Penn State Wrestling Loses an All-America Candidate, Fills With an All-American

Nittany Lions wrestler Aaron Nagao is out for the season with an injury. Braeden Davis, a 2025 All-American, will shift from redshirting to competing.

Penn State Nittany Lions coach Cael Sanderson calls out instructions during a Big Ten wrestling match vs. the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. | Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen, Iowa City Press-Citizen via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The top-ranked Penn State wrestling team lost an All-America candidate to a season-ending injury, head coach Cael Sanderson said this week. But underscoring why they're No. 1, the Nittany Lions have an All-American ready to take his place.

Aaron Nagao, a senior who was ranked as high as seventh at 141 pounds, will miss the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury, Sanderson said at his weekly media availability. Nagao had missed the entire 2024-25 season due to injury but appeared to return healthy this season.

However, Nagao was forced to take an injury default Nov. 23 in a bout at the Army Black Knight Invitational and has not wrestled since. Sanderson said that, as much as Nagao wanted to compete this season, the lingering injury did now allow it.

"It's just the reality of what Aaron was coming back from," Sanderson told reporters in State College on Wednesday. "It's just an uphill battle. Shoulders are really challenging in our sport. It's complicated, [but] if anyone could do it, it was Aaron. So we wanted to give him the best support and opportunity we could give him."

Penn State's Braeden Davis wrestles Kurt Phipps of Bucknell during the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

As a result, junior Braeden Davis shed his planned redshirt and returned to Penn State's dual lineup. And this is one reason Penn State has won an NCAA-record 78 consecutive matches dating to 2000.

Davis was the Big Ten champion at 125 pounds as a freshman and an NCAA All-American at 133 as a sophomore last season. But Penn State's exceptional depth at the middle weights allowed Sanderson and his staff to redshirt Davis and prepare him to wrestle at 141 next season.

Though next season came early, Penn State was ready. Davis returned to action at an open tournament in early January, going 4-0, and scored a major decision against Rutgers' Tahir Parkins on Saturday.

Davis (5-0) immediately entered the InterMat Wrestling rankings at No. 7, replacing Nagao, and will face his first ranked opponent of the season Friday when the Nittany Lions visit Iowa. Davis is scheduled to meet 11th-ranked Nasir Bailey (9-3) in Iowa City. Davis won their 2024 meeting 1-0 when both were at 133 pounds and Bailey was at Little Rock.

At one point during his freshman season, Davis was the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 125, ultimately going 2-2 at NCAAs. He returned to 133 last season, going 17-7 and placing fifth at NCAAs. Sanderson pointed to Davis' experience in big matches as a reason he'll be ready to compete at 141.

"I think Braeden, from the beginning, he was aware to be ready to go," Sanderson said. "... Breaden is just a tremendous competitor. He’s going to give it everything he has every time he steps on the mat."

Penn State in the national rankings

Shayne Van Ness of Penn State wrestles Gabe Willochell of Wyoming during the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Penn State's entire starting lineup is ranked in the top 13 at their weight classes, according to InterMat, with nine ranked among the top 7. Further, four Nittany Lions are ranked No. 1, and three others are ranked in the top 4. Nine are unbeaten.

The biggest movers this season have been freshmen Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke, who have gone from unranked to top-4 in about two months. Blaze is 11-0 and ranked fourth at 133 pounds, where he has won every bout with bonus points. Duke, third at 157, is 9-0 with seven bonus-point victories.

Penn State's top-ranked wrestlers are Shayne Van Ness (10-0 at 149), Mitchell Mesenbrink (11-0 at 165), Levi Haines (10-0 at 174) and Josh Barr (8-0 at 197). Sophomore Luke Lilledahl (9-0) is second at 125 to North Carolina State's Vincent Robinson, the weight class' defending champ.

Rocco Welsh (9-0) is fourth at 184, and heavyweight Cole Mirasola (8-2) is ranked 13th. Penn State's projected 10 starters will bring a combined record of 90-2 to the Iowa match.

Up next

No. 1 Penn State (7-0) visits third-ranked Iowa (8-2) on Friday for one of the Big Ten's biggest college wrestling matches of the season. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.

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