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Penn State Wrestling Routs Iowa for the 3rd Consecutive Year

The top-ranked Nittany Lions win nine of 10 bouts for their 79th consecutive victory.
Mark Wogenrich|
Mitchell Mesenbrink of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates a win vs. Michael Caliendo of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Mitchell Mesenbrink of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates a win vs. Michael Caliendo of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The top-ranked Penn State wrestling continued its recent dominance of Iowa on Friday, winning nine bouts, including two rankings upsets, for a 32-3 Big Ten beatdown over the Hawkeyes.

Freshmen Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke showed no intimidation at sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena, scoring top-10 wins to remain unbeaten this season. And the Nittany Lions scored two upsets, with Rocco Welsh (184 pounds) topping No. 1 Angelo Ferrari in the tiebreaker, and heavyweight Cole Mirasola scoring a huge decision of fifth-ranked Ben Kueter.

Penn State won an NCAA-record 79th consecutive match dating to 2020 and beat Iowa for the fifth consecutive year. The last three haven't been close, with Penn State outscoring Iowa by a combined total of 91-17. Here's how Penn State quieted the crowd in Iowa City.

125 Pounds: No. 2 Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) dec. No. 6 Dean Peterson 11-5

Lilledahl (10-0) set a proper tone for Penn State, controlling Peterson with three takedowns to avenge a loss to him last season. Lilledahl got a takedown in each period, hitting a precise move early to counter Peterson's quick attack.

Peterson scored a first-period reversal but could not mount any offense against Lilledahl, who had a chance at the major decision before Peterson's late escape. Lilledahl established himself as the wrestler to beat at 125 in the Big Ten.

133: No. 4 Marcus Blaze (Penn State) dec. No. 8 Drake Ayala 4-2

Blaze, the Penn State freshman, fired up Carver-Hawkeye with his savvy work late in the third period. The home crowd wanted a second stalling call, but Blaze held Ayala at bay and looked like a veteran to beat his sixth ranked opponent this season.

Blaze (12-0) escaped from Ayala's early second-period ride to score the bout's only takedown with 40 seconds left. Ayala escaped early in the third and had a good chance at the go-ahead takedown, but Blaze expertly kicked out of it midway through the period. Ayala (4-5) was a two-time NCAA finalist at 125 pounds.

141: Nasir Bailey (Iowa) dec. No. 7 Braeden Davis 3-2

Bailey (10-5) shocked Davis quickly, nearly turning a quick single-leg takedown into a cradle, which Davis defended to avoid potential back points. But that takedown stood up for the victory.

Davis, wrestling in just his second dual at 141 pounds, looked gassed in third period after taking the top position in the second and riding Bailey for the entire 2 minutes. The strategy neutralized Bailey's riding time and prevented him from scoring but left Davis (5-1) without much left.

Bailey avenged a 1-0 loss to Davis at the 2024 Journeymen Collegiate Duals when both were at 133.

149: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) dec. No. 17 Ryder Block 13-4

Block stunned Van Ness by jumping the start for the opening takedown and nearly had another at the end of the first period. He seemed to rattle Van Ness with his length and reach. But the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 149 quickly recalibrated for the major decision.

Van Ness (12-0) re-asserted control by pushing his riding time above 2 minutes afer the second period, then overwhelmed Block with a physical seven-point move in the third. Van Ness scored his 10th bonus-point win of the season.

157: No. 3 PJ Duke (Penn State) vs. No. 12 Jordan Williams 4-2

Duke, Penn State's second undefeated true freshman, hit a really nice counter move in the third period for the bout's only takedown. Duke (10-0) got behind Williams as the Iowa wrestler tried to roll, securing the winning takedown. It was a savvy bit of defense-to-offense wrestling from Duke, who has dominated most opponents this season.

Duke also showed resilience in scoring after Penn State thought he had hit a takedown late in the second period. Penn State's staff threw the red brick to challenge the no-takedown call, which was upheld. But after that, Duke then turned his third-period escape into the winner.

165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) dec. No. 3 Michael Caliendo 11-2

After his team's loss at Penn State last year, Iowa coach Tom Brands noted with frustration that the Nittany Lions often scored first and last. Few do that better than Mesenbrink.

The defending national champ neutralized Caliendo's attack with a quick first-period takedown, scored his second with 15 seconds left in the second period and clinched the major on a takedown with 2 seconds remaining in the third. It was vintage Mesenbrink, who improved to 12-0 this season, 67-1 in his career and 7-0 against Caliendo.

174: No. 1 Levi Haines (Penn State) vs. Gabe Arnold 4-2

Facing Arnold instead of Iowa's third-ranked Patrick Kennedy, Haines (11-0) faced a challenge scoring against Arnold's strong lower body. However, Arnold could not get to any offense against Haines' speed and defensive skill.

Haines scored the bout's only takedown, in the first period, but had few other solid chances. So he focused instead on turning away Arnold's attacks in the final minute of the third period. Prior to Friday, Haines had outscored six opponents by at least 10 points and pinned four others.

184: No. 4 Rocco Welsh (Penn State) dec. No. 1 Angelo Ferrari 2-1 TB

Welsh won the night's most dramatic bout, handing the top-ranked Ferrari his first defeat of the season. Welsh rode out Ferrari in the first tiebreaker and escaped with 12 seconds left in the second tiebreaker, kicking Ferrari back for the decisive point.

The top-four bout between NCAA title contenders did not produce an offensive show. Neither wrestler did much through three periods, trading escapes and little else. But sudden victory was more active, as Welsh (10-0) fended off Ferrari's best attacks and had a great burst for a takedown attempt but went out of bounds.

The win was Welsh's biggest in his first season at Penn State. He transferred to the Nittany Lions from Ohio State, where he was the 2024 NCAA runnerup at 174. The loss was just the second for Ferrari in two seasons at Iowa.

197: No. 1 Josh Barr (Penn State) pin Brody Sampson 3:42

Barr (9-0) did what everyone expected, rolling up a 10-1 lead before cashing in the second-period pin. Barr was aggressive throughout, hitting four takedowns on the way to his ninth bonus-point win, and third pin, of the season. Barr looked fully recovered from the October rib injury he sustained at the U23 World Championships.

285: No. 13 Cole Mirasola (Penn State) dec. No. 5 Ben Kueter 4-3

Penn State's redshirt freshman heavyweight, who weighs 226 pounds, scored the biggest win of his career. Late in the second period, Mirasola kicked himself out of Kueter's single-leg attempt and turned that into the bout's only takedown.

Mirasola (9-2) gave up a stalling point in the third period but neatly defended Kueter's late attempts for his first win over a top-10 opponent.

Up next

Penn State goes for its 80th straight win Sunday afteroon at Northwestern. The match is scheduled for a 3 p.m. ET start and will stream on B1G+.

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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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