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Penn State wrestling has declined to participate in the National Duals Invitational tournament for the second consecutive year. The event will take place on December 12-13 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, featuring six of the Top 10 NCAA teams, but will not include the reigning champions, the Nittany Lions.
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Once again, Penn State wrestling, has reportedly turned down attending the $1 million-plus National Duals Invitational tournament.
The college wrestling showcase event, reborn for the second year, will be held Dec. 12-13 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The 16-team field, released this week, will feature six of the Top 10 teams from the recent NCAA Wrestling Championships − Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Stanford, Iowa State, Minnesota and N.C. State.
Missing will be the No. 1 Nittany Lions, who have won the past five national team titles and 13 of 15. Coach Cael Sanderson has talked repeatedly about not being interested in the early-season, two-day tournament, which was held in November last year.
Other top teams opting out this time include, Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan.
National runner-up Oklahoma State Cowboys and their coach, Penn State icon David Taylor, will be the tournament's de-facto hosts again. They finished second at last year's national duals, behind Ohio State.
Jan 16, 2026; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Cael Sanderson watches his team wrestle the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images
The rest of this year's tournament field: Arizona State, Arkansas-Little Rock, Missouri, North Carolin, Oklahoma, Maryland, Pitt, Rutgers, Virginia Tech and Wyoming.
The event features $1.2 million in prize money with the winner taking home $250,000. The second- and third-place teams will each earn $175,000 with the rest of the top prize money being shared among the No. 4 through 8 finishers.
Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson has expressed a lack of interest in the early-season tournament format.
The tournament will feature teams like Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Stanford, Iowa State, Minnesota, and N.C. State.
The National Duals Invitational is scheduled for December 12-13 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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The Nittany Lions typically feature a light November and December dual meet and tournament schedule − their longstanding tradition and routine in preparing for the Big Ten season and the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.
Sanderson said this before Penn State officially declined last year's invitational: "I think that’s just kind of always been what people think the answer is, the national duals. I don’t really feel any differently now than I did about it 10 years ago, right? I mean, I think you can create a big event without including every team in the country, right?"
Meanwhile, the Lions are just beginning their typical "offseason" of national and world freestyle tournaments and competition.
They will have several wrestlers competing at this week's World Team Trials in Kentucky and, again, at the Final X event next month in New Jersey. There, winners are guaranteed spots on this year's U.S. Senior World Team.
All of it, in a sense, serves as preparation for the 2026-27 college season, where the Lions will be favored to win their sixth straight title. They own the longest dual meet winning streak in NCAA history at 86 with the potential of hitting the 100-mark by mid-winter.
Frank Bodani covers Penn State wrestling for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Penn State wrestling, Cael Sanderson skip National Duals Invitational