Here’s where Penn State stands after Day 1 of Big Ten Wrestling Championships
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2026 Big Ten Wrestling Championships
Penn State wrestling has claimed another Big Ten Championship, and this time Cael Sanderson’s squad did so at home. Below is a look at all of our coverage from the March 7-8 Big Ten Wrestling Championships at the Bryce Jordan Center.
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The first day of the 2026 Big Ten Wrestling Championships finished up Saturday inside the Bryce Jordan Center with Penn State in an all-too-familiar position.
The Nittany Lions are No. 1 in the team race with 146.5 points. They lead Ohio State by 31.5 points.
Penn State sent eight of its 10 wrestlers into Sunday’s finals, which are slated to start at 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Consolation matches begin at noon.
“Overall, a pretty darn good day, I’d say. We won some tough matches, some overtime matches,” Nittany Lions coach Cael Sanderson said. “Guys competed hard. We’ll get ready to go tomorrow.”
Here’s where the Nittany Lions are individually:
125 pounds: Luke Lilledahl
Current round: Finals
Record after day: 2-0
Recap: Lilledahl is one win away from repeating as the Big Ten champ.
He got to work early on Indiana’s Jacob Moran in the semifinals as he rattled off two first-period takedowns. Lilledahl tacked another takedown on in the second period on his way to an 11-3 major decision.
The Penn State wrestler faces Minnesota’s Jore Volk, who topped Ohio State’s Nic Bouzakis in the other semifinal, in Sunday afternoon’s finals.
To open the tournament, Lilledahl came out and defended his 125-pound crown with an 8-3 decision.
After a scoreless first period, Lilledahl snapped off a takedown of Iowa’s Dean Peterson and led by one after two periods. The third period opened with an escape for the Penn State wrestler, who turned around and took the Hawkeyes’ wrestler right back down.
Lilledalhl added a riding time point for the 8-3 win.
133 pounds: Marcus Blaze
Current round: Finals
Record after day: 2-0
Recap: Blaze punched his ticket to his first conference final by topping Iowa’s Drake Ayala, 4-1, in sudden victory.
The duo traded escapes in the second and third period.
In the sudden victory period, the two looked for a scoring opening. The Nittany Lions wrestler found his with 55 seconds left for a takedown, and winning score.
Blaze faces Ohio State’s Ben Davino for the title.
Earlier Saturday, Blaze had an impressive start to his Big Ten championships debut.
The true freshman opened the scoring with a late first period takedown of Rutgers’ Dylan Shawver and never looked back. Blaze recorded three more takedowns of Shawver and collected some stall points along the way for a 16-3 major decision.
141 pounds: Braeden Davis
Current round: Seventh-Place Match
Record after day: 2-2
Recap: After being kicked into the consolation bracket, Davis opened his first consolation bout by sticking Illinois’ Danny Pucino in 36 seconds.
The Penn State wrestler then faced Rutgers’ Joey Olivieri for an automatic spot to NCAAs on the line — but came up short.
Olivieri recorded a first-period takedown and had an escape in the second to amass a four-point lead after two periods. The Scarlet Knights’ wrestler frustrated Davis and kept him from scoring to earn a 4-2 victory.
Davis will now have to beat Northwestern’s Billy DeKraker in the seventh-place match for an automatic qualifying spot. If he loses, then he’ll have to wait and see if he gets an at-large bid.
Earlier in the tournament, in his first-round match with Maryland’s Dario Lemus, Davis found himself on his back in the second period. But the junior fought off his back and into a reversal of Lemus, and was able to hang on for a 6-4 win.
When it came to the quarterfinals, Davis founds himself in a six-point hole after two periods of wrestling against Minnesota’s Vance Vombaur. Vombaur poured it on in the third period to collect a 20-5 technical fall in 7:00, before Davis moved on to Pucino.
149 pounds: Shayne Van Ness
Current round: Finals
Record after day: 2-0
Recap: Van Ness loved putting the hometown crowd on the edge of their seats.
He gave up a pair of takedowns to Michigan’s Lachlan McNeil in the first period of their semifinals match. But, like he did in the Maryland dual in January, Van Ness stormed back.
An escape and a takedown in the second period got the Nittany Lions’ wrestler within two points. In the third period, Van Ness snapped off two more takedowns and hung on for an 11-10 win.
He’ll take on Ohio State’s Ethan Stiles for a shot at his first conference crown.
“He got a couple of slow starts today and had to battle back. It’s nice to know that he can do that,” Sanderson said. “His conditioning is extraordinary, and he’s a tough, scrappy kid. He just keeps fighting, so a great competitor.”
To start the tournament, Van Ness gave fans their money’s worth with a 5-4 decision. But he was behind early as he gave up an initial takedown to Iowa’s Ryder Block in the first period of their quarterfinals match.
From that takedown, the Penn State wrestler’s relentless pressure forced Block into stall calls. Van Ness had an escape to open the second and collected a stall point to trail 3-2 after two periods.
In the third period, Van Ness got two more stall calls to top Block.
157 pounds: PJ Duke
Current round: Finals
Record after day: 2-0
Recap: Duke made his first conference final with a veteran-type semifinals performance.
With 1:25 left in the first period, the true freshman took Ilinois’ Kannon Webster down for the bout’s first points. From there, Duke used stellar defense to earn a 4-2 win.
He’ll get a rematch in the finals with Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor, who gave Duke his lone loss of the season.
“Both PJ and Marcus (Blaze) wrestled great. They beat some really good wrestlers today,” Sanderson said. “Obviously, big matches tomorrow. Really excited for these guys.”
Duke also had quite the debut in his first conference tournament with an opening bout against Ohio State’s Brandon Cannon.
It was set to be a highly touted matchup, but Cannon was wrestling for the first time since early January. And it showed.
The Buckeyes’ wrestler scored the first takedown of the match, but it was all Duke from there. The Nittany Lions’ wrestler snapped off six takedowns and nearly earned a technical fall in a 20-7 major decision over Cannon.
165 pounds: Mitchell Mesenbrink
Current round: Finals
Record after day: 2-0
Recap: Mesenbrink took a little bit to get his offense going in his semifinals match with Minnesota’s Andrew Sparks. Bu when he got it going, the defending Big Ten champ wasn’t going to be stopped.
He rattled off four third-period takedowns to secure a 19-4 technical fall in 6:28.
Mesenbrink will take on Iowa’s Michael Caliendo for an eighth time in their collegiate careers for the Big Ten title.
Earlier in the tournament, Mesenbrink squared off against Ohio State’s Paddy Gallagher in the quarterfinals. The two were supposed to wrestle in last year’s Big Ten championships, but Gallagher injury defaulted.
This time around, Mesenbrink still came out on top.
Gallagher kept Mesenbrink from getting too offensive as the Nittany Lions’ wrestler recorded just two takedowns in the match. However, Mesenbrink kept his perfect streak of bonus-point victories intact with a 10-2 major decision.
174 pounds: Levi Haines
Current round: Finals
Record after day: 2-0
Recap: Haines had a scoreless first period against Ohio State’s Carson Kharchla in their semifinals bout before ultimately coming out on top.
The Penn State senior got things rolling in the second period with an escape and takedown. In the third period, Haines nearly rode Kharchla for the entire period to add riding time in a 5-1 victory.
He’ll face Nebraska’s Christopher Minto in his last conference finals.
Haines also made sure to start his last Big Ten championships off emphatically against Illinois’ Colin Kelly.
The senior collected five takedowns — two apiece in the second and third periods — in a 17-2 technical fall in 6:02.
184 pounds: Rocco Welsh
Current round: Finals
Record after day: 2-0
Recap: Welsh had to put in some extra work on his way to the finals.
After giving up an initial takedown to Michigan’s Brock Mantanona, the transfer from Ohio State rallied to hold a one-point lead after two periods. Mantanona got an escape to force sudden victory, where Welsh snapped off a bout-winning takedown 24 seconds in for the 8-5 victory.
The Nittany Lions wrestler faces Minnesota’s Max McEnelly, who got a medical forfeit, in the finals.
“Rocco did a nice job, stayed composed and just found a way to get it done a couple of times,” Sanderson said.
Earlier Saturday, Welsh squared off with Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari in the quarterfinals, and it was an exact replica of their January dual meet match.
The pair traded escapes in regulation with Welsh fighting off two Ferrari takedown attempts. After neither wrestler scored in the sudden victory period, it headed to ultimate tiebreaker rideout periods.
In the first period, Welsh escaped, but Ferrari amassed nine seconds of riding time — which is the ultimate decider if the bout is still tied after two rideout periods. The second period saw Welsh ride Ferrari for 13 seconds before the Hawkeyes’ wrestler escaped.
Neither wrestler was able to score anymore points, which gave Welsh the 3-2 win thanks to four more seconds of riding time.
197 pounds: Josh Barr
Current round: Finals
Record after day: 2-0
Recap: Barr looked like a man on a mission in his semifinals match with Ohio State’s Luke Geog.
A late first-period takedown started off a scoring spree for the Penn State wrestler. Barr was able to build up a 10-point lead after two period of wrestling thanks to tallying two more takedowns in the second and getting a stall point.
In the third period, Barr poured it on with two more takedowns to help him collect an 18-3 technical fall in 7:00.
He faces Nebraska’s Camden McDanel for a shot at his first conference title.
Barr looked well on his way toward a Big Ten title last year, but an injury in the semifinals cut it short.
This year, he opened as the No. 1 seed and showed why he’s on his way to a title that escaped him last year.
In his opening bout, Barr snapped off four first-period takedowns on Indiana’s Gabe Sollars to grab a giant lead. He needed just over one minute to get three more takedowns in a 21-6 technical fall in 4:09.
285 pounds: Cole Mirasola
Current round: Consolation Semifinals
Record after day: 2-1
Recap: Mirasola reached the semifinals of his first conference championship, where he took on the top seed in Michigan’s Taye Ghadiali.
Ghadiali topped Mirasola, 5-2, on Saturday night, which was a near-replica of the pair’s dual match.
Ghadiali gathered a takedown in the first period, but Mirasola escaped to make it 3-1 after one. The Wolverines wrestler had an escape in the second period to extend his lead.
Mirasola got an escape with just over 30 seconds left in the match, and nearly took Ghadiali down, but he just couldn’t finish it off.
The Penn State wrestler did get the tournament started off on the right foot, however. He decked Northwestern’s Gabe Christenson in 25 seconds of their first-round match.
In the quarterfinals, the Nittany Lions’ wrestler took down Wisconsin’s Braxton Amos early in the first period. The takedown was all Mirasola needed to secure a spot in the semifinals with a 4-2 victory.
Big Ten Championships
Saturday at University Park
Team key: Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Iowa (I), Maryland (M), Michigan (Mich.), Michigan State (MSU), Minnesota (Minn.), Nebraska (N), Northwestern (NW), Ohio State (OSU), Penn State (PSU), Purdue (P), Rutgers (R), Wisconsin (W)
Team scores: 1. Penn State 146.5, 2. Ohio State 115, 3. Nebraska 112, 4. Iowa 70, T5. Illinois 69.5, T5. Minnesota 69.5, 7. Michigan 68.5, 8. Rutgers 56.5, 9. Wisconsin 43.5, 10. Indiana 33
Semifinals
125: Luke Lilledahl, PSU, major dec. Jacob Moran, IN, 11-3; 133: Marcus Blaze, PSU, dec. Drake Ayala, I, 4-1 (SV); 149: Shayne Van Ness, PSU, dec. Lachlan McNeil, Mich., 11-10; 157: PJ Duke, PSU, dec. Kannon Webster, IL, 4-2; 165: Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, tech. fall Andrew Sparks, Minn., 19-4 (6:28); 174: Levi Haines, PSU, dec. Carson Kharchla, OSU, 5-1; 184: Rocco Welsh, PSU, dec. Brock Mantanona, Mich., 8-5 (SV); 197: Josh Barr, PSU, tech. fall Luke Geog, OSU, 18-3 (7:00); 285: Taye Ghadiali, Mich., dec. Cole Mirasola, PSU, 5-2
Consolation Quarterfinals
141: Joey Olivieri, R, dec. Braeden Davis, PSU, 4-2
Consolation Second Round
141: Davis, PSU, pinned Danny Pucino, IL, :36
Quarterfinals
125: Lilledahl, PSU, dec. Dean Peterson, I, 8-3; 133: Blaze, PSU, major dec. Dylan Shawver, R, 16-3; 141: Vance Vombaur, Minn., tech. fall Davis, PSU, 20-5 (7:00); 149: Van Ness, PSU, dec. Ryder Block, I, 5-4; 157: Duke, PSU, major dec. Brandon Cannon, OSU, 20-7; 165: Mesenbrink, PSU, major dec. Paddy Gallagher, OSU, 10-2; 174: Haines, PSU, tech. fall Colin Kelly, IL, 17-2 (6:02); 184: Welsh, PSU, dec. Angelo Ferrari, I, 3-2 (UTB 2); 197: Barr, PSU, tech. fall Gabe Sollars, IN, 21-6 (4:09); 285: Mirasola, PSU, dec. Braxton Amos, W, 4-2
First Round
141: Davis, PSU, dec. Dario Lemus, M, 6-4; 285: Mirasola, PSU, pinned Gabe Christenson, N, :25
This story was originally published March 7, 2026 at 3:12 PM.
