No. 1 Penn State Rolls to Historic College Wrestling Record

The Nittany Lions sweep two matches at the Journeymen Collegiate Duals to set the Division I win-streak mark.

Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Josh Barr reacts after a victory in the semifinals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The top-ranked Penn State wrestling team broke a 74-year-old record Saturday by sweeping a pair of matches at the Journeymen Collegiate Duals. With shutout victories over North Dakota State and No. 9 Stanford, the Nittany Lions extended their win streak to 77 consecutive matches and broke the Division I record for the longest win streak.

Penn State surpassed Oklahoma State's Division I record of 76 straight wins, which dated to 1951. Penn State now is tied for third with St. Cloud State for the longest win streak in college wrestling history of any division. Fittingly, defending national champ Mitchell Mesenbrink (165 pounds) clinched the record with a fall for his 37th consecutive victory.

Jason Bryant of Mat Talk Online has compiled an exhaustive list of records at his site, including the top win streaks in college wrestling history. Here's a condensed look at the list and where Penn State stands among the nation's longest win streaks.

Team	Consecutive Wins	Years Recorded	Division
Grand View	117	2013-22	NAIA
SUNY Delhi	92	1979-83	NJCAA
St. Cloud State	77	2017-22	NCAA Division II
Penn State	77	2020-present	NCAA Division I
Oklahoma State	76	1937-51	NCAA Division I
Oklahoma City	76	2008-12	NAIA Women
Iowa	69	2007-11	NCAA Division I
Oklahoma State	69	1996-99	NCAA Division I

Penn State coach Cael Sanderson's team has not lost a match since Jan. 31, 2020, when No. 1 Iowa defeated the No. 2 Nittany Lions 19-17. Penn State began its current win streak two days later with a 40-3 victory over Maryland. That win also began Penn State's 42-match Big Ten win streak.

No. 1 Penn State (6-0) was dominant again Saturday, going 20-0 in its two matches in Nashville. Among the highlights was the return of Josh Barr, the defending NCAA runnerup at 197 pounds who wrestled for the first time this season. Here's the breakdown of Penn State's record-setting wins.

No. 1 Penn State 42, No. 9 Stanford 0

That's a wrap in Nashville!
Two duals, two shutouts!#PSUwr pic.twitter.com/4llkIT6jsS

— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) December 21, 2025

Mesenbrink, FloWrestling's pound-for-pound No.1 wrestler in the country, secured the win-streak record with his fifth pin of the season. Mesenbrink (10-0) has scored bonus points in every bout this season.

Freshman PJ Duke picked up his most impressive win of the young season, scoring a third-period takedown to edge fifth-ranked Daniel Cardenas 5-2. Duke (8-0) fought off Cardenas' late takedown attempt to score his second win over a ranked opponent of the day. Duke, ranked eighth by InterMat Wrestling, also decisioned his highest-ranked opponent of the season.

Fellow freshman Marcus Blaze (133) generated another impressive win, pinning sixth-ranked Tyler Knox in the third period. Blaze (10-0) has four falls and 10 bonus-point wins on the season. Barr capped his return with two technical falls, both by 19-3 scores, and nearly pinned Stanford's Angelo Posada.

And heavyweight Cole Mirasola had a dominant night, following his first-period pin vs. North Dakota State with a first-period technical fall vs. Stanford. Mirasola punctuated Penn State's record-setting tournament by scoring a takedown, his seventh, with 1 second remaining in the period to end the bout.

• 125: No. 2 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) dec. No. 12 Nico Provo 4-2

• 133: No. 10 Marcus Blaze (PSU) pin No. 6 Tyler Knox 6:44

• 141: Nate Desmond (PSU) dec. Lain Yapoujian 9-0

• 149: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) dec. No. 14 Aden Valencia 10-4

• 157: No. 8 PJ Duke (PS) dec. No. 5 Daniel Cardenas 5-2

• 165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink pin EJ Parco 4:23

• 174: No. 1 Levi Haines (PSU) dec. Lorenzo Norman 14-4

• 184: No. 4 Rocco Welsh (PSU) dec. Abraham Wojcikiewicz 5-1

• 197: Josh Barr (PSU) tech. fall No. 19 Angelo Posada 19-3 in 4:13

• 285: No. 13 Cole Mirasola (PSU) tech. fall Luke Duthie 21-6 in 2:59

Penn State 46, North Dakota State 0

The first dual in Nashville is in the books!
One more to go, vs. No. 9 Stanford starting at 7 p.m. Eastern!#PSUwr pic.twitter.com/DwmI7Xu5eI

— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) December 20, 2025

Barr had not wrestled for the Nittany Lions this season after sustaining a rib injury at the U23 World Championships in October. He was dominant in his return, compiling five first-period takedowns en route to a 19-3 technical fall in just 3:20. Barr entered the weekend unranked because of his injury absence but is about to make his rankings return.

The Nittany Lions rolled to their second shutout of the season, scoring bonus points in eight of the 10 bouts. That included four technical falls and two pins, both in the first period. Cole Mirasola (285) recorded his third fall of the season, this one in just 33 seconds.

Freshman PJ Duke, ranked eighth at 157, recorded the highest-ranked win of the match, scoring a 16-5 major decision over No. 21 Gavin Drexler. Fellow freshman Nate Desmond won again at 141 pounds, hitting a late takedown to secure a 4-1 decision.

Sophomore Luke Lilledahl, ranked second at 125, wrestled a wild bout vs. No. 31 Ezekiel Witt. They were tied 4-4 after one period, and Lilledahl needed a hard-earned point for riding time to secure the 6-5 win.

• 125: No. 2 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) dec. No. 31 Ezekiel Witt 6-5

• 133: No. 10 Marcus Blaze (PSU) dec. No. 29 Tristan Daugherty 11-3

• 141: Nate Desmond (PSU) dec. Michael Olson 4-1

• 149: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) tech. fall No. 24 Max Petersen 18-2 in 5:16

• 157: No. 8 PJ Duke (PSU) dec. No. 21 Gavin Drexler 16-5

• 165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) tech fall Boeden Greenley 18-1 in 3:45

• 174: No. 1 Levi Haines (PSU) pin Tyler Secoy in 1:38

• 184: No. 4 Rocco Welsh (PSU) tech. fall Andrew McMonagle 19-4 in 6:17

• 197: Josh Barr (PSU) tech. fall Devin Wasley 19-3 in 3:20

• 285: No. 13 Cole Mirasola pin Drew Blackburn-Forst in :33

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