Penn State has six wrestlers at No. 1 in Intermat rankings. Here’s a look
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Penn State holds six individual No.1 Intermat rankings and all 10 starters ranked.
- Rocco Welsh rose to No.1 after a 2-1 tiebreak win over Angelo Ferrari.
- Team retains NWCA No.1; Big Ten supplies six teams inside the top 10.
Penn State’s wrestling team continues to dominate duals to extend its NCAA mark with 80 straight victories.
The Nittany Lions continued to break more records on Tuesday as they became the first team to have six individuals ranked No. 1 in their respective weight of the Intermat rankings. They also have all 10 starters ranked.
Shayne Van Ness (149 pounds), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174) and Josh Barr (197) have been No. 1. Luke Lilledahl (125) and Rocco Welsh (184) joined their teammates at the top of their weights.
Lilledahl was No. 1 earlier this year, but Welsh, who was No. 4 last week, made the biggest jump . Welsh, who topped the previous No. 1 wrestler in Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari, 2-1 in tiebreakers, leaped over Ferrari, Missouri’s Aeoden Sinclair and Minnesota’s Max McEnelly.
True freshmen Marcus Blaze (3rd, 133 pounds) and PJ Duke (3rd, 157) are also in the top three of their weight class.
Penn State’s other starters Braeden Davis (11th, 141) and Cole Mirasola (12th, 285) gives the team all 10 starters ranked in the top 15 of their weights.
Davis fell from seventh to 11th after suffering a 3-2 loss to Iowa’s Nasir Bailey. Mirasola climbed up one spot after he earned a 4-3 win over then No. 5 Ben Kueter of Iowa.
As a team, the Nittany Lions remained No. 1 in the NWCA Top 25 poll. Ohio State and Iowa State round out the top three, in that order.
The Big Ten has six of the top 10 teams in the country with Iowa (4th), Nebraska (6th), Minnesota (9th) and Michigan (10th). In total, the conference has 10 in the top 25 with Illinois (12th), Wisconsin (16th), Rutgers (17th) and Indiana (25th) joining the mix.
Penn State hosts Indiana on Friday and travels to Maryland on Sunday.
NWCA Top 25
1. Penn State (9-0); 2. Ohio State (12-0); 3. Iowa State (6-1); 4. Iowa (8-3); 5. Oklahoma State (9-1); 6. Nebraska (9-3); 7. Virginia Tech (6-2); 8. North Carolina State (11-3); 9. Minnesota (7-3); 10. Michigan (7-2); 11. North Carolina (8-1); 12. Illinois (8-4); 13. Northern Iowa (8-4); 14. Pittsburgh (9-2); 15. South Dakota State (9-2); 16. Wisconsin (10-1); 17. Rutgers (7-4); 18. Missouri (8-6); 19. West Virginia (8-3); 20. Lehigh (7-6); 21. Oklahoma (7-3); 22. Cornell (3-4); 23. Wyoming (4-3); 24. Stanford (3-5); 25. Indiana (6-2)
