Two More Penn State Wrestlers Move Atop the College Rankings

The top-ranked Nittany Lions have six of the nation's No. 1 wrestlers in the latest rankings.

Penn State Nittany Lions Rocco Welsh (184) wins over Iowa Hawkeyes Angelo Ferrari at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Penn State took two more No. 1 spots in this week's college wrestling rankings, as Luke Lilledahl and Rocco Welsh ascenced to the tops of their weight classes. That means six of the Nittany Lions' starters are ranked first in the country, with four others ranked 12th or better.

In the latest InterMat Wrestling rankings, Lilledahl, a sophomore, is No. 1 at 125 pounds after a two-win weekend in which he defeated Iowa's sixth-ranked Dean Peterson 11-5. And sophomore Rocco Welsh took the top spot at 184 with a 2-1 tiebreaker decision over former No. 1 Angelo Ferrari of Iowa.

Lilledahl and Welsh join Shayne Van Ness (149), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174) and Josh Barr (197) atop the InterMat individual rankings. The sophomores bring unique resumes to Penn State's lineup.

Lilledahl, the defending Big Ten champ at 125 pounds, recently made USA Wrestling history by winning a U23 World Championship in Serbia. In doing so, Lilledahl became the first U.S. wrestler to win age-group gold medals at the U17, U20 and U23 worlds.

He has extended that success into his second season at Penn State. Lilledahl is 11-0 with five technical falls and five straight wins over ranked opponents. That includes last week's decision over Peterson, to whom he lost in 2025. Lilledahl is on course to face Ohio State's second-ranked Nic Bouzakis in a February match at the Bryce Jordan Center.

"He loves the sport and he’s just going to keep getting better and better, because that's just his mindset," Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said of Lilledahl. "He has aspirations of being an Olympic champ. If that's what you're trying to do, it's got to be little steps every day, every month, every year."

RELATED: Penn State wrestling looks even more dominant this year

3️⃣2️⃣ - 3️⃣ ‼️@pennstateWREST picks up their largest margin of victory in the all-time series between Penn State and Iowa 🤯 pic.twitter.com/G9haKzUfEK

— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) January 17, 2026

Welsh, in his first season at Penn State, has taken root at 184. He's 11-0 with seven bonus-point wins and handed Ferrari his first loss of the season. Welsh rode out Ferrari during the first tiebreaker, then kicked out for the decisive escape point in the second period. Welsh moved from fourth to first nationally with the win.

Welsh transferred to Penn State after two seasons at Ohio State, where he was an NCAA finalist in 2024, falling to Penn State's Carter Starocci in the championship bout. Sanderson called Welsh "very composed" in the win over Ferrari.

"Obviously you can't win the nationals in January, so we're preparing for the end of the season," Sanderson said. "... He's coachable, he listens, he follows gameplans and is just a tough kid. And obviously very talented physically and mentally."

Down goes No. 1 at 184 lbs ‼️

No. 4 at 184 lbs Rocco Welsh just delivered a B1G 2-1 win in TB over No. 1 Angelo Ferrari 🤯 pic.twitter.com/5Rq5je1Bqk

— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) January 17, 2026

Penn State rankings notes

Penn State's PJ Duke goes for a takedown against Iowa’s Jordan Williams during a Big Ten wrestling match at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

True freshmen Marcus Blaze (133) and PJ Duke (157) held firm in the rankings with ranked wins at Iowa. The fourth-ranked Blaze (13-0) beat two-time NCAA finalist Drake Ayala 4-2 and has produced 12 bonus-point victories for the Nittany Lions. Duke (11-0) is tied for the team lead with six falls, five of which he has clinched in the first period.

Heavyweight Cole Mirasola (10-2) moved up one spot to No. 12 after his two-win weekend, which included a 4-3 decision over Iowa's eighth-ranked Ben Kueter. Sanderson called the win a confidence booster for Mirasola, who is still learning how to wrestle at the weight class.

"He’s just figuring things out, but I don’t think anybody’s surprised," Sanderson said. "The big thing for us as coaches is just him having some nice signature wins for his own confidence. We obviously believe in him and know he’s going to do really, really well."

Braeden Davis (6-1 at 141) fell four spots to No. 11 after a 3-2 loss to Iowa's Nasir Bailey. The loss was Davis' first this season at his new weight class. Davis is wrestling at his third weight class for Penn State, stepping in for the injured Aaron Nagao.

Mesenbrink leads the Hodge Trophy standings, according to Wrestlestat, by about 50 points over Ohio State's Jesse Mendez. Barr and Haines aren't far behind at third and fourth, respectively.

Up next

Penn State wrestles another doubleheader weekend, hosting Indiana at Rec Hall on Friday and visiting Maryland on Sunday.

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