule. The Nittany Lions once again will wrestle multiple matches at Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State will host West Virginia at Bryce Jordan Center on Dec. 13, followed by a Friday-night Big Ten dual against Michigan on Jan. 15. Then Iowa will visit Bryce Jordan Center on Friday, Feb. 5 for their annual conference rivalry match.

Penn State is not hosting the Big Ten Championships this season. They will be held March 6-7 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Penn State's travel schedule

Penn State Nittany Lions wrestling coach Cael Sanderson reacts during the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Bryce Jordan Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Oklahoma State coach David Taylor extended his alma mater an open invitation to wrestle a dual match in State College or Stillwater. Instead, the Nittany Lions will head to Norman, Oklahoma, for their first road match of the season.

Penn State will wrestle at Oklahoma on Nov. 15, three days after its season-opener against Bloomsburg. The Nittany Lions opened the 2025-26 season with a 45-0 shutout of the Sooners at home.

Penn State also will compete in two familiar tournaments before opening the Big Ten schedule. The Nittany Lions will return to the Army Black Knight Invitational on Nov. 22 at West Point and will compete at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals on Dec. 20 in Vestal. New York. Penn State will wrestle Oregon State, Rutgers and host Binghamton at the tournament.

The Nittany Lions also will wrestle familiar opponent Lehigh on the road Dec. 6 at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Penn State beat Lehigh 36-6 last season.

A closer look at the Big Ten schedule

Penn State opens the conference schedule Jan. 9 at Rutgers, followed by the match at Michigan. Interestingly, the Nittany Lions do not have two-match weekend road trip on the schedule this season.

After back-to-back home matches against Michigan and Maryland, the Nittany Lions visit Michigan State on Friday, Jan. 22 and return home for a Sunday match vs. Wisconsin. Penn State closes the Big Ten season with a bang against Minnesota, Iowa and Ohio State.

Penn State will wrestle its traditional postseason-prep home match Feb. 19 against Northern Colorado at Rec Hall.

Penn State returns one of the nation's most talented rosters that includes three NCAA champs, two runners-up and six total wrestlers who went undefeated during the regular season.

Mitchell Mesenbrink, the undefeated two-time champ at 165 pounds, and Luke Lilledahl, who took apart the field at 125, are two of the nation's best pound-for-pound wrestlers. Josh Barr, who went undefeated at 197, isn't far behind.

Shayne Van Ness and Rocco Welsh went unbeaten until their NCAA finals and return as national-championship contenders. As do freshmen Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke, who medaled in their first seasons in the Penn State lineup.

Penn State Nittany Lions Mitchell Mesenbrink wrestler enters the arena at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Penn State's 2026-27 wrestling schedule

Date	Opponent	Location
Nov. 12	Bloomsburg	Rec Hall
Nov. 15	Oklahoma	Norman, Oklahoma
Nov. 22	Army Black Knight Invite	West Point, N.Y.
Dec. 6	Lehigh	Bethlehem, Pa
Dec. 13	West Virginia	Bryce Jordan Center
Dec. 20	National Collegiate Duals	Vestal, N.Y.
Jan. 9	Rutgers	Piscataway, N.J.
Jan. 15	Michigan	Bryce Jordan Center
Jan. 17	Maryland	Rec Hall
Jan. 22	Michigan State	East Lansing, Mich
Jan. 24	Wisconsin	Rec Hall
Jan. 29	Minnesota	Minneapolis
Feb. 5	Iowa	Bryce Jordan Center
Feb. 12	Ohio State	Columbus, Ohio
Feb. 19	Northern Colorado	Rec Hall
March 6-7	Big Ten Championships	Columbus, Ohio
March 18-20	NCAA Championships	St. Louis

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