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The opponents are set for this year's first-ever Dual Meet Championship, and Penn State, ranked number one in both the tournament and dual meet rankings, will take on Oklahoma State, ranked number two in tournament standings and number four in dual meet standings:
Penn State hosts Oklahoma State Sunday, 5 p.m., for '16 Nat Dual Title! Live on BTN! https://t.co/koDpZOABUa #psuwr pic.twitter.com/mNt9LRlgZt
— pennstateWREST (@pennstateWREST) February 15, 2016
As Ben explained previously, the Dual Meet Championship series is new this year and replaces previous seasons' National Duals. It pairs up eight Big Ten squads (unarguably the nation's best wrestling conference) against the top non-B1G teams, with the Big Ten schools playing host. As of this morning, Penn State was the only host venue to have sold out its dual meet in advance.
Headed into this past weekend, the odds-on favorite for Penn State was NC State, who was undefeated. The Wolfpack then lost to ACC foe Virginia Tech, whom Penn State beat in out of conference competition; then the spotlight turned towards John Smith's Oklahoma State squad.
Oklahoma State comes into Happy Valley at 12-2 on the year, with their two losses to NC State and to Iowa to kick off the season at Kinnick Stadium. The Pokes are a traditional wrestling power that, like the Nittany Lions, had an otherwise down year in 2014-2015, finishing the NCAA tournament 7th.