What We Learned From Penn State Wrestling's Big Ten Win Over Nebraska

The Nittany Lions won their 83rd consecutive match, but the Cornhuskers provided a valuable test.

Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Rocco Welsh gets his hand raised after defeating Nebraska's Silas Allred in the 184-pound bout during a Big Ten dual meet. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Grading Penn State wrestling performances lately has become an exercise in parsing degrees of dominance. That's why the Nittany Lions' 26-12 win over Nebraska on Friday night felt almost nerve-wracking at times.

Yes, No. 1 Penn State won seven of 10 bouts, posted a 29-5 takedown differential and scored bonus points in three matches. But expectations are outsized for Penn State, to the point that DraftKings listed the nation's most dominant team as a 27.5-point favorite over the Cornhuskers. No. 6 Nebraska easily covered that margin by making Penn State work like few have over the past three seasons.

So what did Penn State coach Cael Sanderson think of his team's NCAA-record 83rd consecutive victory? Here's what we learned from the Penn State-Nebraska match.

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Cael Sanderson called the match "good practice"

Penn State Nittany Lions wrestling coach Cael Sanderson answers questions during a press conference following the Nittany Lions' 26-12 win over Nebraska. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It might sound a bit dismissive, but Sanderson offered high praise when he said Nebraska gave the Nittany Lions "a lot of good practice" Friday night. Nebraska absolutely tested Penn State (12-0) more than any opponent has this season.

The Cornhuskers became the first team since 2024 to win three bouts in a dual against Penn State (Nebraska won four in that 2024 match). Nebraska's Brock Hardy (133 pounds) scored the first pin against Penn State in a dual match this season, getting the fall vs. Braeden Davis.

Nebraska's Christopher Minto (174) scored the first dual takedown against No. 1 Levi Haines this season and limited Haines to an 8-6 decision. And the three bonus-point wins were the fewest Penn State has scored in a match this season.

"A lot of good practice tonight, I'd say," Sanderson told reporters in State College after the match. "Lot of tough situations and having to go get takedowns, so I think it was a great match for us. That's a really good team. Some of those guys are who you're going to need to beat if you want to be a national champ."

Sanderson added that Penn State didn't have its sharpest night of the season. Nebraska, which placed second to Penn State at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships, had something to do with that.

"You're wrestling a good team and you're not always going to have your best night," the Penn State coach said. "As a team, maybe we were a little flat, and that's OK. That happens. We wrestled a great team. I think we knew this would be a great dual months ago. I think the guys just had to get tough and battle some really good wrestlers."

PJ Duke gets his first chance to respond

Penn State's PJ Duke, bottom, wrestles Nebraska's Antrell Taylor in the 157-pound bout during a Big Ten dual match at the Bryce Jordan Center. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Nebraska's Antrell Taylor, the defending NCAA champ at 157, got a serious challenge from Penn State freshman PJ Duke, ultimately winning 2-1 in the tiebreaker. The loss was Duke's first in college but also produced a strong wrestling performance.

Duke forced Taylor to wrestle a defensive bout, to the point that Penn State fans jeered multiple times for stalling. Duke also nearly hit a takedown in the first period that went uncalled and that Sanderson challenged. Sanderson said later that he "probably shouldn't have thrown the challenge brick."

"It was close," Sanderson said. "... I didn't see it on the big screen. It was close enough that we threw the brick. Obviously we wish we would have had that brick for later on."

Taylor got Duke into the tiebreaker, where he used his strength and experience to ride for the final 30 seconds. Duke (13-1) certainly took notes from the bout for potential rematches at the Big Ten and NCAA championships.

"It’s a great match for him to get," Sanderson said. "A tough loss, obviously, in a double-rideout situation, a situation where we've got to go get a takedown and obviously a tough opponent tactically. [Taylor is] hard to get to and he's strong in a lot of positions. PJ's going to be fine. He's going to learn from it and keep getting better and better. That's the name of the game."

Rocco Welsh keeps rolling

ROCCO WELSH with a (14-5) FINISHER! 🎬#PSUwr pic.twitter.com/1plIEU1Xp7

— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) January 31, 2026

Welsh, the Ohio State transfer and 2024 NCAA finalist at 174, is wrestling as well as anyone in Penn State's lineup. He scored two quick takedowns in 14-5 major decision over sixth-ranked Silas Allred at 184 that was clinical and methodical.

The top-ranked Welsh (14-0) made his big move of the season two weeks ago at Iowa, knocking off former No. 1 Angelo Ferrari 2-1 in the tiebreaker. Since then, Welsh has scored 51 points in three victories and also produced a fall. He has nine bonus-point wins and is the wrestler to beat at 184.

"Rocco looked really good against a really tough opponent," Sanderson said. "I think it looks like he’s firing on all cylinders. He's just confident, hit several different takedowns, and everything looked solid. He looks like he's getting better every match."

Up next

Penn State visits Michigan for a Big Ten match Feb. 6 in Ann Arbor. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.

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