As dominant as Penn State wrestling has been in the past— and, yes, 11 national titles in 13 seasons is considered dominant— the best years for Cael Sanderson’s wrestling empire might be the ones ahead.
That’s because of the way the program recruits.
The Class of 2024 finished with five members amongst the top 15 wrestlers in the country from their classes, per MatScouts.
The final Class of 2025 rankings won’t be revealed until next spring, but as of now, where do Penn State’s commits rank?
PJ DUKE
Ranking: No. 1 (5-star)
There’s nobody in the Class of 2025 that’s better than PJ Duke right now.
The Minisink Valley star came into this year’s New York State Tournament as a two-time champion and left a three-time champion, tech-falling Matt Rodriguez in the final match at 160 pounds. Less than two months later, he became an NHSCA National High School champion.
Nittany Sports Now spoke with Duke the night he announced his commitment in September.
He said being in the Penn State wrestling room and seeing guys like Jason Nolf, Kyle Snyder and Kyle Dake, made an impression on him.
Snyder wrestled at Ohio State, and Dake at Cornell, but both are members of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, and those two, along with Nolf, went out of their way to approach Duke.
“They’re all so humble,” Duke said, “and they all came up to me and approached me. It was super cool just to see that. I thought in my head, ‘How good can I get with these guys as my partners and these guys coaching me’”?
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.WILLIAM HENCKEL
Ranking: No. 9 (5-star)
At the national prep championships in February, the star from New Jersey’s Blair Academy took care of business, beating Wyoming Seminary’s Dominic Federici 7-2. Henckel committed to Penn State in late December not long after fellow star Nate Desmond did.
More recently, Henckel finished in second at Fargo.
NATE DESMOND
Ranking: No. 26 (4-star)
Desmond, an in-state product from wrestling power Wyoming Seminary, beat No. 1 seed and Iowa commit Leo DeLuca 5-3 to win the prep national title at 120 pounds. Two weeks later, Desmond won his third consecutive state title.
He ended up finishing fifth at Fargo.
ASHER CUNNINGHAM
Ranking: No. 34 (4-star)
The son of Penn State’s head assistant coach, Casey Cunningham, Asher’s had a big career at State College High School. His overall record is 100 and 17, with 37 wins and only one of those losses coming this past season. More than half of those wins— 19– were by fall. Cunningham won his first PA state title in March, beating Central Dauphin’s Ryan Garvick in a 2-0’decision.
DALTON PERRY
Ranking: No. 61 (3-star)
Perry, an in-state product from Central Mountain, won his second state title this past March. At Fargo, Perry went 5-2 with a pair of tech falls.
