Penn State Wrestling Is Having a Remarkable Offseason So Far

After winning its fifth straight NCAA wrestling title, Penn State is winning the offseason as well. At least so far.

The NCAA Transfer Portal for wrestling opened April 1, and through the first 10 days, no Nittany Lions have entered. Which is remarkable, considering the program returns enough talent that it could be even better next season. Penn State loses just one starter, returns three undefeated national champions and brings back eight wrestlers who have won All-America honors.

Basically, Penn State's 10-wrestler starting lineup has one opening, yet no Nittany Lions officially have announced decisions to leave yet. That makes Penn State an outlier in the portal, which closes April 30.

Flowrestling has built an exhaustive transfer tracker listing the dozens of college wrestlers who have entered the portal. Yet none are from Penn State. In fact, Penn State is the only team ranked in InterMat Wrestling's top 15 without a portal entrant.

"We're a blessed program. We follow the rules," Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland. "There's not a lot of that going on right now. And that's one of the reasons we can sleep when the wind blows. We train hard and do the right things to the best of our ability and things will work out."

“We’re a blessed program. We follow the rules. There’s not a lot of that going on right now, and that’s one of the reasons we can sleep when the wind blows.”

Penn State’s Cael Sanderson after winning his 13th NCAA Wrestling title. pic.twitter.com/LRet5BGyYB
— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) March 22, 2026

Penn State broke the scoring record at the NCAA Wrestling Championships for the third consecutive season, finishing with 181.5 team points. Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174) and Josh Barr (197) finished the season as undefeated national champions. Only Haines, a two-time NCAA champ, is out of eligibility.

Mesenbrink returns as the two-time defending champ at 165 and the nation's most dominant wrestler. He won the Hodge Trophy by a wide margin and enters next season with an 80-1 career record at Penn State.

Penn State's roster also returns NCAA finalists in Shayne Van Ness (149) and Rocco Welsh (184), who is a two-time runnerup. Freshmen Marcus Blaze (133) and PJ Duke (157) were All-Americans in their first seasons, placing fourth and third, respectively.

And Penn State is loaded with talent that didn't even wrestle this season. Tyler Kasak is a two-time All-American, placing third twice, who redshirted. As did Masanosuke Ono, a 2024 world freestyle champion who could join Penn State's lineup next season.

Penn State wrestling certainly is well-funded, having budgeted just over $1.4 million in NIL funding for the 2024-25 championship team. And Penn State spent nearly $7.9 million on wrestling for FY 2024-25, among the nation's highest budgets.

"When kids are in our program, we’re going to do our best to take care of them," Sanderson said. "We’re not going to get anybody because of NIL money. That just goes against what we believe."

Yet Sanderson, whose teams have won 13 of the last 15 NCAA team titles, has sought to distill his team's success (on the mat and in retention) to cultural factors that begin with the recruiting process. The coach said that he and his staff recruit "like-minded people" who fit the program, and vice versa.

"I think when we look back, we'll see that this era has been good to us because we do our best to follow the rules and we’re going to get the kids who are coming here for the right reasons," Sanderson said. "Kids know, recruits know, parents know. I think it will be an advantage to us, because kids are coming here with very high character wanting to be the best wrestlers in the world."

"I think obviously our greatest recruiting tool is, we’re going to help you get to the top of the mountain and, whatever that means to you, you’re going to reach your highest levels," Sanderson added. "To us, obviously, it’s about helping you and preparing you with a certain lifestyle, mentality and approach that’s going to benefit you for the rest of your life. That’s what we want."

Penn State gets its group shot together with the team trophy at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. pic.twitter.com/3u160ugxai
— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) March 22, 2026

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