News that has been apparent for months is now officially official: Penn State wrestling will host the 2026 Big Ten Championships.
The Big Ten announced Wednesday morning that the tournament will take place Saturday, March 7, and Sunday, March 8, at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center.
The exact times and dates will come out later, but for reference, here was the schedule for the 2024 Championships, held at Northwestern (all times eastern).
Saturday:
- 11 a.m.: Session I (First Round, Quarterfinals, Wrestlebacks)
- 6 p.m.: Session II (Consolation Matches, Wrestlebacks)
- 8 p.m.: Session II (Semifinals)
Sunday
1 p.m.: Session III (Consolation Semifinals, 7th-Place Matches)
5:30 p.m.: Session IV (1st-, 3rd- and 5th- Place Matches)
So one would expect a similar schedule to that this season, with all matches being either on the Big Ten Network or BTN+.
PENN STATE WILL WIN
It’s absurd to write that a team will win a conference championship seven months before the event, but not when it comes to Penn State wrestling.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Penn State has won the past three Big Ten Championships by decisive margins, winning the most recent one by 44.5 points (for reference, the gap between second and third place was 3.5 points).
Although Penn State is losing three key pieces in its starting lineup— Five-time national champ Carter Starocci at 184, three-time All-American Beau Bartlett at 141 and five-time All-American/2024 national champ Greg Kerkvliet at heavyweight— the team has reinforcements at all three weight classes.
2024 national runner-up Rocco Welsh transferred from Ohio State and is set to succeed Starocci at 184.
At heavyweight, Penn State has former blue-chip recruit Cole Mirasola set to follow Kerkvliet.
At 141, Marcus Blaze, the No. 1 recruit in the country, is likely to replace Bartlett.
So, yeah, things aren’t looking too bad.
THE LAST TIME
The last time Penn State hosted the Big Ten Championships was in 2021.
Things looked a lot different that spring, both because of the pandemic and because Penn State didn’t win.
Iowa took the crown and went on to take a bigger crown: The national championship.
Penn State hasn’t lost out on a national title since then.
The last time Penn State hosted Big Tens before that? 2009. The last year of the pre-Cael Sanderson era.
