Penn State wrestling crowns 9 champs but sees an injury at Black Knight Invitational
Penn State’s wrestling team had a dominating performance Sunday at the Black Knight Invitational on the Army West Point campus in West Point, NY.
The Nittany Lions had finalists in all 10 weight classes — crowning nine champs — with five of the weights having teammates squaring off against one another.
However, Penn State saw 141-pound starter Aaron Nagao go down in pain during his finals matchup.
Leading 3-0 to start the second period, Nagao went for a takedown attempt on Army West Point’s Braden Basile. Basile stopped the takedown attempt, and Nagao grabbed his right forearm right above his wrist.
The match was called with Nagao injury defaulting out of the match.
Nittany Lions that also made the finals of their weights included Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds), Nate Desmond (125), Marcus Blaze (133), Shayne Van Ness (149), Connor Pierce (149), PJ Duke (157), Joe Sealey (157), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174), William Henckel (174), Rocco Welsh (184), Asher Cunningham (184), Connor Mirasola (197) and Cole Mirasola (285).
The champs were Desmond, Blaze, Van Ness, Duke, Mesenbrink, Haines, Welsh, Connor Mirasola and Cole Mirasola.
Penn State fans wondered who might be the starter at 157 and 285 pounds coming into the tournament, but maybe now they could question 125, too.
Desmond, who topped two ranked wrestlers on his way to the finals, used a late takedown in the third period to top Lilledahl, 5-3.
The true freshman shut out the No. 2 seed and No. 16 wrestler in the country in Chattanooga’s Cooper Flynn, 7-0. In the semifinals, Desmond collected a 17-4 major on Army West Point’s Charlie Farmer, who is No. 23 in the country.
Lilledahl cruised to the finals with a pair of technical falls, outscoring his opponents, 35-4.
At 157, Duke dominated his way to the title, pinning his way to the finals, where he edged Sealey, 2-1. Sealey bonused his way to the finals with a fall, major decision and technical fall.
At 285, Cole Mirasola topped teammate Lucas Cochran in the semifinals, 3-1, en route to winning his crown, 10-6 over the Black Knights’ Brady Colbert. Mirasola pinned his way to the semifinals.
When it came to the other all-Nittany Lions finals, Van Ness nearly had a major decision on Pierce, but instead came away with a 14-7 victory. Van Ness pinned his way to the semifinals, where he used a 16-1 technical fall to reach the finals. Pierce, who was the No. 6 seed, bonused his way to the finals with a technical fall, pin of the No. 3 seed and an 18-5 major decision over the No. 2 seed.
Haines shut out Henckel, 4-0.
Haines had three technical falls, outscoring his opponents, 58-10, on his way to the finals. Henckel had a pair of technical falls to make the semifinals. He outscored his opponents, 34-4. In the semifinals, Henckel topped the No. 2 seed, 7-3.
Welsh hung a 13-5 major decision on State College grad Asher Cunningham.
Welsh had bonus points on his way to the finals too. He opened with a 20-4 technical fall, and in the semifinals collected a 19-7 major decision. Cunningham, who was competing in his first collegiate tournament, had a pair of major decisions to make the finals. He outscored his opponents, 23-3, with his first college match being a 12-0 shutout.
Other Penn State wrestlers to place were Kysion Garcia (6th, 133 pounds), Cael Nasdeo (4th, 141), Sam Beckett (5th, 165) and Cochran (3rd, 285). True freshman Dalton Perry also competed for the Nittany Lions winning his first match, but injury defaulted out of the tournament in his next match.
Former St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy wrestler Zach “Boris” Witmer competed for Columbia at 133 pounds, but didn’t place.
This story was originally published November 23, 2025 at 7:15 PM.
