What We Learned From Penn State Wrestling's Shutout of Northwestern

The No. 1 Nittany Lions completed a dominant Midwest road trip by scoring their fifth shutout of the season.

Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Josh Barr scores a takedown against Iowa’s Brody Sampson in a 197-pound match. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Penn State completed a Big Ten weekend wrestling sweep Sunday, shutting out Northwestern 51-0 for its most lopsided victory of the season. The top-ranked Nittany Lions (9-0) won their NCAA record 80th consecutive dual match to cap a dominant weekend in the Midwest.

After routing fourth-ranked Iowa 32-3 on Friday, Penn State swept 10 bouts (with one forfeit) in Evanston. The Nittany Lions scored bonus points in every bout, with five technical falls. The weekend numbers were outrageous.

Penn State's lineup went 19-1 in the Big Ten matches and outscored its two opponents by a combined total of 83-3. The Nittany Lions finished with a weekend takedown advantage of 53-3, five technical falls, four major decisions and three pins. They also scored their fifth shutout of the season.

Here's what else we learned about Penn State on Sunday.

Cael Sanderson wasn't interested in resting starters

Penn State Nitany Lions wrestling coach Cael Sanderson reacts during a dual against the Iowa Hawkeys at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Before the road trip, Sanderson said he planned to approach the matches as prep for the NCAA Championships. Penn State would wrestle twice in three days, needing to make weight multiple times, which Sanderson called a good primer for nationals.

So even though Sanderson could have rested several starters at Northwestern and still won easily, he sent out the same starting lineup that beat Iowa. The result: Penn State scored 38 takedowns to Northwestern's one. Two pins and one technical fall ended in the first period. And five wrestlers scored at least 18 points.

A bounceback for Braeden Davis

Braeden Davis of Penn State gets his hand raised after a victory at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Davis (141 pounds) scored a 9-0 major decision to get his edge back after a loss to Iowa's 11th-ranked Nasir Bailey. Davis, who had planned to redshirt this season, was thrust into the lineup (at his third different weight class) following Aaron Nagao's season-ending injury.

Davis looked gassed in the third period against Bailey, particularly after riding him for the entire second period. At Northwestern, Davis quickly took control against 32nd-ranked Billy Dekraker with a takedown/near-fall combination in the first period. Davis (6-1) got the back-on-the-horse win he needed.

A strong follow from Cole Mirasola

Penn State Nittany Lions' Cole Mirasola wrestles Iowa Hawkeyes' Ben Kueter in the 285-pound bout at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Mirasola, a redshirt freshman, delivered one of Penn State's best wins at Iowa, defeating fifth-ranked Ben Kueter 4-3 for the biggest victory of his young career. Mirasola followed that with a dominant 19-4 technical fall in the first period.

Mirasola (10-2) scored three quick takedowns before putting Northwestern's Gabe Christenson on his back for four more. Mirasola closed the technical fall with two more takedowns, the last with 13 seconds left in the period.

Mirasola, who often weighs in around 226 pounds, will have to rely on his athleticism against bigger heavyweights. But he looked sharp in getting two Big Ten road wins this weekend.

The freshmen roll on

Penn State Nittany Lions' Marcus Blaze gets his hand raised after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes' Drake Ayala at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Marcus Blaze (133) and PJ Duke (157) have been as good as advertised, building on their freestyle successes as Penn State freshmen. Both are undefeated, both scored ranked wins at Iowa and both produced bonus points at Northwestern.

Blaze (13-0) majored the Wildcats' highest-ranked wrestler, No. 24 Sean Spidle, 15-4 in a bout that underscored his conditioning. Blaze led 5-1 after two periods but scored three takedowns in the third for the major. The bonus-point win was Blaze's 12th of the season.

Duke, meanwhile, scored five takedowns before pinning Northwestern's Gunnar Myers in 2:42. Duke (11-0) scored his sixth fall of the season, tied for the team lead with Mitchell Mesenbrink.

Hodge Trophy watch

Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink controls Iowa's Michael Caliendo in a 165-pound match at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Four of the top six contenders for the Hodge Trophy wrestle for Penn State, including leader Mitchell Mesenbrink, who improved to 13-0 with the forfeit Sunday. Levi Haines (12-0 at 174) added to his points total with a technical fall, as did Shayne Van Ness (12-0 149). Josh Barr (10-0 at 197) scored his third fall of the season.

Penn State 51, Northwestern 0

• 174: No. 1 Levi Haines tech. fall No. 32 Eddie Enright 19-4 in 6:48
• 184: No. 4 Rocco Welsh tech. fall J.D. Perez 22-7 in 5:27                                                  
• 197: No. 1 Josh Barr pin Alex Smith 1:50 
•  285: No. 13 Cole Mirasola tech. fall Gabe Christenson 19-4 in 2:47
• 125: No. 2 Luke Lilledahl tech. fall No. 26 Dedrick Navarro 20-5 in 7:00
• 133: No. 4 Marcus Blaze dec. No. 24 Sean Spidle 15-4
• 141: No. 7 Braeden Davis dec. No. 32 Billy Dekraker 9-0                                                       
• 149: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness tech. fall August Hibler 18-3 in 7:00
• 157: No. 3 PJ Duke pin Gunnar Myers 2:42
• 165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink by forfeit

Up next

Penn State returns to Rec Hall on Jan. 23, when it hosts Indiana for a 7 p.m. ET match on B1G+.