Penn State wrestling breaks Div. I record by extending dual winning streak to 77
Penn State wrestling has been compared to Alabama football in terms of dynasties. But, while the Crimson Tide have taken a step back, the Nittany Lions showed Saturday night they still belong at the top.
Penn State made history by setting a Division I record by extending its dual winning streak to 77, after a pair of wins at the Journeymen Collegiate Duals in Nashville, Tenn. The Nittany Lions first shut out North Dakota State, 46-0, to tie the record and then beat Stanford, 42-0, to break it.
Cael Sanderson’s PSU program broke the Div. I record previously held by Oklahoma State, which went undefeated for 76 duals between 1937-1951. It also tied the overall NCAA record of 77, set by Div. II St. Cloud State from 2017-2022.
“I got the best coaches in the world and then there’s so many other people behind the scenes that don’t get the spotlight as much. It speaks volumes to how good they are in preparing us for each dual,” 133-pound wrestler Marcus Blaze told Penn State Sports Network after the Stanford win. “To win however many (duals) in a row, it’s pretty hard, because sometimes you can go into matches and not have your team prepared. Coach Cael (Sanderson) does such a good job of preparing us for every single dual, every single match, and then he just keeps making us get better every single day. There’s just no way to not be ready when you have Coach Cael on the coaching staff.”
Not only did the Nittany Lions set a new record, they also saw Josh Barr make his season debut after missing time due to an injury he suffered during the U23 World Championships in October.
Blaze, Barr, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Levi Haines and Cole Mirasola all recorded bonus point victories in both duals for Penn State.
Blaze’s wins came over ranked opponents. He pinned No. 6 Tyler Knox of Stanford in 6:44, and his night began with an 11-3 major decision over No. 29 Tristan Daugherty.
“I got the best coaches in the world, the best training partners in the world, so I just know when they tell me to do something, I’ll just stick to it,” Blaze said. “I stayed consistent, kept trying to get to my offense and kept trying to get better. I definitely learned from the first match.”
Barr made quite the return to the mat by racking up identical 19-3 technical falls in his victories. He needed 3:20 to dispatch North Dakota State’s Devin Wasley. The NCAA runner-up then dispatched Stanford’s No. 19 Angelo Posada in 4:13.
Barr had a total of 10 takedowns on the night.
Mesenbrink opened his night by racking up an 18-1 technical fall on Boeden Greenley in 3:45, and then got the dual-clinching pin against Stanford’s EJ Parco in 4:23.
Haines pinned the Bison’s Tyler Secoy in 1:38. In the match against the Cardinal, Haines worked for a 14-4 major decision on Lorenzo Newman.
Mirasola made sure to put the exclamation point on each shutout.
He had two takedowns on North Dakota State’s Drew Blackburn-Frost. And, on the second takedown, the Nittany Lions wrestler slapped a cradle on for a fall in 33 seconds. Mirasola also rattled off seven first-period takedowns to top Stanford’s Luke Duthie, 21-6 in 2:59.
The Nittany Lions (6-0) have three shutouts on the year and 31 total under Sanderson.
Penn State gets a shot to break the overall NCAA win streak record on Jan. 10 when it hosts Rutgers in its conference opener inside Rec Hall.
No. 1 Penn State 46, North Dakota State 0
Saturday at Nashville, Tenn. 125: No. 2 Luke Lilledahl, PSU, dec. No. 31 Ezekiel Witt, 6-5 133: No. 10 Marcus Blaze, PSU, major dec. No. 29 Tristan Daugherty, 11-3 141: Nate Desmond, PSU, dec. Michael Olson, 4-1 149: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness, PSU, tech. fall No. 24 Max Petersen, 19-2 (5:16) 157: No. 8 PJ Duke, PSU, major dec. No. 21 Gavin Drexler, 16-5 165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, tech. fall Boeden Greenley, 18-1 (3:45) 174: No. 1 Levi Haines, PSU, pinned Tyler Secoy, 1:38 184: No. 4 Rocco Welsh, PSU, tech. fall Andrew McMonagle, 19-4 (6:17) 197: Josh Barr, PSU, tech. fall Devin Wasley, 19-3 (3:20) 285: No. 13 Cole Mirasola, PSU, pinned Drew Blackburn-Frost, :33 Takedowns: N 1, PSU 29 Records: North Dakota State (1-5), Penn State (5-0)
No. 1 Penn State 42, No. 23 Stanford 0
125: No. 2 Luke Lilledahl, PSU, dec. No. 12 Nico Provo, 4-2 133: No. 10 Marcus Blaze, PSU, pinned No. 6 Tyler Knox, 6:44 141: Nate Desmond, PSU, major dec. Lain Yapoujian, 9-0 149: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness, PSU, dec. No. 14 Aden Valencia, 10-4 157: No. 8 PJ Duke, PSU, dec. No. 5 Daniel Cardenas, 5-2 165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, pinned EJ Parco, 4:23 174: No. 1 Levi Haines, PSU, major dec. Lorenzo Norman, 14-4 184: No. 4 Rocco Welsh, PSU, dec. Abraham Wojcikiewicz, 4-1 197: Josh Barr, PSU, tech. fall No. 19 Angelo Posada, 19-3 (4:13) 285: No. 13 Cole Mirasola, PSU, tech. fall Luke Duthie, 21-6 (2:59) Takedowns: S 1, PSU 29 Records: Stanford (2-3), Penn State (6-0) Next match: Rutgers at Penn State, Jan. 10, 4 p.m.
This story was originally published December 20, 2025 at 7:58 PM.
