PJ Duke won Outstanding Wrestler of the Big Ten Championships on Sunday to cap off an impressive weekend at the Bryce Jordan Center for the Penn State true freshman and his teammates.
The No. 2 seed at 157 pounds, Duke defeated No. 1 seed Antrell Taylor of Nebraska to claim the title in his first conference tournament. With an aggressive attack throughout the seven-minute final, Duke had a statement win against the defending NCAA champion and avenged his only collegiate loss to date.
Duke defeated Ohio State’s Brandon Cannon, who was ranked No. 1 in the nation but missed the last month of the regular season with an injury, by a 20-7 major decision in the quarterfinals and No. 3 seed Kannon Webster by a 4-2 decision in the semis.
He was one of a program-record seven Nittany Lions to win Big Ten titles on Sunday, joining Luke Lilledahl, Shayne Van Ness, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Levi Haines, Rocco Welsh and Josh Barr. Freshman Marcus Blaze finished as runner-up at 133 pounds, while redshirt freshman Cole Mirasola took fifth at heavyweight and junior Braeden Davis claimed seventh at 141, ensuring all 10 Penn State starters earned automatic bids to the NCAA Championships.
Penn State won its fourth consecutive team title and 10th overall, all under head coach Cael Sanderson, with a school record 184 points — 35.5 points ahead of second-place Ohio State.
The Buckeyes swept the rest of the individual awards handed out at the conclusion of the championships. Jesse Mendez won Wrestler of the Year; Ben Davino, who defeated Blaze in tiebreakers in the 133 final, took Freshman of the Year; and Tom Ryan was named Coach of the Year.
Next up is the NCAA Championships March 19-21 in Cleveland, where the Nittany Lions will be seeking their fifth consecutive national title, 13th in 16 years under Sanderson and 14th overall.
