Penn State wrestlers claim six tournament titles to start new year
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- Penn State fielded 16 wrestlers and won six tournament titles to start the year
- Nittany Lions claimed the Southern Scuffle team title with 143.5 points
- Multiple wrestlers recorded ranked wins and bonus-point finishes en route
Penn State had 16 wrestlers compete this weekend before the season gets back underway on Saturday.
Six of those 16 wrestlers claimed tournament titles on Sunday — five at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and one at the Kauffman Open in Edinboro.
Connor Pierce (149 pounds), Joe Sealey (157), William Henckel (174), Asher Cunningham (184) and Josh Barr (197) earned crowns in Tennessee as Braeden Davis (141) collected a crown in Edinboro.
The Nittany Lions claimed the team title at the Southern Scuffle with 143.5 points, and 11 of the 13 wrestlers that competed were backups.
Also competing in Tennessee were Aaron Nagao (141), who had to medical forfeit out; Kysion Garcia (141), Cael Nasdeo (141), Ty Watson (165), who wrestled at Penns Valley; Sean Degl (174), Mason Ellis (197), Lucas Cochran (285) and Dawson Bundy (285). Hayden Cunningham (141) and Brock Weiss (149) took in action in Edinboro.
Outside of the champs, Cochran (6th) and Cunningham (3rd) were the only other Penn State wrestlers to place.
Davis and Barr bonused their way to their respective titles.
Davis had two pins and two major decisions — with a 13-3 win over West Virginia’s Luke Satriano in the finals. Davis pinned his way to the semifinals, and used a 19-7 win over Satriano’s teammate in Ramil Islamov to make the finals.
Barr, who just made a return to the mat competitively and is ranked No. 1 in the country, had two pins, two technical falls and a major decision. In the finals, the Nittany Lions wrestler hung a 9-1 major decision on Little Rock’s Stephen Little, who is No. 3 in the country.
Cunningham, who wrestled for State College, got his second taste of college wrestling after finishing second in the Black Knight Invitational, where he lost to teammate Rocco Welsh in the finals.
This time around, Cunningham got a title with 12-9 victory over Penn’s Caleb Campos, who is ranked No. 25 in the country. It was a match that the Penn State wrestler trailed 7-4 after one period of wrestling.
Cunningham had another ranked victory when he shut out Cornell’s Christian Hansen (No. 30 in country), 8-0, in the quarterfinals. The former Little Lions wrestler pinned Appalachian State’s Tomas Brooker in 4:36 to make the finals.
Pierce, who was the No. 3 seed, worked his way through his bracket, and earned some upsets along the way. In the finals, the Nittany Lions wrestler topped Little Rock’s Brock Herman, who is ranked No. 26, 13-6, for the crown. He topped North Dakota State’s Max Petersen, who is ranked No. 24 in the country, 5-2, to make the finals.
Sealey, who was the No. 5 seed, opened his tournament with a pair of technical falls. He used an 11-2 major decision over The Citadel’s Kyrel Leavell to make the finals. In the finals, Sealy trailed 5-4 after two periods against North Carolina State’s Daniel Zepeda. The Penn State wrestler stormed back for an 11-8 victory.
Henckel, who was the No. 3 seed, opened with a 4-2 win over Army West Point’s Cooper Haase. Then, Henckel bonused his way to the semifinals with a pair of major decisions and a technical fall.
The Nittany Lions wrestler hung a 20-4 technical fall on Utah Valley’s Hudson Rogers in 6:35 to make the quarterfinals. Henckel made the semifinals with a 10-2 win over Penn’s Liam Carlin.
In the semifinals, Henckel picked up an 8-3 ranked-win over Duke’s Aidan Wallace, who is No. 22 in the country. Henckel shut out Carlin’s teammate Caden Bellis, 5-0, for his title.
Former Bellefonte wrestler Jude Swisher finished third at 157 pounds for Penn. He was the No. 2 seed, and worked his to the quarterfinals, where he suffered a 3-0 loss to Zepeda.
This story was originally published January 4, 2026 at 6:40 PM.
