The starting spot at 157 pounds was nailed down each of the past two seasons for Penn State Wrestling.
In his true freshman and sophomore campaigns, Levi Haines compiled an impressive overall record of 48-2, which included two B1G titles, a runner-up finish in the 2023 NCAA Championships, and his first individual NCAA title last year.
However, Haines has completely outgrown his frame.
Going forward, there’s just no way he can comfortably compete at 157 pounds. This is the exact reason that Levi is competing this Saturday in the NWCA All-Star Classic against San Diego State’s Cade DeVos at 174 pounds.
So, what does that mean for the Nittany Lions this year for the now unoccupied 157 slot?
Well, thankfully Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson and his coaching staff always seem to have a plan. Furthermore, the direct by-product of winning generally results in strong to slightly strong recruiting.
In the 2021 recruiting class, Alex Facundo matriculated to Happy Valley as a top-five recruit. Then in the 2023 recruiting class, Tyler Kasak clocked in as the No. 25 overall recruit.
And the Penn State Wrestling faithful have seen plenty from these two on the mat already. Facundo broke into the starting lineup at 165 pounds in the 2022-2023 season, while Kasak burst onto the scene last year at 149.
It’s no secret that two years ago Alex didn’t finish how he wanted to. He only carried two losses with him before entering the 2023 B1G Championships. But when the dust settled on both the B1G’s and the NCAA’s, Facundo added four more losses to his total. His seventh-place finish in the B1G’s and two-and-out showing in the NCAA’s surely wasn’t expected.
But in wrestling, sometimes things just happen.
As for Kasak, it’s hard to forget what he was able to accomplish as it’s still so fresh on everyone’s mind.
Tyler started the year at 141 but was then moved up to take the starting 149 slot after Shayne Van Ness was ruled out for the season.
Kasak wrestled fast and loose for much of the year. And in the process, he was able to upend a handful of ranked guys along the way.
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After qualifying for the 2024 NCAA Championship with a third-place finish in the B1G’s, Kasak became one of the major storylines in Kansas City.
Tyler lost a rough first-round draw. And I’ll be honest, I thought his year was going to be over quickly.
But, he proved me and history itself wrong as he became the first-ever true freshman to lose their first-round match and then finish in third place.
The amount of toughness, grit, determination, and intestinal fortitude it takes to win seven matches in the span of 30+ hours is immeasurable. And his run was truly magical.
So, after it was announced that Tyler would also be competing in the NWCA All-Star Classic at 157 pounds against Ohio’s Peyten Kellar, most people assumed the starting spot would be his.
Me included.
But I don’t believe this will be the case.
Predicting Who Will Be Penn State Wrestling’s Pick at 157
There are several huge positives for Alex Facundo to be the guy for the Nittany Lions this year.
The first is the fact the dude is really good.
If you go back and watch his last handful of matches from two years ago, you’ll know that he was able to land shot after shot. But the reason he lost the majority of those matches was because he was unable to power through them and land any takedowns.
If Facundo feels comfortable at 157 then this will be bad news for his opponents. With his length and the strength he’s able to retain, the guy is going to be a points machine against almost everyone in the country. And I firmly believe he would be a title contender from day one.
The second positive is that it gives Tyler time to adjust to the new weight. As I stated above, Kasak started out last year at 141. And making a jump from 141 to 157 in the span of one season is a huge leap. Additionally, he has a redshirt to use. So why not use it?
Will I be surprised if Kasak destroys Kellar this Saturday?
Nope.
Will I be surprised that Facundo gets the nod against Drexel on Sunday and for the rest of the year?
Nope.
And as the Penn State fans know, these are always good problems to have.
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Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.
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