Penn State Wrestling Travels to Iowa Friday Night, Northwestern Sunday Afternoon, for B1G Road Weekend

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Penn State (7-0, 1-0 B1G) hits the road for two Big Ten dual meets this weekend. The Nittany Lions are at Iowa (8-2, 1-0 B1G) on Friday, Jan. 16, for a 7 p.m. Eastern dual on the Big Ten Network. Two days later, Penn State visits Northwestern (3-1, 1-0) on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 3 p.m. Eastern. Northwestern battles Wisconsin while Penn State visits Iowa. All rankings are InterMat/InterMat TPI.

The Nittany Lions are coming off a 46-0 shutout win over visiting Rutgers last Saturday. Penn State picked up three pins, two techs and three majors in blanking the Scarlet Knights to improve to 7-0 on the year and win its Big Ten opener.

Penn State has ten wrestlers ranked by InterMat. Luke Lilledahl is 9-0 and No. 2 at 125. Marcus Blaze is 11-0 and No. 4 at 133. Braeden Davis is 5-0 and No. 7 at 141. Shayne Van Ness is 10-0 and No. 1 at 149. PJ Duke is 9-0 and No. 3 at 157. Mitchell Mesenbrink is 11-0 and No. 1 at 165. Levi Haines is 10-0 and No. 1 at 174. Rocco Welsh is 9-0 and No. 4 at 184. Josh Barr is 8-0 and No. 1 at 197. Cole Mirasola is 8-2 and No. 13 at 285.

A reminder that per NCAA rules, when two wrestlers from the same team meet in a tournament, the result is not official as THEY ARE NOT OFFICIAL MATCHES. It does not count as a win or a loss. Please see rule 9, section 6, article 4, found on page 79 of the official 2025-26 NCAA Wrestling rule book.
“Art. 4. Non-Allowable ISRF Matches. Matches between teammates, against opponents who are not listed on an institutional roster, a club-level wrestler, a prospective student-athlete or an armed services student-athlete shall not be counted.”

Iowa enters Friday’s dual with an 8-2 record, 1-0 in the conference. The Hawkeyes opened up the Big Ten season with a win over Wisconsin and have ten wrestlers ranked by InterMat. Dean Peterson is No. 6 at 125. Drake Ayala is No. 8 at 133. Nasir Bailey is No. 11 at 141. Ryder Block is No. 17 at 149. Jordan Williams is No. 12 at 157. Michael Caliendo is No. 3 at 165. Patrick Kennedy is No. 3 at 174. Angelo Ferrrari is No. 1 at 184. Massoma Endene is No. 4 at 197. Ben Kueter is No. 5 at 285. Iowa leads the all-time series with Penn State 28-14-2. Penn State has won the last four meetings, including last year’s 30-8 win on Jan. 31, 2025, in the BJC. Penn State won the last meeting in Iowa City 29-6 on Feb. 9, 2024.

Northwestern, which is at Wisconsin on Friday night while PSU is at Iowa, enters the weekend 3-1, 1-0 in the Big Ten NU opened the conference slate last weekend with a win over Maryland. The Wildcats have four ranked wrestlers. Dedrick Navarro is No. 26 at 125. Sean Spidle is No. 24 at 133. Billy Dekraker is No. 32 at 141. Eddie Enright is No. 32 at 174. Penn State leads the all-time series 18-1-0, including the last meeting, a 29-13 victory on Jan. 30, 2021, in Evanston.

Penn State continues conference action next weekend with two dual meets. The Nittany Lions are at Iowa on Friday, Jan. 16, for a 7 p.m. Eastern dual and then at Northwestern on Sunday, Jan. 18, for a 3 p.m. Eastern match-up. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via X/twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. The 2025-26 Penn State Wrestling Season is sponsored by The Family Clothesline. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.

#1 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (7-0, 1-0 B1G)

125 #2 Luke Lilledahl So. Weldon Spring, Mo./Wyoming Seminary 9-0
133 #4 Marcus Blaze Fr. Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg 11-0
141 #7 Braeden Davis Jr. Belleville, Mich./Dundee 5-0
Aaron Nagao Jr. La Habra, Calif./Esperanza 5-2
149 #1 Shayne Van Ness Jr. Somerville, N.J./Blair Academy 10-0
157 #3 PJ Duke Fr. State Hill, N.Y./Minisink Valley 9-0
165 #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink Jr. Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead 11-0
174 #1 Levi Haines Sr. Arendtsville, Pa./Biglerville 10-0
184 #4 Rocco Welsh So. Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central 9-0
197 #1 Josh Barr So. Davison, Mich./Davison 8-0
Connor Mirasola R-Fr. Jackson, Wis./West Bend 6-1
285 #13 Cole Mirasola R-Fr. Jackson, Wis./West Bend 8-2

#3 IOWA HAWKEYES (8-2, 1-0 B1G)

125 #6 Dean Peterson Sr. Barnegat, N.J./Saint John Vianney 7-1
Keyan Hernandez R-Fr. Billings, Mont./Billings West 5-3
133 #8 Drake Ayala Sr. Fort Doge, Iowa/Fort Doge 4-4
141 #11 Nasir Bailey Jr. Park Forest, Ill./Rich Township 9-3
Kale Petersen So. Rockwell, Iowa/Greene County 8-1
149 #17 Ryder Block So. Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock 6-2
157 #12 Jordan Williams Jr. Tulsa, Okla./Owasso 7-2
165 #3 Michael Caliendo Sr. Geneva, Illinois/Batavia 9-1
174 #3 Patrick Kennedy Sr. Kasson-Mantorville, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville 9-1
184 #1 Angelo Ferrari R-Fr. Melissa, Texas/Melissa 9-0
197 #4 Massoma Endene Gr. Dallas, Texas/James Bowie 6-1
Harvey Ludington Fr. Tinton Falls, N.J./Brick Memorial 5-3
285 #5 Ben Kueter So. Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa City 3-1

NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS (*3-1, 1-0 B1G)

125 #26 Dedrick Navarro So. Nampa, Idaho/Nampa 11-8
133 #24 Sean Spidle Sr. Lapeer, Mich./Powers Catholic 1-4
141 #32 Billy Dekraker Fr. Warrenton, Va./Blair Academy 9-4
149 Sam Cartella So. Hudson, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy 11-7
157 Gunnar Myers R-Fr. Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack 8-6
165 Jacob Bostelman So. Parker, Colo./Ponderosa 8-7
174 #32 Eddie Enright R-Fr. Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel 17-5
184 J.D. Perez Gr. Deming, N.M./Deming 4-7
197 Alex Smith Fr. Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep 6-7
285 Gabe Christenson Gr. Runnells, Iowa/Southeast Polk 5-5

Individual rankings listed are InterMat/InterMat TPI (as of 1/13/26)
* Northwestern is at Wisconsin on 1/16/26, while Penn State is at Iowa

PENN STATE BLANKS #19 RUTGERS 46-0 IN REC HALL
Penn State picked up its fourth shutout win in its first seven dual meets on Saturday, Jan. 10, when the Nittany Lions blanked Rutgers 46-0 in Rec Hall. Penn State tallied three pins (Shayne Van Ness, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Levi Haines), two tech falls (PJ Duke, Josh Barr) and three majors (Marcus Blaze, Braeden Davis, Rocco Welsh) and got decisions from Luke Lilledahl and Cole Mirasola.

A REMINDER PER NCAA RULES: TOURNAMENT RESULTS
AGAINST TEAMMATES DO NOT COUNT TOWARDS RECORD
When two wrestlers from the same team meet in a tournament, the result is not official. It does not count as a win or a loss. Please see rule 9, section 6, article 4, found on page 79 of the official 2025-26 NCAA Wrestling rule book.
“Art. 4. Non-Allowable ISRF Matches. Matches between teammates, against opponents who are not listed on an institutional roster, a club-level wrestler, a prospective student-athlete or an armed services student-athlete shall not be counted.”

PIERCE, SEALEY, HENCKEL, CUNNINGHAM AND BARR
CLAIM SOUTHERN SCUFFLE TITLES; BARR B1G W.O.W.
Penn State sent 13 wrestlers to the 2026 Southern Scuffle and five came home with individual titles. Connor Pierce went 6-0 with a major to win at 149. Joe Sealey went 6-0 with a major and two techs to win at 157. William Henckel went 6-0 with two majors and a tech to win at 174. Asher Cunningham went 5-0 with two majors and two pins to win at 184. Josh Barr went 5-0 with a major, two techs and a pin (including a 9-1 major over #3 Stephen Little of Little Rock in the finals) to win at 197. The Nittany Lions came away with the team title as well, while not entering wrestlers at two weights. Barr was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week for his efforts.

BRAEDEN DAVIS WINS KAUFFMAN OPEN TITLE AT EDINBORO
Penn State sent three wrestlers to Edinboro’s Kauffman Open on Jan. 4, each wrestling unattached. Braeden Davis went 4-0 at 141 to win the title. Davis had two majors and two pins on the day. Hayden Cunningham went 3-1 with a pin to take third at 141. Brock Weiss was 3-2 with a major and a tech at 149.

van ness and blaze sweep b1g weekly honors
for week ending dec. 21, 2025
Nittany Lion junior Shayne Van Ness was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week and true freshman Marcus Blaze was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the week ending Dec. 21, 2025. The duo earned the honors for their performances in Penn State’s 2-0 run at the Collegiate Duals in Nashville on Dec. 20. Van Ness picked up two ranked wins, posting a 19-2 tech fall (5:16) over #24 Max Petersen of North Dakota State and downing #14 Aden Valencia of Stanford 10-4. Blaze also had two ranked victories, majoring #29 Tristan Daugherty of NDSU 11-3 and pinning #6 Tyler Knox of Stanford at the 6:44 mark (while leading 16-2 at the time). Penn State shut out the Bison 46-0 and blanked the Cardinal 42-0.

penn state shuts out #9 stanford 42-0
TO BREAK d1 all-time win streak record
Penn State dominated #9 Stanford to close out the Collegiate Duals in Nashville on Dec. 20, shutting out the Cardinal 42-0. Penn State got pins from Marcus Blaze and Mitchell Mesenbrink; tech falls from Josh Barr and Cole Mirasola; majors from Nate Desmond and Levi Haines; and decisions from Luke Lilledahl, Shayne Van Ness, PJ Duke and Rocco Welsh. Penn State set a new NCAA Division I dual meet win streak record with the victory, having won its 77th-straight. The old mark was 76 set by Oklahoma St. from 1937 to 1951. Ranked wins in the dual included Lilledahl’s 4-2 win over #12 Nicco Provo at 125, Blaze pinning #6 Tyler Knox at 133, Van Ness’ 10-4 win over #14 Aden Valencia, Duke’s 5-2 win over #5 Daniel Cardenas at 157 and Josh Barr’s 19-3 tech fall over #19 Angelo Posada at 197.

NITTANY LIONS SHUT OUT NORTH DAKOTA STATE 46-0
AT COLLEGIATE DUALS
Penn State won all ten bouts in a rousing 46-0 shutout win over North Dakota State on Dec. 20 in Nashville, opening up the Collegiate Duals with a victory. The Lions got pins from Levi Haines and Cole Mirasola; techs from Shayne Van Ness, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Rocco Welsh and Josh Barr; majors from Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke; and decisions from Luke Lilledahl and Nate Desmond. Ranked wins in the dual included Lilledahl’s 6-4 win over #31 Ezekial Witt at 125, Blaze’s 11-3 major over #29 Tristan Daugherty at 133, Van Ness’ 19-2 tech over #24 Max Petersen at 149, and Duke’s 16-5 major over #21 Gavin Drexler at 157.

Duke named b1g freshman of the week
Nittany Lion freshman PJ Duke was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the week ending Dec. 14, 2025. Duke pinned #23 Jared Hill of Wyoming to help lead Penn State to a 40-7 win at Wyoming in Laramie on Dec. 13.

LIONS TALLY 6 PINS, 2 TECHS, FIVE RANKED WINS
IN 40-7 VICTORY OVER WYOMING IN LARAMIE
Penn State rolled into Laramie, Wyo., on Dec. 13 and walked away with a dominant 40-7 victory over #18 Wyoming. The Nittany Lions picked up four pins, two tech falls and notched five wins over ranked opponents to secure the victory. Marcus Blaze pinned #22 Luke Willochell at 133, Shayne Van Ness pinned #30 Gabe Willochell at 149, PJ Duke pinned #23 Jared Hill at 157 and Mitchell Mesenbrink picked up a pin at 165. Luke Lilledahl had a tech fall win at 125 and Levi Haines posted an 18-1 tech fall over #28 Riley Davis at 174. Rocco Welsh picked up Penn State’s other ranked win, a 4-1 victory over #12 Eddie Neitenbach at 184. True freshman Nate Desmond also moved up two weights to 141 and grabbed his first dual win as a Nittany Lion.

MESENBRINK DOWNS #7 MAX BRIGNOLA AS
NITTANY LIONS ROLL OVER LEHIGH 36-6 IN REC HALL
Junior Mitchell Mesenbrink took care of #7 Max Brignola, posting a 15-7 major over the Mountain Hawk in Rec Hall on Sunday, Dec. 7. Mesenbrink’s victory highlighted Penn State’s 36-6 victory over Lehigh in front of yet another Rec Hall sellout crowd. Mesenbrink had four takedowns in the top-10 win. Penn State won eight of ten bouts against Lehigh, including PJ Duke’s win over #10 Logan Rozynski at 157 (Duke was up 14-3 when Rozynski injury defaulted at 5:41) and Rocco Welsh’s 4-2 win over #23 Rylan Rogers at 184.

HAINES DOMINATES #17 JASAIAH QUEEN TO
LEAD PENN STATE TO 43-3 WIN AT DREXEL
Senior Levi Haines rolled up over 2:00 in riding time and added three takedowns to post a dominant 12-1 major decision over #17 Jasaiah Queen of Drexel on Friday, Dec. 5. Haines’ win was one of nine for Penn State as the Nittany Lions rolled to a 43-3 victory in front of a sellout crowd in Philadelphia. All nine of Penn State’s wins were for bonus points. The Nittany Lions had two pins (Marcus Blaze, PJ Duke), three technical falls (Shayne Van Ness, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Connor Mirasola) and four majors (Haines, Luke Lilledahl, Rocco Welsh and Cole Mirasola).

PENN STATE DOMINATES BLACK KNIGHT INVITATIONAL
NINE LIONS WIN INDIVIDUAL TITLES, SIX TAKE SECOND
Penn State sent 20 wrestlers to the Black Knight Invitational at Army West Point on Sunday, Nov. 23. Nineteen of those wrestlers placed (one suffered an injury in his second match). Penn State came away with nine of the ten individual champions and six second place finishers. Nate Desmond (125), Marcus Blaze (133), Shayne Van Ness (149), PJ Duke (157), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174), Rocco Welsh (184), Connor Mirasola (197) and Cole Mirasola (285) all won their weight classes. Luke Lilledahl (125), Aaron Nagao (133, injured in finals), Connor Pierce (149), Joe Sealey (157), William Henckel (174) and Asher Cunningham (184) placed second.

NITTANY LIONS SHUT OUT #22 OKLAHOMA 45-0
IN BJC TO OPEN UP SEASON
Penn State rolled to a 45-0 shutout win over visiting Oklahoma in the Bryce Jordan Center on Friday, Nov. 14, in the season opener for the Nittany Lions. Penn State tallied eight bonus point wins in the victory, the teams third shutout win in its last four duals in the Jordan Center. The Lions had a pin (Levi Haines), five technical falls (Marcus Blaze, Shayne Van Ness, Joe Sealey, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Rocco Welsh) and two majors (Luke Lilledahl, Connor Mirasola) as well as two decisions (Aaron Nagao, Cole Mirasola) to round out the shutout. Connor Mirasola majored #8 DJ Parker 13-3 at 197, Cole Mirasola downed #24 Juan Mora at 285 and Haines pinned #33 Carter Schubert (4:15) for three ranked victories.

LUCAS COCHRAN WINS HITCHCOCK INVITATIONAL;
HAYDEN CUNNINGHAM TAKES THIRD
Four members of the Penn State wrestling team competed in the Floyd ‘Shorty’ Hitchcock Invitational at Millersville University on Sunday, Nov. 15. Lucas Cochran won the 285 pound title, going 3-0 with another win over a non-collegiate wrestler. Hayden Cunningham went 3-0 and 1-1 vs. non-collegiates to take third place at 141. Sam Becket went 3-1 and 1-1 vs. non-collegiates to take sixth at 165 and Brock Weiss went 2-2 at 149.

PENN STATE CONCLUDES OUTSTANDING
FREESTYLE SEASON with four u23 medals
Seven Penn State wrestlers took part in the United World Wrestling U23 World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, this weekend. Four of those seven Nittany Lions brought home U23 World Championships and Gold Medals while another won Bronze. The United States U23 World Team featured ten wrestlers, seven of whom were current Nittany Lions. Junior Mitchell Mesenbrink won the Gold Medal at 74 kg, sophomore Luke Lilledahl won the Gold Medal 57 kg, senior Levi Haines won the Gold Medal 79 kg, true freshman PJ Duke won a Bronze Medal at 70 kg, sophomore Rocco Welsh went 2-1 at 86 kg, sophomore Josh Barr went 1-1 at 92 kg before bowing out with an injury and true freshman Marcus Blaze competed at 65 kg. Penn State and the Penn State Olympic Regional Training Center had a very successful freestyle season winning a combined 11 world medals at the Senior World Championships, U20 World Championships and these U23 World Championships. Haines won Silver at Senior Worlds while RTC wrestler Kyle Snyder won Gold. Blaze and Duke had already won U20 Gold while William Henckel won U20 Silver and Connor and Cole Mirasola won U20 Bronze. Mesenbrink, Lilledahl and Haines won Gold while Duke won Bronze at U23s.

FOUR NITTANY LIONS COMPETE IN JOURNEYMEN
COLLEGIATE ROUND ROBIN EVENT
Four members of the Penn State wrestling team opened up the 2025-26 season by competing in the round robin portion of the Journeymen Collegiate on Sunday, Nov. 9. Connor Pierce went 2-1 with two technical falls at 149, Joe Sealey went 2-1 with a pin at 157, Sam Beckett went 2-1 at 165 and Dawson Bundy went 1-2 with a major at 285.

HAINES AND MESENBRINK NAMED TO
B1G PRESEASON WRESTLER TO WATCH LIST
The Big Ten released, for the first time, a pre-season Wrestler to Watch list that featured a maximum of two wrestlers per school. Penn State Nittany Lion National Champions Levi Haines (2024) and Mitchell Mesenbrink (2025) were included on the list.

#FUNSTATS AFTER THE 2025 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
// Most Individual NCAA Titles Since 2011 — PENN STATE 40, Cornell 14, Oklahoma State 12, Ohio State 11, Iowa 8
// Penn State National Finalists Since 2011 — 59
// Penn State in NCAA Finals Since 2011 — 40-19 (Since 2011, winning percentage in NCAA finals is .678)
// Penn State in NCAA Semifinals Since 2011 — 59-12 (Since 2011, winning percentage in NCAA semis is .831)
// Penn State Team Championships Since 2011 — 12 (of 14, no NCAA tournament in 2020)
// Penn State Percentage of Team Titles Won Since 2011 – .857 (no NCAA tournament in 2020)
// Penn State has 13 NCAA Championships (12 under Sanderson), third most in NCAA history
// Penn State is the only team in the nation to win at least one individual title at EACH WEIGHT in the last decade
// Penn State is one of only two teams in NCAA history to have five individual champions in one year TWICE.
// Penn State is one of only two teams in NCAA history to have 10 All-Americans in one year.
// Penn State’s Cael Sanderson has won 12 NCAA titles as a coach, second most in NCAA history.