Four Penn State wrestlers claim crowns at CLAW US Open Championships
Penn State had nine wrestlers compete in the CLAW U.S. Open Championships in Las Vegas, which came to a close Sunday evening.
Four Nittany Lions, a Nittany Lion Wrestling Club (NLWC) member and a State College graduate all earned themselves titles.
Luke Lilledahl (57 kilograms), Mitchell Mesenbrink (74 kg) and Kyle Snyder (NLWC, 97 kg) were those that collected titles in the Senior Men’s freestyle competition. Connor Mirasola (92 kg) and Cole Mirasola (125 kg) were crowned champs in the U20 freestyle division.
Lilledahl and Mesenbrink were dominant in their title runs, with Mesenbrink collecting technical superiority victories through the entire tournament.
The defending 165-pound NCAA champ in Mesenbrink didn’t have a single point scored against him until the semifinals. He outscored his opponents, 30-0, in four minutes of wrestling.
Mesenbrink made the finals by topping Quincy Monday, 12-1, in 3:30 of wrestling. In the finals, the Penn State wrestler got a rematch with former Iowa State wrestler David Carr, who topped Mesenbrink in the 2024 NCAA finals.
Mesenbrink led 5-4 after one period thanks to a late four-point throw. In the second period, he opened with another four-point throw and rattled of three takedowns to top Carr, 16-6, in 5:38.
Lilledahl cruised to the semifinals in just 3:28 of wrestling action. He outscored his opponents, 20-0. After a 10-4 win in the semifinals, Lilledahl faced Nebraska’s Liam Cronin in the finals.
The Nittany Lions wrestler dispatched the Cornhuskers wrestler, 10-0, in 2:45 thanks to four takedowns and a pair of pushout points.
Connor Mirasola was the top seed at his weight, and worked his way to the finals with a trio of technical superiorities. He opened with a 10-0 shutout in 49 seconds.
Mirasola used another 10-0 shutout in the semifinals to reach the finals. In the finals, he used a pair of takedowns and a pushout for a 5-1 win over Cody Merrill.
Cole Mirasola opened his title run with a trio of technical superiorities to reach the semifinals. He took out the top seed in Michael Mocco, 9-6, to reach the finals, using seven pushout points to his advantage.
The finals saw Mirasola race out to a five-point lead after one period of wrestling against Dreshaun Ross. Mirsola got a passivity point and a pushout to extend his lead.
Ross attempted for a comeback with a late four-point throw, but it wasn’t enough as the Penn State wrestler came away with a 7-4 win.
Snyder crushed his opponents during his title run by not giving up a single point. He outscored his opponents 41-0.
Snyder topped former Virginia wrestler Jonathan Aiello in the finals, 11-0.
Snyder wasn’t the only NLWC team member to make the finals at their respective weight — Kyle Dake worked his way to the 86 kilogram finals.
Dake cruised to the semifinals outscoring his opponents, 32-1. He made the finals by topping Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen, 8-1.
In the finals, Dake suffered an 8-4 loss to former Arizona State wrestler Zahid Valencia.
Earlier in the week, former Little Lions wrestler Pierson Manville, who competes for Arizona State, dominated his way to a U20 Greco-Roman crown.
Manville, who was the No. 1 seed at 65 kilograms, had no problems during his title run, giving up just two points and recording five technical superiorities. His quickest victory came in the second round, where he rolled up a 12-0 victory in 34 seconds.
In the finals, the State College graduate topped the No. 2 seed in Amryn Nutter, 10-0, in 5:43.
Manville made the finals of the freestyle competition as well, but suffered a 6-0 loss to Luke Stanich.
Other Penn State wrestlers that competed were Joseph Sealey (74 kg, U20 freestyle, 2nd place finish), Beau Bartlett (65 kg, Senior Men’s freestyle, 3-2, 5th place finish), Sam Beckett (79 kg, Senior Men’s freestyle, 3-2), Rocco Welsh (86 kg, Senior Men’s freestyle, 5-2, 5th place finish) and Brock Weiss (70 kg, U20 freestyle, 2-2).
Also during the event, Penn State assistant coach Casey Cunningham was named USA Wrestling’s Freestyle Coach of the Year.
