During a busy time for wrestling units around the country, Penn State wrestling finds itself riding through what has already been quite the roller coaster of a season. Now with winter break for wrestlers looming and senior nationals right around the corner, the relatively new season is anything but relaxed.

From the additions of top transfers Aaron Nagao, Bernie Truax, and Mitchell Mesenbrink, growing uncertainty for those competing in the upcoming senior nationals competition, and the recent season-ending injury to All-American Shayne Van Ness, Cael Sanderson remains confident that the Nittany Lions will continue to focus on being their best.

“We just prepare for every team the same. Hofstra’s got a lot of tradition, and a match is just a match,” Sanderson said ahead of the Nittany Lions’ matchup with the Pride. “We want to wrestle at our best regardless of who we are competing against, because ultimately, that’s the way we approach things. We’re not necessarily competing against our opponents, we’re just trying to be at our best all the time.”

Hofstra finished its dual season last year with a 5-6 record and is currently 0-1 heading into Rec Hall.

Despite the common thought that Sunday’s dual should be a rather easy matchup for the Nittany Lions, it remains uncertain who will take the mat for the blue and white. Some wrestlers, who have not yet been officially named, have their sights set on the upcoming 2023 Senior Nationals tournament taking place December 15 to 17 in Fort Worth, Texas. The freestyle and Greco-Roman tournament is one of the last chances for any American wrestlers to qualify for the Olympic trials.

“We have a handful of kids going, but things have changed over the last month or two. Some guys won’t be going now,” Sanderson said. “We went through it as a staff today on who’s going, and we’re going to pull some guys back. It just doesn’t make sense for some of them to go into a tournament right now.”

While defending national champion Aaron Brooks has already etched his name into the Olympic trials, other standouts such as Greg Kerkvliet and Levi Haines plan to join their Nittany Lion teammate when the Olympic trials arrive in State College next year.

Haines said last year that his decision is still “up in the air,” though Kerkvliet promised he would attend the event.

While lineups remain uncertain in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex, one thing has made itself common amongst the wrestlers: injuries.

Most recently, Van Ness was ruled out for the rest of the season with an undisclosed injury that will require surgery. This is already the second problematic injury of the season after transfer Nagao missed some time due to injury over the offseason.

To combat this adversity, Sanderson and Co. will rely heavily on younger athletes and the team’s new transfers to step up to score points to support the rest of the lineup. Last week, the Nittany Lions saw five new faces take the mat in the opening dual of the season, including true freshman Tyler Kasak.

“I think any time that you have kids that you are expecting and counting on in the future, any experience they can get is extremely valuable,” Sanderson said of Kasak. “He’s a competitor… he’s got a lot of experience, and he’s just a hard-nosed Pennsylvania kid.”

Truax and Mesenbrink transferred in over the offseason from Cal Baptist and Cal Poly, respectively, and after winning their first two matches last week in Rec Hall, they had nothing but positive things to say about the program.

“We have some kids that can obviously step in there and compete at 149 [pounds],” Sanderson said. “These are all really good kids that all work really hard. They are all ready to compete.”

Folks can catch the Nittany Lions in action next on Sunday, December 10, when they take on Hofstra in Rec Hall. The dual will get underway at 1 p.m. and be streamed on BTN+.