Braeden Davis spent much of his first college holiday break training in his old high school wrestling room.

The Penn State freshman, who hails from Belleville, Michigan, adapted quickly in the first half of his debut college season and traveled home determined to maintain his routine. In between spending time with his family, the Penn State freshman retreated to the familiar confines of the Dundee High School gym knowing he’ll be called on more and more when season resumes.

Davis wanted to be prepared. Now that the squad is back together and preparing for their longest trip of the season, Davis believes he is.

“We all known now that now is crunch time,” Davis said. “Everyone understands that and I feel like everyone’s even more ready.”

Penn State will make a cross-country trip to Corvallis where the Nittany Lions will face the Oregon State Beavers on Friday. Davis, who’s tied with 141-pounder Beau Bartlett with eight wins this season, will almost certainly make the trip.

Penn State coach Cael Sanderson hinted that the Nittany Lions will continue to evaluate other 125-pounders while saying Davis has “done a really good job” with the matches he’s had.

So far, Davis is unbeaten with five bonus-point wins in tournament action. His lone dual win came via 11-2 major over Hofstra’s Dylan Acevedo-Switzer on Dec. 10.

There could be a tougher opponent waiting for him on the West Coast.

Oregon State will likely send former All-American and three-time NCAA qualifier Brandon Kaylor to the mat on Friday. 

“They have a very good team and are very motivated and just a really good staff that’s doing a great job,” Sanderson said. “So yeah, it'll be a great match. I think our guys are used to the big stage and big crowds So yeah, it'll be it'll be fun to just go see where we're at.”

While Kaylor has lost two of his last five to Top 25 wrestlers, he still has a massive experience edge over Davis. But while Kaylor is a sixth-year senior with 110 collegiate bouts under his belt, the baby-faced Davis has gotten experience wrestling much older, wiser opponents in Penn State’s room.

In addition to his senior teammates, Davis has sparred with some vaunted folkstyle wrestlers since many of them line the ranks of Penn State’s Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.

“I guess the first live go with Thomas Gilman, that was the one I got beat up pretty good,” Davis said. “But I’ve improved since.”

The Nico Spot

Davis is trying to snag a spot Penn State hasn’t had much success at for a while.

The Nittany Lions are just 3-6 in matches at the NCAA tournament at 125 pounds since Nico Megaludis won a national title at college wrestling’s lightest weight in 2016.

Since then, only Drew Hildebrandt and Robbie Howard have wrestled matches in the NCAA bracket. Nick Suriano made the tournament in 2017, but medically forfeited twice.

Davis, who feels he’s vastly improved his hand fighting and tightened up his shots, is confident he can make a push to change the team’s lightweight narrative.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Davis said. “I have no doubts.”

Looking At 149

Shayne Van Ness walked in and out of Penn State’s wrestling room with a smile on Tuesday. He greeted reporters gathered to talk with Sanderson and shared a laugh with a group of teammates as they filed into practice.

Even though the injured 149-pounder can’t wrestle, these little contributions are felt.

“Just him being around lights up the mood,” Sanderson said. “He's got that big smile, and he's just as a competitor, obviously. Tenacious.”

Van Ness was injured in practice before the Hofstra dual. He hasn’t yet had surgery to repair the unspecified injury, but Sanderson said it’s coming up.

In the meantime, Sanderson and his staff still continue to evaluate the rest of the 149-pounders on the roster, and some of the 141-pounders, too.

“You're probably going to have one of the guys that were down at 141,” Sanderson said. “But yeah, we'll be we'll be competitive and ready to roll and just kind of get those matches as they come and see where we're at, but we feel pretty good.”

Junior David Evans has spent most of his career at 141 and is 6-2 this season. Tyler Kasak is listed at 141, but bumped up to 149 to replace Van Ness on Dec. 3 against Lehigh. He beat Lehigh’s Drew Munch 7-5 to improve to 4-1.

“Evans and Kasak have competed really well up to this point and they’re probably more natural 149-pounders than 141-pounders,” Sanderson said. “I don’t think weight will be an issue for them, they’ll be ready to wrestle.”

No Worries

Heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet wanted to wrestle in last month’s Senior Nationals but opted to rest and recover instead.

Kerkvliet tweaked a nagging ailment in his 11-1 win over Lehigh’s Nathan Taylor on Dec. 3. It shouldn’t hold him out much longer, however.

“It didn’t make sense to jump into a big tournament,” Sanderson said. “It was kind of like a last-day kind of decision but yeah, he's I think he's doing he's doing well and ready to rock and roll this weekend.”