All Penn State

Penn State Live Updates From the Big Ten Wrestling Championships

The Nittany Lions seek to win their fourth consecutive Big Ten tournament title.
Mark Wogenrich|
Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl (left) wrestles Iowa’s Dean Peterson (right) in a 125-pound bout during the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Bryce Jordan Center.
Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl (left) wrestles Iowa’s Dean Peterson (right) in a 125-pound bout during the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State wrestling will take center mat Sunday night at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, where the Nittany Lions have eight finalists in the 10 weight classes. Penn State looks to win its fourth consecutive Big Ten tournament title at home at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State takes a comfortable lead into Sunday's action, which begins at noon with the consolation round. The Nittany Lions (146.5) lead Nebraska (112) by more than 30 points. The championship and medal finals begin at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Nine Nittany Lions have qualified for the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships, scheduled for March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. Junior Braeden Davis looks to add his name to the nationals roster from the consolation round. He will wrestle for seventh place Sunday. With a win, Davis would earn an automatic bid to nationals.

Here's the recap of Saturday's semifinals.

125: Luke Lilledahl dec. Jacob Moran (Indiana) 11-3

Lilledahl returned to the Big Ten final by taking it to Moran quickly. Lilledahl (19-0) scored a pair of takedowns in the first two minutes en route to the major decision. Lilledahl added a third takedown as time expired in the second period.

The Penn State sophomore will wrestle for his second Big Ten title against Minnesota's Jore Folk. The sixth-seeded Folk (22-4) put together a surprising 8-1 win over second-seed Nic Bouzakis in the semifinals. Folk held Bouzakis without a takedown to take out the nation's second-ranked wrestler.

133: Marcus Blaze (PS) dec. Drake Ayala (Iowa) 4-1 SV

The top-seeded already is a master of situational wrestling. The Penn State freshman looped behind Ayala in sudden victory, clinching the only takedown of their tense semifinal bout.

Blaze (21-0) scored his second victory of the season over Ayala, securing the only takedown in both bouts. The freshman already is 10-0 against Big Ten wrestlers and will compete for his first conference championship.

However, Blaze won't see the nation's No. 1 wrestler in Illinois' Lucas Byrd, who lost in the quarterfinals. Instead, Blaze gets a rematch with third-ranked Ben Davino of Ohio State. Blaze won their regular-season bout 3-2 in the tiebreaker.

149: Shayne Van Ness (PS) dec. Lachlan McNeil (Michigan) 11-10

The top-seeded Van Ness had a funky first day at Big Tens, though he got his act together in the third period to reach his first Big Ten final. Van Ness (20-0) trailed the fourth-seeded McNeil 6-1 in the first period, which has been his most short-sided period of the season.

But Van Ness, who trailed in both bouts Saturday, scored a pair of third-period takedowns to take out McNeil. He hit the winner with 50 seconds remaining after cutting McNeil. Van Ness has scored 22 third-period takedowns this season while allowing just one.

Van Ness had to find a way in Saturday's quarterfinal round against Iowa's Ryder Block, who scored the first takedown and led by a point with 5 seconds remaining. However, Block stepped out of bounds as time dwindled, a two-point swing that gave Van Ness the 5-4 victory. He did not really get close to a takedown in the bout.

157: PJ Duke (PS) dec. Kannon Webster (Illinois) 4-2

The second-seeded Duke will get his second look at defending national champ Antrell Taylor of Nebraska in the Big Ten final. After scoring 20 points to major former No. 1 Brandon Cannon of Ohio State in the quarterfinals, Duke didn't manufacture the same offense against Webster. However, he needed just the one takedown and wrestled a smart third period to reach his first Big Ten final.

There, Duke (18-1) will face a rematch with Taylor, who won their first meeting 2-1 in the tiebreaker in January. Duke will give Taylor a duel, as he looks as sharp as he has all season.

165: Mitchell Mesenbrink (PS) tech. fall Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) 19-4 in 6:29

Mesenbrink will meet his Big Ten sparring partner for the eighth time in the final. Iowa's Mikey Caliendo is still looking for his first win over Mesenbrink, having lost to him seven times over the past three seasons. That includes last year's Big Ten and NCAA tournament finals. Mesenbrink also won their regular-season bout 11-2 in January.

Mesenbrink (21-0) overwhelmed Sparks in the semis, scoring four third-period takedowns to seal his eighth technical fall of the season.

174: Levi Haines (PS) dec. Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) 5-1

Haines positioned himself to become just the third four-time Big Ten champion in Penn State history. He scored a takedown late in the second period and rode Kharchla for most of the second period to reach his fourth conference final.

Haines (20-0) will get a rematch with Nebraska's Christopher Minto, who initially got the top seed over Haines before the bracket was adjusted Friday. Minto gave Haines one of his toughest tests of the season, as Haines needed late points to secure the 8-6 win.

184: Rocco Welsh (PS) dec. Brock Mantanona (Michigan) 8-5 SV

Welsh wrestled two harrowing bouts Saturday, winning both in overtime. After a tiebreaker victory over Iowa's Angelo Ferrari in the quarters, Welsh hit a sudden-victory takedown vs. Mantanona in the semis.

Welsh (19-0) defended his top seed with his toughest two-bout stretch of the season. He tied the bout vs Mantanona in the second period before getting forced to overtime. Welsh will face Minnesota's Max McEnelly for the Big Ten title.

197: Josh Barr (PS) tech. fall Luke Geog (Ohio State) 18-3 in 7:00

Barr (18-0) continues to have no takers. The redshirt sophomore scored his second technical fall of the tournament, and ninth of the season, in his customarily dominant form. Barr scored five takedowns and sealed the win with riding time.

Barr will face second-seeded Camden McDaniel of Nebraska for the Big Ten title. Barr decisioned McDaniel 21-9 during the regular season. Barr has a 100-percent bonus rate this season.

285: Taye Ghadiali (Michigan) dec. Cole Mirasola (PS) 5-2

Mirasola lost another tight bout to the top-seeded Michigan heavyweight, who scored the only takedown in both of their matchups this season. Ghadiali, the nation's No. 1 wrestler at 285, has a size advantage over Mirasola, who usually weighs in at 226 pounds.

As he did in the regular season, Mirasola (16-5) went after Ghadiali late, scrambling through multiple takedown attempts that he couldn't convert. Mirasola is guaranteed a spot at nationals and will pursue a third-place finish in the consolations.

Sign up to our free Penn State Nittany Lions newsletter and follow us on social media.

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published | Modified
Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

Home/Wrestling