PJ Duke has never wrestled a college match, yet the Penn State wrestling commit he just beat a guy who won a national championship less than two months ago.
That’s one of the beauties of wrestling.
In football, the best high school player in the country won’t get a chance to beat the best college player in the country when he’s still in high school.
It’s more common in baseball, basketball and hockey thanks to international tournaments. But even then, those are team sports. With wrestling, it’s one against one, and at the U.S. World Team trials, it was Duke against defending champ Antrell Taylor of Nebraska.
The kid beat the champ 9-6 in a thrilling matchup to move onto the semifinals at 70 KG.
Duke is well on his way to being a star at the college level.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.In most recruiting classes, Duke would be the crown jewel. But nothing about Penn State wrestling is normal. Duke is the No. 2 recruit in the nation. The No. 1 recruit? Marcus Blaze. Where’s he committed? Penn State.
Blaze will be competing for a starting spot at either 133 or 141 pounds. If Duke is to make the starting lineup as a true freshman, he’ll likely have to do it at 157. The problem there is that Penn State has Tyler Kasak, who entered the NCAA Championships ranked No. 1 and ended up taking third as a sophomore.
It’s a win-win for Penn State.
If Duke ends up starting, Penn State has a guy with multi-time national champ potential ready to go as a true freshman. If it doesn’t, that just speaks to the depth that Cael Sanderson’s wrestling empire still has.
