Three things in this world are inevitable. Death, taxes, and Penn State wrestling under Cael Sanderson.

The success speaks for itself: 13 national championships in 15 years, 10 Big Ten titles, 44 individual national champions, three scoring records broken, 109 All-Americans, the longest dual meet win streak, etc. The Nittany Lions raise the bar every single year, and 2026 was no different.

But there was one other storyline with the 2025-26 wrestling season… and it came out of Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Despite Ohio State holding the mantle as the No. 2 team in the nation for much of the season, it was Oklahoma State that blew everyone else out of the water and finished second at the NCAA Championships, finishing with an impressive 131 points. Penn State still won by a staggering 50.5 points, but the Cowboys were closing the gap behind an impressive freshman class.

They’re led by head coach and former Penn State wrestler David Taylor, who left the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club (NLWC) in 2024 to reboot an Oklahoma State program that once ruled college wrestling. It sure seems like the Cowboys are on their way back up.

There’s been a lot of talk about Penn State not doing enough to grow collegiate wrestling by not seeking out non-conference matchups. Sanderson elected not to send a Nittany Lion contingent to the National Duals Invitational last November after much of the roster competed in the Senior, U23, and U20 World Championships in the offseason. They also didn’t schedule any major program for a non-conference dual, while teams like Iowa and Nebraska did.

Of course, all that criticism is moot when Penn State dominated the way it did through the Big Ten and NCAA Championships, but it’s an interesting thought nevertheless. What if we saw the Nittany Lions embrace an early-season challenge to instantly create one of the biggest duals in college wrestling history?

So, to whoever is involved with setting next year’s dual meet schedule, I and every other college wrestling fan have a request: It’s time to schedule a home-and-home series with Oklahoma State.

I don’t really care about the National Duals, personally. We saw Ohio State dominate that early-season tournament and carry the hype into March. Still, several of their wrestlers were banged up by the end of the season, and they flamed out during the NCAA Championships, finishing fifth. With another offseason of freestyle competition brewing, I’m perfectly fine with Penn State passing again.

We don’t need to see a bunch of dual meets against an assortment of other teams in a neutral site out in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Let’s have one big, blockbuster duel between the dynasty and the top challenger early in the season (let’s say early December). The first leg has to be at the Bryce Jordan Center. If you want to knock off the king, you come to his castle. Penn State will put its record-breaking dual meet win streak on the line in a sold-out BJC on national television.

The storylines are endless. Taylor initially signed with Iowa State in 2009 to wrestle for his idol, and later got out of his national letter of intent to follow him to Happy Valley when Sanderson shocked the world and moved to State College. It’s a story of two elite collegiate and folkstyle wrestlers, Olympic gold medalists turned head coaches, a mentor and his protégé. One sits atop the sport, the other looks to take his throne.

There are headlines with the wrestlers. Jax Forrest is an undefeated national champion after only enrolling in college two months ago. While Penn State’s lineup could look a lot different next year, he could face All-American Marcus Blaze for the first time. We’d also see the future of the 165-pound weight class in Dee Lockett face the unstoppable, likely Hodge Trophy winner Mitchell Mesenbrink.

Again, depending on the projected lineups, we could see freestyle World Champion Masanosuke Ono, whose offense is truly elite, face one of the toughest wrestlers to take down in the nation, Oklahoma State’s freshman national champion Sergio Vega, at 141 pounds.

We could see two former Penn Staters square off against their old team. Alex Facundo transferred after Tyler Kasak took his spot at 157 pounds and is coming off a strong season at 174. All-American Zack Ryder would face Rocco Welsh after Ryder had to leave following Welsh’s transfer to succeed Carter Starocci at 184.

There’d also be NCAA Championship rematches. Luke Lilledahl would meet Troy Spratley again after beating him in the semifinals en route to his first national title. Shayne Van Ness would get to face Casey Swiderski again after their phenomenal match in the quarterfinals. PJ Duke, if he’s still at 157, would look to get revenge on national champion Landon Robideau after an incredibly controversial match in the semifinals. Josh Barr would run it back with Cody Merrill in a rematch of the national final.

It’d be the first serious threat to knocking off the Nittany Lions in a dual meet in several years. It’s intrigue that’s been missing from the last few years of consistent dominance. And even if the Nittany Lions prevail, they’d have a chance to truly prove it by heading to Stillwater in 2026-27 as these two young rosters enter their primes.

I get why Sanderson schedules the way he does, but come on. Wouldn’t it be fun to show who’s still boss?