It looks like the worst fears for Penn State fans won’t come to fruition after 157-pounder Jason Nolf was forced to default his match against Rutgers on Sunday with an apparent knee injury.

Oh No. #Nolf pic.twitter.com/czvzXDT0CI

— Christian Pyles (@CPyles8) January 28, 2018

The reigning national champion is expected back for the postseason, head coach Cael Sanderson said on the Penn State Coaches Show on Monday night.

“Really, it’s not as bad as we feared, but it’s going to be some time before we get him back in, just to play it safe and try to get him back to close as 100 percent as we can before the postseason. We probably won’t even try to get him a dual meet,” Sanderson said, according to PennLive.

Nolf was 18-0, securing bonus points in all of but one of his dual wins and racking up 15 falls, prior to Sunday’s injury default.

It’s certainly not the most ideal time to be without the Hodge Trophy Candidate — No. 2 Penn State faces No. 1 Ohio State this Saturday, No. 3 Iowa in the Bryce Jordan Center on February 10, and Buffalo to close out the dual season on February 18. Still, missing a trio of duals is not the end of the world considering the alternative — missing the remainder of the season.

The NWCA Dual Championships went on hiatus for this season, so the postseason will begin March 3-4 with the Big Ten Championships before the Nittany Lions head to Cleveland for the NCAA Championships March 15-17.