Penn State Wrestling's Masanosuke Ono Scores Big Win at Real American Freestyle

Ono returns to the mat at RAF12, offering a glimpse at what he might accomplish with the Nittany Lions.

Masanosuke Ono is announed during an exhibition match against Spencer Lee at the “FloWrestling Night in America” event in 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Penn State wrestling's Masanosuke Ono gave Nittany Lions fans a taste of what they might see next season. And he looked pretty sharp in his return to competitive wrestling.

Ono, entering his second year with the Nittany Lions, defeated Ohio State's Ben Davino 4-0 on Saturday at Real American Freestyle's RAF12 in Cleveland. Ono made his debut in the freestyle wrestling series on a card that included former Penn State stars Bo Nickal and Jason Nolf. Ono could be the future for Penn State.

A 2024 World freestyle champion, Ono edged Davino in a predictably defensive bout. The Penn State wrestler scored three points on step-outs and another via the shot clock. Neither wrestler scored a takedown during a bout in which Ono looked like the better freestyle wrestler.

ONO GETS HIS FIRST WIN IN RAF🔥

Watch on @foxnation pic.twitter.com/zrWHrkJD8u

— Real American Freestyle (@RAFWrestlingUSA) August 23, 2026

Ono defeated the defending Big Ten champion and NCAA runnerup in Davino, who had a fabulous season for the Buckeyes. For Ono, the match was his first in the U.S. since he defeated Spencer Lee in a 2025 freestyle exhibition in Iowa.

Soon after that win, Ono announced his commitment to wrestle for Cael Sanderson and Penn State. Ono has yet to make his folkstyle debut for the Nittany Lions, and Sanderson has not committed to a firm timeline for Ono to join the lineup.

"Definitelty at some point," Sanderson told Christian Pyles of FloWrestling in a recent interview. "I don't know when it's going to be. I don't want to lead anyone on. It could be this year, could be next year. But he's definitely going to wrestle at Penn State, hopefully for a couple years."

Ono is among the prized newcomers who could make their Penn State debuts this season. Another is Jayden James, a freshman who is wrestling for a U20 World title in Slovakia.

Ono also is one of the nation's most interesting wrestlers, because he has a deep freestlyle resume but little competitive folkstyle experience. After winning a 2024 Senior world title at age 20, Ono has wrestled on occasionally and has not entered a folkstyle tournament with the Nittany Lions.

But he has a skilled training partner in Penn State sophomore Marcus Blaze, who finished fourth at NCAAs and will compete at the 2026 Senior World Championships. Ono said that he is pushing hard to master the nuances of folkstyle wrestling.

"I want to do folkstyle more because I like folkstyle more than freestyle right now," Ono told reporters at an event in Japan in May. "I was world champ maybe two years ago, but I know freestyle like 95 percent but folkstyle, that I don't know. So I mean, I just I'm excited [to] compete [in] folkstyle more than freestyle right now."

ONO CELLY ™️

Watch on @foxnation pic.twitter.com/JdaWJCX4l7

— Real American Freestyle (@RAFWrestlingUSA) August 23, 2026

Elsewhere at RAF12, Jason Nolf, a three-time NCAA champ at Penn State, scored an 11-1 win over Evan Wick, a four-time All-American at Wisconsin and Cal-Poly. Nolf scored one takedown and otherwise dominated the match.

In a surprise result, Bo Nickal lost 3-2 to NCAA champ Max McEnelly, the defending 184-pound NCAA champ from Minnesota. McEnelly scored the only takedown in the Round 2 of the match.

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