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How Penn State Wrestling Broke Another Scoring Record at the NCAA Championships

The Nittany Lions won four individual titles and clinched their fifth consecutive team trophy.
Mark Wogenrich|
Penn State wrestling fans cheer during the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena.
Penn State wrestling fans cheer during the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena. | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

CLEVELAND | After clinching the team title early Saturday, Penn State won four individual titles and broke the team scoring record for the second straight year at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships.

The Nittany Lions secured their fifth straight NCAA team title Saturday morning at Rocket Arena, about seven hours before the finals even begin. Then Penn State got individual titles from Luke Lilledahl (125), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174) and Josh Barr (197). Mesenbrink and Haines became two-time champions.

Penn State finished the three-day tournament with 181.5 team points, surpassing its previous record of 177 set last year in Philadelphia.

Luke Lilledahl wins national championship on stalling

Lilledahl and Princeton's Marc-Anthony McGowan wrestled their second match of the season filled with stalling. In fact, Lilledahl won the national championship because of it. Lilledahl scored the winning point of a 2-1 decision when McGowan was called for his second stalling in the second period.

When they met in a February dual, McGowan was disqualified after being called for stalling five times. That means, McGowan took seven stalling calls and gave up six points in their two bouts. Lilledahl (25-0) won his first national championship.

Josh Barr caps unbeaten season with first title

Barr, one of Penn State's highest-scoring wrestlers, got just one takedown in the 197-pound final against Oklahoma State's Cody Merrill, which was enough in a 6-3 decision for his first national championship. Barr finished a perfect season at 24-0 but fell one bout short of a 100-percent bonus rate. The NCAA final was the first time this season Barr did not score bonus points.

The returning finalist dominated his weight class with two technical falls and two majors in returning to the final. He scored the only takedown vs. Merrill 2:29 into the first period and started the third with a reversal. Merrill gave up a penalty point by locking hands, which was all Barr needed.

Barr's win gave Penn State 177.5 team points, surpassing its NCAA record of 177 the team scored in Philadelphia last season.

Rocco Welsh is a runnerup again

Welsh's unbeaten season, which included some harrowing bouts of late, ended with a 4-3 loss to Minnesota's Max McEnelly in the 184-pound final. McEnelly scored the only takedown 2 minutes into the first period and then stretched from Welsh's shots in the late third.

This figured to be a tough repeat win for Welsh (24-1). He defeated McEnelly 2-1 in the tiebreaker at the Big Ten Championships, but the Minnesota wrestler was confident he could win the rematch. And Welsh wasn't able to open up on offense as he predicted before the final.

"I think I did most of the stuff right [at Big Ten]," Welsh said before the final. "I think I could open up a little bit more."

Welsh is a two-time NCAA runnerup, having lost to Penn State's Carter Starocci in the 184-pound final while wrestling for Ohio State.

Why Shayne Van Ness was late to his medal ceremony

Fans at Rocket Arena booed when the eight All-Americans gathered for the 149-pound medal ceremony. The second-place step where Penn State's Shayne Van Ness should have stood was vacant. According to Penn State wrestling's official X account, Van Ness had a good reason: He was being drug-tested and merely arrived late to the ceremony.

Van Ness fell to Stanford's Aden Valencia 8-5 in overtime. It was his first loss of the season.

Levi Haines is a two-time national champ

Haines completed his undefeated season with one of his toughest victories, a 2-1 decision over Nebraska's Christopher Minto who gave him fits three times this season. Haines (26-0) reached the finals with three technical falls and a pin but could not scoree against Minto. He 21 bonus-point victories this season, but Minto held him to decisions three times.

Minto was strategic, keeping Haines from his offense, which led to a second-period stalling point that ultimately decided the title. Haines was called for stalling late in the third, which was inconsequential.

Mitchell Mesenbrink is a two-time national champ

After three grueling finals, Mesenbrink rolled to his second straight title at 165, scoring a 20-4 technical fall against Iowa's Mikey Caliendo, who has the misfortune to be at this weight class as the same time, Mesenbrink has beaten Caliendo nine times over the past two seasons, including in consecutive NCAA finals.

This was never close. Mesenbrink (27-0) scored his first takedown 13 seconds in and never relented. The technical fall was his third of the tournament and 11th of the season.

Shayne Van Ness falls in overtime

149: No. 10 Aden Valencia (Stanford) dec. No. 1 Shayne Van Ness 8-5 OT: Valencia scored the first and last takedowns, the winner in sudden victory, to hand Van Ness (25-1) his first loss of the season. Valencia looked bigger and quicker than their first meeting, which Van Ness wn 10-4 in a Decebmer tournament.

In sudden victory, Valencia sprang at Van Ness, grabbing an ankle and turning himself into position for the takedown, wich Van Ness learned of when an official tapped him on the shoulder. It was a tough loss for Van Ness, who was so close to the go-ahead takedown at the end of the second period. Penn State challenged, but the takedown call was upheld quickly.

Van Ness gave up the opening takedown twice at Big Tens but rallied to win both matches. Ths time, he ran into a buzzsaw who peaked perfectly. Van Ness, a two-time All-American, is a junior with another season of eligibility.

PJ Duke places third after controversial semifinal

Duke (157) absorbed the most difficult loss of Penn State's tournament, a 3-1 tiebreaker decision to Oklahoma State's fifth-seeded Landon Robideau in Friday's semifinals. It was a controversial result as well, as Duke had the potential winning takedown waved off in sudden victory.

But Duke responded Saturday with two impressive wins, including a 20-4 technical fall over Ohio State's Brandon Cannon, his third of the season. Duke also defeated llinois' Kannon Webster in his first bout of the day.

Duke (24-2) finished his first season at Penn State with a Big Ten title and his first an All-America medal. After the third-place win, Duke said he was healthy for the tournament and was asked whether he thought he had a takedown in the semifinal. "Doesn't really matter what I think," he said.

"Obviously it didn't go my way, and I can’t control … what the refs are doing," Duke said. "It's completely my fault. I should have done more on offense. I should be getting to my attacks at the start. Obviously [Robideau] wrestled a great match. He deserved to win. He did everything right.

"Next time I’m just going to be more offensive and be myself. But it’s pretty cool to bounce back and take third. Obviously I was dreading doing it, getting that weight off and all that stuff, but I was just thinking about my family and my family name. That's way more important to me than wrestling, just showing my family and how they raised me. I’m tough. I'm going to go get that third-place medal. And that’s what I did."

Marcus Blaze takes fourth

Blaze (133) fell 5-0 to fellow freshman phenom Aaron Seidel of Virginia Tech in the third-place bout, ending a superb opening season as an All-American. Seidel wrestled a strong bout, riding Blaze for the entire second period and scoring a takedown midway through the third.

Earlier, Blaze looked resolute after is grueling tiebreaker loss Friday to Ohio State's Ben Davino. Blaze scored a 20-4 technical fall over Stanford's Tyler Knox to reach the third-place bout. He hit the first takedown 27 seconds into the bout and rolled on from there. Blaze scored five takedowns and two reversals for his fourth win of the championships.

"Those guys have been in those situations before, whether it's a national tournament or a youth tournament when you're a kid," Penn State's Levi Haines said of Blaze and Duke. "It's all the same. Wrestling is wrestling no matter what stage it's on. Those guys have been there, and they've been able to take care of business before. I don't expect anything different.

"I hope they're proud of the way they competed. They both competed hard and were in some really fun battles to watch. It's tough. I've been on both sides of it, but they'll take care of business and be better because of it."

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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.

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