Penn State wrestling true freshman PJ Duke isn’t used to losing.
In high school, he only lost 12 times in 338 bouts per FloWrestling.
At Penn State, he won his first 13 matches.
Friday night, Duke, ranked No. 3 at 157, took on defending national champ Antrell Taylor, ranked No. 5.
It could have gone either way, but in a second tiebreaker, Taylor got a 2-1 win.
But Duke’s head coach isn’t too worried about him.
WHAT CAEL SAID
Photo by Sydney Kaschalk, Nittany Sports Now
“I think it’s a great match for him to get,” Sanderson said afterward. “It’s a tough loss, obviously, in a double ride-out situation. But I mean, it’s just a situation where we have to go get a takedown and just, obviously, a tough opponent. Tactically, he’s hard to get to, and he’s strong in a lot of positions. But PJ’s going to be fine. He’ll just learn from it, keep getting better, and that’s the name of the game.”
Losses often can be the best teacher.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.For instance, Mitchell Mesenbrink lost the last match of his redshirt freshman season at Penn State, and is 43-0 with a national championship since.
A wrestler with Duke’s talent doesn’t come along often.
It’s not normal for a kid who just graduated high school to beat a four-time NCAA champ, but that’s what Duke did at the Senior World Team Trials this past June.
With that type of skillset, it’d be foolish to bet against Duke to bounce back from his first college setback.
A CHANCE FOR REDEMPTION
Photo by Sydney Kaschalk, Nittany Sports Now
There’s a good chance that Duke and Taylor wrestle each other again, perhaps even more than once.
They could even face off in the same building, with the Bryce Jordan Center hosting the Big Ten Championships in early March.
For now, Duke and Penn State will move on to No. 10 Michigan, which it faces in Ann Arbor next Friday at 6 on the Big Ten Network.
