Seven Penn State Storylines at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships

The Nittany Lions seek their fourth straight tournament title on their home mats.

Penn State's Mitchell Mesenbrink gets his hand raised after defeating Nebraska's LJ Araujo in the 165-pound bout during a Big Ten dual meet. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Penn State begins its quest for a fifth straight NCAA team title with phase one of the postseason. The Nittany Lions host the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, which begin Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Tickets are available, and you might even get to try Penn State coach Cael Sanderson's sport nutrition cookie. So while enjoying Cael's Cookie, check out the top storylines for Penn State on home mats.

Can Penn State live up to its seeds?

Penn State's Levi Haines, right, wrestles Nebraska's Christopher Minto in the 174-pound bout during a Big Ten dual meet. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sanderson threw a metaphorical challenge brick at the Big Ten's pre-seeding process, which was conducted by a third-party software platform. Using coach-approved criteria, the system initially seeded Penn State's Levi Haines, the unbeaten defending Big Ten champ at 174, second at his weight class.

"It just doesn't make sense," Sanderson said.

Sanderson won his challenge. After the coaches met Friday, Haines was elevated to the No. 1 seed, and junior Braeden Davis moved up one spot to No. 6 at 141 pounds. Meanwhile, freshman Marcus Blaze (133) held his top seed over Illinois' Lucas Byrd, the defending NCAA champ at the weight class.

Overall, Penn State begins the tournament with about the highest seeds possible. Penn State has an overwhelming seven No. 1 seeds, all of whom get first-round byes Saturday. And every Nittany Lion is seeded at least sixth.

Penn State has had little trouble living up to its seeds this season. The team shut out eight of its 15 regular-season opponents and outscored opponents 630-39. Barring injury or surprising upsets, the Nittany Lions should qualify their entire lineup to the NCAA Championships.

That leaves the question: How many individual Big Ten titles will Penn State win? The conference record is nine, set by Iowa in 1983. Penn State's record is five, which the 2025 team matched last season. Iowa is the only team to win seven or more individual conference titles.

What to expect from Penn State's fabulous freshmen?

Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler PJ Duke gets his hand raised after a win over the Iowa Hawkeyes Jordan Williams. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Blaze and PJ Duke (157) have hardly looked like freshmen this season. After successful freestyle seasons in which they both won U20 world titles, they have become serious NCAA contenders in their first seasons.

Blaze delivered a perfect 19-0 regular season with 16 bonus-points wins and five over top-15 wrestlers. But he hasn't faced Byrd, the reigning NCAA champ who also is undefeated. That's a terrific potential final.

Duke (16-1) faces an uncertain bracket from the start. After a first-round bye, Duke could meet Ohio State's Brandon Cannon, who is ranked No. 1 nationally but seeded seventh for the Big Ten Tournament because he hasn't wrestled since early January.

Cannon's status certainly will impact Duke's half of the bracket. Duke also is pointed toward a potential final rematch with Nebraska's Antrell Taylor, the defending NCAA champ who handed Duke his only loss (in a tiebreaker).

Will the hammers continue hammering?

Penn State's Rocco Welsh gets his hand raised after defeating Nebraska's Silas Allred in the 184-pound bout during a Big Ten dual meet. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Penn State has been untouchable from 165-197, where Mitchell Mesenbrink, Levi Haines, Rocco Welsh and Josh Barr are a combined 70-0 with 60 bonus-point wins. Mesenbrink and Barr have scored bonus points in every bout this season. All four are in the top 12 of Wrestlestat's Hodge Trophy rankings.

Welsh faces uncertainty in the quarterfinals, where he could get a rematch with former No. 1 Angelo Ferrari. Welsh won their first meeting 2-1 in January, but Ferrari has not wrestled since because of an injury.

Who could be Penn State's surprise?

Penn State's Cole Mirasola, left, wrestles Nebraska's AJ Ferrari in the heavyweight bout during a Big Ten dual meet. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cole Mirasola, seeded fourth at 285, punctuated the regular season with two exceptional victories. He beat then-No. 3 Nick Feldman of Ohio State 4-1 in sudden victory and dominated Princeton's Sebastian Garibaldi for a technical fall.

Mirasola is among the lighter heavyweights, usually weighing around 226, but has technique and motor to burn. He wrestled exceptionally well in the season's second half, including in his 4-1 loss to top-seeded Taye Ghadiali of Michigan. They're on course to meet in the semifinals. Tough ask for that upset, but Mirasola could finish top three.

What is Braeden Davis' mindset entering the postseason?

Penn State's Braeden Davis reacts after falling to Nebraska's Brock Hardy in the 141-pound bout during a Big Ten dual meet. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Davis probably shouldn't be competing this postseason. He was taking a planned redshirt season when Aaron Nagao, Penn State's starter at 141, was forced to end his season (and career) due to a shoulder injury.

Davis (9-3) stepped in with mixed results. He enters the conference tournament having lost two of his last three bouts to the top two seeds. That includes a technical fall vs. No. 1 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State and a surprising pin to Nebraska's Brock Hardy.

Sanderson said that Davis is ready to "let it rip" for the postseason. To repeat its 10 All-Americans run of 2025, Penn State needs Davis ready to go.

Does Shayne Van Ness win his first Big Ten title?

Shayne VAN NESS 😈 with the 15-6 MAJOR! #PSUwr pic.twitter.com/mCoTn1HZjx

— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) February 21, 2026

Van Ness might be the most underrated wrestler in Penn State's lineup, a top seed who looking for his first Big Ten title. Van Ness (18-0) leads Penn State in duals takedowns (58) and is third in team points (69). He also has scored 16 bonus-point victories.

Yet Van Ness can't quite make the marquee with Penn State's four hammers from 165-197. That isn't because he's boring. Van Ness can be among the Nittany Lions' most entertaining wrestlers, something he proved in January. After giving up an early 7-point move to Maryland's Carter Young, Van Ness won the bout 31-15.

Will Luke Lilledahl win the rematch?

Penn State's Luke Lilledahl celebrates after defeating Ohio State's Nic Bouzakis 4-1 in sudden victory at 125 pounds during a Big Ten wrestling match. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Lilledahl, Penn State's unbeaten top seed at 125, and Ohio State's Nic Bouzakis wrestled a gem in their first meeting in February. Lilledahl scored his first takedown a half-second after the third period expired. He then scored the winner, which counted, in sudden victory to hand Bouzakis his only loss of the season.

Bouzakis and Lilledahl were ranked 1-2 in the country before the match. Lilledahl took over the No. 1 spot after the win. They're in for potentially two huge rematches in the postseason, likely beginning with Sunday's Big Ten final.

Sign up to our free Penn State Nittany Lions newsletter and follow us on social media.