Here’s how Penn State won its 4th straight Big Ten Wrestling Championships title
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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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Penn State’s wrestling team has been breaking records both nationally and for the program over the past several seasons.
That continued Sunday inside the Bryce Jordan Center, where the Nittany Lions won their fourth straight team title. There were also seven conference champions, a record for the team.
Penn State finished with 184 points — the most points the program has scored in the conference tournament — to outpace Ohio State by 35.5 points.
“It’s a strong testament to the people that we have around us. I think that in an ever-changing world, especially with college sports and what NIL has done to it, I think our coaches have set a foundation at Penn State that doesn’t change,” Mitchell Mesenbrink said of all the history set. “It’s grounded in things that are intangible and not so futile as money or even wins.”
Nittany Lions coach Cael Sanderson added: “I don’t know how to really compare teams, but this is a really good team. The character, determination, everything is outstanding. We’re happy and definitely grateful to have a good weekend like this.”
Here’s where the Nittany Lions wrestlers finished:
125 pounds: Luke Lilledahl
Finish: 1st
Record for tournament: 3-0
Recap: Lilledahl was able to successfully defend his Big Ten crown, but he had to put in some overtime to get it.
After the champ and Minnesota’s Jore Volk traded escapes in regulation, the pair went to sudden victory. Lilledahl caught Volk sleeping on a counter takedown.
The Penn State wrestler snuck around the back, but Volk caught him in a bodylock after some readjusting, Lilledahl got the takedown with 1:04 left in the match for the 4-1 victory.
“My game plan is to go out and score points as fast as I can, but at the same time, (when) things aren’t happening, you got to stay patient,” Lilledahl said. “As the match went along, my offense opened up. He was getting me stuck in a couple positions in the beginning of the match. I was just navigating those and staying patient.”
133 pounds: Marcus Blaze
Finish: 2nd
Record for tournament: 2-1
Recap: Someone was bound to win their first Big Ten title when Blaze and Ohio State’s Ben Davino squared off.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the Nittany Lion’s time to get one.
The pair traded escapes in the regulation to force sudden victory. Neither wrestler scored in sudden victory, so the bout went to rideout periods.
Blaze started down in the first period, and escaped, but Davino amassed 17 seconds of riding time. In the second period, Davino escaped, and still held a 14 seconds riding time advantage — which was the ultimate decider — in a 3-2 win for the Buckeyes’ wrestler.
141 pounds: Braeden Davis
Finish: 7th
Record for tournament: 3-2
Recap: While Davis has had a rough tournament, he still was able to secure himself an automatic NCAA bid early Sunday afternoon.
Davis took on Northwestern’s Billy DeKraker in the seventh place match and came out determined to win by collecting a takedown 13 seconds into the bout. In the second period, Davis rode the Wildcats wrestler for the entire period to build up riding time.
Davis got an escape to open the third period, added a takedown and got more riding time for a point to win 8-1.
149 pounds: Shayne Van Ness
Finish: 1st
Record for tournament: 3-0
Recap: Van Ness had the hometown crowd on the edge of their seats for the bulk of the tournament. And he made sure to get them up out of their seats for his finals match against Ohio State’s Ethan Stiles.
After the pair had a scoreless first period, Stiles chose to start from the bottom position in the second — a decision he’d later regret. Van Ness caught Stiles sleeping during an escape attempt, threw the Buckeyes’ wrestler to his back for a pin in 3:28.
“I just felt like I kept getting better every match. I’m happy with the way that I performed,” Van Ness said.
157 pounds: PJ Duke
Finish: 1st
Record for tournament: 3-0
Recap: Duke was looking to get some revenge in his finals matchup against Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor, who gave the freshman his lone loss this season.
The Nittany Lions wrestler got the revenge in dominant fashion on way to his first Big Ten title.
Duke’s relentless pressure garnered him a takedown with one minute left in the first period, and the crowd erupted. In the second period, Duke countered a Taylor attack for another takedown.
The Penn State wrestler opened the third period with an escape, and a third takedown that had the crowd get even louder. Duke, who was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler, finished it off with a riding time point for a 12-4 major decision.
“I made a few mistakes in the first match, most of them were my fault. I went back to my coaches, and we figured things out. We had a better game plan, and it worked out,” Duke said. “Obviously, Antrell is an amazing wrestler and competitor. But after that first match, I kind of had that feeling like I know I can beat this guy. I just got to wrestle differently and get to what I need to get to.”
165 pounds: Mitchell Mesenbrink
Finish: 1st
Record for tournament: 3-0
Recap: For the eighth time in his career, Mesenbrink took on Iowa’s Michael Caliendo.
And for the eighth time in a row, the Penn State wrestler came out on top.
Mesenbrink opened by tallying a pair of takedowns in the first period for a four-point lead. He extended his lead in the second period thanks to an escape, third takedown and a stall point.
Caliendo recorded an escape to open the third period, but Mesenbrink kept up his defense and added a riding time point for a 12-3 major decision.
“I’m thinking of the exact opposite. I’m not really focusing on one person,” Mesenbrink said when asked how he evolves his wrestling against Caliendo. “I’m focusing on getting better in a wide range of technical aspects, strategic aspects, all different kinds of facets of wrestling.
174 pounds: Levi Haines
Finish: 1st
Record for tournament: 3-0
Recap: Haines came out looking to make even more history for the Nittany Lions against Nebraska’s Christopher Minto.
After a scoreless first period, Minto recorded an escape for a lead. However, later in the second period, he had an illegal hold, which gave Haines a point. It was tied after two periods.
In third period, Haines got an early escape to hold on for a 2-1 win. He became the fourth four-time Big Ten champion for the Nittany Lions, joining Aaron Brooks, Ed Ruth and David Taylor.
“It was a really awesome atmosphere. You can probably hear in the background, the crowd is really into it. Penn State wrestling lives here, so couldn’t have a better place to have the Big Ten championships,” Haines said. “ Tough competitors in the Big Ten getting us ready for the nationals coming up here. I’m really grateful for all of our competitors here in the Big Ten.”
184 pounds: Rocco Welsh
Finish: 1st
Record for tournament: 3-0
Recap: Welsh put in a lot of work to earn his first Big Ten title this weekend.
Every match he wrestled went into overtime or rideout periods, and the finals against Minnesota’s Max McEnelly was no different.
The pair traded escapes in regulation as neither scored in sudden victory to force rideout periods.
Welsh got an escape in the first rideout period. McEnelly looked to have a takedown at the end of period, but time ran out.
The second rideout period McEnelly wanted to go on his feet, but Welsh kept him from scoring at all in a 2-1 win in ultimate tiebreaker.
“I think having strong faith in God, and praying and asking for his strength and stuff like that. In a physical way, it’s training in the Penn State room with such good partners,” Welsh said. “I’m wrestling the best guys in the country and the world every day, so I’m used to those tough matches. I’m not really happy with my performance all around, but I’m glad I won a Big Ten title.”
197 pounds: Josh Barr
Finish: 1st
Record for tournament: 3-0
Recap: After an injury forced Barr from finishing off last year’s Big Ten championships, he looked like he was on a mission to claim his first conference title.
He used back-to-back technical falls to get to the finals, where he took on Nebraska’s Camden McDanel. The pair squared off in the January dual with Barr collecting a major decision.
In the finals, Barr needed just under five minutes to dispatch McDanel. The Penn State wrestler snapped off six takedowns — three in the first and second period — to collect a 19-4 technical fall in 4:46.
285 pounds: Cole Mirasola
Finish: 5th
Record for tournament: 3-2
Recap: Mirasola was supposed to wrestle in the fifth place match, but instead he received a medical forfeit from Wisconsin’s Braxton Amos.
Mirasola took on Iowa’s Ben Kueter in the consolation semifinals early Sunday afternoon. Mirasola topped Kueter in the January dual, but Kueter got his revenge.
After a scoreless first period, Kueter got an escape to hold a one-point lead. The Hawkeyes wrestler then rode the Penn State wrestler for the entire third period to add a riding time point for a 2-0 win.
Big Ten Championships
Sunday 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 184, 2. Ohio State 148.5, 3. Nebraska 116.5, 4. Iowa 87, 5. Michigan 86.5, 6. Illinois 78, 7. Minnesota 76.5, 8. Rutgers 63.5, 9. Wisconsin 55, 10. Indiana 40
Finals
125: Luke Lilledahl, PSU, dec. Jore Volk, Minn., 4-1 (SV); 133: Ben Davino, OSU, dec. Marcus Blaze, PSU, 3-2 (UTB2); 141: Jesse Mendez, OSU, dec. Brock Hardy, N, 7-2; 149: Shayne Van Ness, PSU, pinned Ethan Stiles, OSU, 3:28; 157: PJ Duke, PSU, major dec. Antrell Taylor, N, 12-4; 165: Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, major dec. Michael Caliendo, I, 12-3; 174: Levi Haines, PSU, dec. Christopher Minto, N, 2-1; 184: Rocco Welsh, PSU, dec. Max McEnelly, Minn., 2-1 (UTB2); 197: Josh Barr, PSU, tech. fall Camden McDanel, N, 19-4 (4:46); 285: Taye Ghadiali, Mich., dec. AJ Ferrari, N, 5-2
5th Place Match
285: Cole Mirasola, PSU, med. forfeit Braxton Amos, W
7th Place Match
141: Braeden Davis, PSU, dec. Billy DeKraker, NW, 8-1
This story was originally published March 8, 2026 at 8:40 PM.
