How 2 Penn State wrestlers won gold at the U23 Junior Pan Am Championships
Earlier in the week, Penn State saw five of its wrestlers collect medals in Bulgaria at the U20 World Championships — and two more Nittany Lions added even more hardware Friday.
Mitchell Mesenbrink and Rocco Welsh, who transferred from Ohio State in the offseason, each took the mat Friday for Team USA and came away with a gold medal in their respective weight classes at the U23 Junior Pan Am Championships in Paraguay.
Mesenbrink, who just earned his first NCAA title, was dominant in his international title run. He didn’t have a single point scored against him in his three technical superiorities.
In the 74 kg finals, Mesenbrink blanked Cuba’s Orislandy Perdomo 10-0. The Penn State wrestler started his tournament with an 11-0 victory over Argentina’s Arnoldo Proboste.
Mesenbrink made the finals by racking up another 11-0 win, over Venezuela’s Ricardo Oyoque.
Friday’s 86 kilogram Pan Am title was Welsh’s second of his freestyle career after winning in 2021 at 74 kilograms. He topped Cuba’s Geannis Garzon, 5-2, for the crown.
Welsh had no problems reaching the finals as he tallied a pair of technical superiorities. He outscored his opponents 26-4, and he opened by topping Colombia’s Juan Cardozo 13-2.
In the semifinals, Welsh racked up another 13-2 victory over Brazil’s Max Franca.
With gold from Welsh and Mesenbrink, that means Penn State wrestlers racked up seven total medals this week. That also included U20 golds for Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke; silver for William Henckel; and bronze for Connor Mirasola and Cole Mirasola.
