Throwback to Day 1 of the 2025 Southern Scuffle Tournament at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, which saw some of the biggest changes reflected in college rankings. Posing a big competition against each other, the NCAA colleges are coming off with their dominant performances to qualify in the semifinals. For the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions, the team is currently facing the biggest competition against the third-seeded Oklahoma Sooners.

With the semifinals scheduled for next Sunday, the first-day performance ended with quite the dominance reflected by the Army Black Knights team standing at No. 1. The third standing, however, comes not for Penn State, but things took a little turn here with the second spot taken over by one of the dominant NCAA teams like the Sooners.

Penn State’s declining tournament ranking

For Penn State, the 2025 Southern Scuffle Tournament’s first day was challenging. Competing against the emerging NCAA colleges of today, the No. 2 Nittany Lions, with a total of nine wrestlers representing them in the two-day tournament, are majorly affected by the Oklahoma Sooners win of January 3 against the Air Force Falcons.

Penn State has now fallen short against the Sooners, taking a step back as the third-ranked team in the tournament standings with a total of 77 points and five out of nine disqualified for the semifinal run. The turnover in the ranking, however, comes with the major absence of some of the wrestlers, and notably the absence of Oklahoma State University from the competition, which affected the overall rankings.

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The Oklahoma State Cowboys weren’t even at the Southern Scuffle! It was Oklahoma the Sooners! Also not 1 wrestler from...more

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With the semifinal game upcoming, the NCAA wrestlers from different college programs are coming into prominence. Entering at 184 pounds as a freshman, Penn State’s Zack Ryder, going against Virginia Tech’s TJ Stewart, qualified as one of the team’s rising stars in the tournament semifinals. Joining Ryder is 197-pound Connor Mirasola, a member of the under-20 World Team of 2024. The other two names to take part in the semifinals include Connor Pierce and Cole Mirasola.

Penn State 2025 Southern Scuffle Lineup

The Southern Scuffle tournament is indeed the biggest turnover of 2025. While Penn State falls short to No. 3, the absence of its players is concerning. Carter Starocci, a four-time NCAA champion, will not be a part of this time. The decision comes concerning the overcoming journey of his right knee injury faced against Edinboro in the regular season finale of February 2024. His credibility on the mat will be missing, but he is also joined by three other major names from the team.

The 2025 Edinboro Open saw two of the Penn State wrestlers out of the tournament participation. At 141 pounds, Cael Nasdeo went on to win by 3-0 with a tech. 174 pounds Sam Becket, on the other hand, went off by 2-1 to take second place behind Cael. Another addition to the absentees comes with the mention of Kysion Garcia, who will no longer be competing and is currently coming off with a 2-2 record.

Despite the absence of key players like Starocci, rising stars such as Zack Ryder and the Mirasola twins are being highlighted for their exceptional performances in the tournament, especially in the semifinal match. At 184 pounds, Ryder enters the tournament as a freshman after defeating his size of wrestlers from the Rutgers team, including Brian Soldano and Shane Cartegena-Walsh. Adding to the team’s lineup is also three-time individual state champion Connor Mirasole, with his 2023 dominant defeat of his team’s former NCAA Champion Max Dean, and his twin brother Cole Mirasole, a two-time state champion.

Thus, it now rests upon the Penn State wrestlers to make a comeback this time. While the team’s long-time rivalry against the Cowboys remains, how Cael Sanderson’s 11-title wins come in prominence against David Taylor’s dominant coaching in the absence of teams like Oklahoma State University and Iowa will be seen in the Sunday semifinal run.