Penn State Wrestling Readies for a Huge Spotlight at Final X

Penn State dominates the field in men's freestyle, where five current or future Nittany Lions could qualify for the World Wrestling Championships.

Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl, top, wrestles Iowa's Joey Cruz in a big Ten Conference match at Bryce Jordan Center. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Penn State wrestling takes center stage this weekend at Final X, the event that will determine Team USA for the 2025 World Wrestling Championships. Five current or future Nittany Lions, along with two members of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, will compete to represent the U.S. at the Senior World Championships in September in Croatia.

Final X is scheduled for June 14 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Wrestlers will compete in a best-of-three series to determine world team members. Here's who to watch from Penn State at Final X.

57 Kg Freestyle: Luke Lilledahl vs. Spencer Lee

Lee sees a bit of himself in Lilledahl. Both were age-group wrestling prodigies who arrived in college with high expectations and met them. Lee won three NCAA titles at Iowa, while Lilledahl won the Big Teh title and placed third at NCAAs in his first season with Penn State.

"I wrestled him at the Olympic Training Center and remember telling him, 'You're pretty tough. High school must be boring for you,'" Lee said at a recent press conference. "And he kind of laughed and said, 'High school is a little boring.'"

Lilledahl, 19, already is an accomplished freestyle wrestler with four international medals, including golds at the U17 and U20 World Championships. He earned a spot at Final X by winning the 57 kg title at the 2025 U.S. Open.

Lee, 26, has four age-group world titles and won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In 2023 he scored an 11-0 technical fall over Lilledahl at the Bill Farrell Memorial Invitational. Lee said he expects to see a more advanced Lilledahl at Final X.

"He’s a very, very tough opponent and he earned [a spot] in Final X for a reason," Lee said. "... He definitely has a simimlar pedigree to when I was his age, so I think that's pretty cool. It kind of shows you what I wish I could have done when I was his age."

70 Kg Freestyle: PJ Duke vs. Yianni Diakomihalis

This is another matchup of newcomer vs. veteran. Duke, a four-time New York state high school champ, grew up watching Diakomihalis wrestle at Cornell, where he won four NCAA titles. Duke, meanwhile, has been among the biggest freestyle stories of the season, winning both the U.S. Senior Team Trials and the U20 national title.

Diakomihalis is wrestling at 70 kg for the first time after winning silver at the 2022 World Championships at 65 kg. Diakomihalis, who has won two Pan-American titles, seeks to make his third U.S. Senior World Team.

Duke placed third at the U20 worlds and has won consecutive U20 national titles. He qualified for Final X with a superb performance at the team trials, defeating two NCAA champions to win the 70 kg weight class. Duke and Diakomihalis are meeting in freestyle competition for the first time.

74 Kg Freestyle: Mitchell Mesenbrink vs. David Carr

This matchup pits the past two NCAA champions at 165 pounds. Mesenbrink rolled through an unbeaten season to win his first title after falling to Iowa State's Carr in the 2024 final. The NCAA title was Carr's second.

Mesenbrink won the last meeting between the wrestlers, however, defeating Carr 16-6 in the U.S. Open final. With that win, Mesenbrink earned a bid to Final X. Carr set up the rematch by winning the the U.S. Team Trials.

Mitchell Mesenbrink competes in the 74 kg freestyle weight class at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in State College. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

79 Kg Freestyle: Levi Haines vs. Evan Wick

Haines, a 2024 NCAA champ, will compete for his first trip to Senior Worlds. He placed seventh at the U17 World Championships in 2017 and has won gold at the Pan-American Championships. Haines is a three-time NCAA All-American, having placed third last season.

Haines qualified for Final X by winning the U.S. Team Trials in May. Haines has a freestyle win over Wick, pinning him at the 2024 trials. Wick won the U.S. Open in April to earn the Final X spot. He was a four-time All-American at Wisconsin and Cal-Poly.

92 Kg Freestyle: Josh Barr vs. Trent Hidlay

Hidlay scouted Barr plenty at the NCAA Wrestling Championships, where he did color commentary for ESPN. Barr reached the NCAA final at 197 pounds, falling to Iowa's Stephen Buchanan. Barr followed his NCAA run with a win at the U.S. Team Trials.

Hidlay advanced to Final X by winning the U.S. Open as part of a strong freestyle season. He also won a title at the Pan-American Championships. Hidlay was a four-time NCAA All-American at North Carolina State. The winner will make his first U.S. Senior World Team.

In addition, 2026 Penn State wrestling commit Marcus Blaze will meet Brock Hardy for true third at 65 kg. Former Nittany Lion Carter Starocci is scheduled to meet Parker Keckeisen for true third at 86 kg in a rematch of the 2025 NCAA final.

Kyle Dake will represent the NLWC at Final X at 86 kg, where he will face Zahid Valencia. NLWC teammate Kyle Snyder faces Hayden Zillmer at 97 kg.

How to watch Final X

Tickets are available for Final X through the USA Wrestling website. The best-of-three series begin at 2 p.m. ET, with rounds 2 and 3 (if necessary) scheduled for 5 p.m. The subscription service FloWrestling will carry a livestream of the event

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