Penn State wrestling eager to face Iowa, first of 2 Big Ten opponents this weekend
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Penn State wrestles Iowa Friday and Northwestern Sunday on the road.
- Coach Cael Sanderson stresses businesslike mentality despite Iowa’s atmosphere.
- Lilledahl seeks revenge at 125; Mirasola aims to add aggression and control.
Friday night’s dual with Iowa is one of Penn State wrestling fans’ favorite days on the calendar.
But two days later, the Nittany Lions take on Northwestern, with both duals on the road. So for Penn State coach Cael Sanderson and his staff, Friday’s match is just another day.
“It’s the same mentality, business as usual,” Sanderson said Wednesday during media availability. “Of course, Iowa is a great opponent and has great wrestlers, great coaches, great tradition and history. We got to be ready to roll.”
Sanderson went on to say that they are “blessed” to be able to compete inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena in front of enthusiastic fans. Luke Lilledahl and Cole Mirasola agreed with their coach, saying that they can’t wait to wrestle in front of the Hawkeyes’ fan base.
“My first time wrestling there, so it’ll be a pretty cool environment. I think just like Rec Hall,” Mirasola said. “Carver has a lot of intense fans who love wrestling, so it’ll be cool to have our guys there and wrestle.”
Lilledahl has another reason for the high anticipation for the dual. He’s set to face No. 6 Dean Peterson, who beat him, 4-1, in the dual with Rutgers last season.
“I’m looking forward to the environment,” Lilledahl said. “Obviously, wrestling a guy that has beaten me previously is pretty fun to be able to wrestle him again, and in that arena is going to be pretty awesome too.”
He also sees it as an opportunity to show how he’s improved.
“Last season was kind of more about showing people my potential because people had a lot of high expectations for me,” Lilledahl said. “This year, I feel like it’s more going out there and dominating these guys, and putting myself at the top of the weight class.
“A lot of these guys, they like to keep it close and keep the score tight, and maybe score at the end. I want to go out there and dominate guys every time. If I’m not, then just go back in the room and figure things out.”
As for Mirasola, he’s been on a roll since suffering back-to-back losses to Lehigh’s Nathan Taylor and Wyoming’s Christian Carroll. He’ll get his hands on another top wrestler in the country in No. 5 Ben Kueter on Friday night.
Mirasola isn’t focused on Kueter or his ranking. Instead, he said he’s focused on “getting better every match.”
“I’m just trying to be focused on being more mean when I’m wrestling, not giving up any points easily. In the past, I haven’t really been super mean when I wrestled,” Mirasola said. “I was tactical and slick, but talking to coach Cael, it doesn’t have to be clean. You can win dirty, not being dirty, obviously, but winning off go behinds or pulling guys down and stuff.”
No. 1 Penn State (7-0, 1-0 Big Ten) at No. 4 Iowa (8-2, 1-0 Big Ten)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa
Radio: Big Foot Legends (103.7 & 104.3 FM)
TV: Big Ten Network
Online: Radio, Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com
X: @byncobler, @pennstatewrest
Projected lineups: Nittany Lions — No. 2 Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds), No. 4 Marcus Blaze (133), No. 7 Braeden Davis (141), No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (149), No. 3 PJ Duke (157), No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), No. 1 Levi Haines (174), No. 4 Rocco Welsh (184), No. 1 Josh Barr (197), No. 13 Cole Mirasola (285); Hawkeyes — No. 6 Dean Peterson (125), No. 8 Drake Ayala (133), No. 11 Nasir Bailey or Kale Petersen (141), No. 7 Ryder Block (149), No. 12 Jordan Williams or Victor Voinovich III (157), No. 3 Michael Caliendo (165), No. 3 Patrick Kennedy or Gabe Arnold (174), No. 1 Angelo Ferrari (184), Harvey Ludington or Brody Sampson (197), No. 5 Ben Kueter (285)
No. 1 Penn State (7-0, 1-0 Big Ten) at Northwestern (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten)
When: 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, Ill.
Radio: Big Foot Legends (103.7 & 104.3 FM)
TV: None
Online: Streaming, Big Ten Plus; Radio, Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com
X: @byncobler, @pennstatewrest
Note: Northwestern travels to Wisconsin on Friday night
Projected lineups: Nittany Lions — No. 2 Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds), No. 4 Marcus Blaze (133), No. 7 Braeden Davis (141), No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (149), No. 3 PJ Duke (157), No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), No. 1 Levi Haines (174), No. 4 Rocco Welsh (184), No. 1 Josh Barr (197), No. 13 Cole Mirasola (285); Wildcats — No. 26 Dedrick Navarro (125), No. 24 Sean Spidle (133), No. 32 Billy Dekraker (141), Sam Cartella (149), Gunnar Myers (157), Jacob Bostelman (165), No. 32 Eddie Enright (174), J.D. Perez (184), Alex Smith (197), Gabe Christenson (285)
