Penn State’s wrestling team is preparing to compete at the Black Knight Invitational hosted by Army West Point on Sunday, November 23. The event will begin at 10 a.m. and continue throughout the day. The Nittany Lions enter the tournament following a strong start to their season, having defeated No. 22 Oklahoma with a 45-0 shutout in their opener at the Bryce Jordan Center.
In that victory, Penn State won all ten bouts, with eight of those wins coming with bonus points. The team recorded one pin by Levi Haines, five technical falls by Marcus Blaze, Shayne Van Ness, Joe Sealey, Mitchell Mesenbrink, and Rocco Welsh, as well as two major decisions from Luke Lilledahl and Connor Mirasola.
The current rankings list several Penn State wrestlers among the top in their weight classes: sophomore Luke Lilledahl is ranked first at 125 pounds; true freshman Marcus Blaze is fourteenth at 133; junior Aaron Nagao is tenth at 141; junior Shayne Van Ness holds the top spot at 149; junior Mitchell Mesenbrink leads at 165; senior Levi Haines is first at 174; sophomore Rocco Welsh ranks fourth at 184; sophomore Josh Barr sits atop the rankings at 197; and redshirt freshman Cole Mirasola is tenth at heavyweight.
Possible competitors for Penn State include Lilledahl and Nate Desmond (125), Blaze and Kyison Garcia (133), Nagao and Cael Nasdeo (141), Van Ness, Connor Pierce and possibly Dalton Perry (149), PJ Duke and Joe Sealey (157), Mesenbrink and Ty Watson (165), Haines and William Henckel (174), Welsh and Asher Cunningham (184), Connor Mirasola (197), along with Cole Mirasola and Lucas Cochran (285). Final lineups may change up until competition day.
Four Penn State wrestlers recently participated in the Floyd ‘Shorty’ Hitchcock Invitational held at Millersville University. Lucas Cochran claimed the title in the heavyweight division after going undefeated. Hayden Cunningham placed third in his bracket while Sam Becket finished sixth at 165 pounds.
Seven members of Penn State’s squad also took part in the United World Wrestling U23 World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia. Four athletes earned gold medals: Mitchell Mesenbrink (74 kg), Luke Lilledahl (57 kg), Levi Haines (79 kg) while PJ Duke brought home bronze in his division. Other participants included Rocco Welsh, Josh Barr—who withdrew due to injury—and Marcus Blaze. Across recent international competitions such as Senior Worlds, U20 Worlds, and U23s, Penn State-affiliated wrestlers have secured a total of eleven world medals.
At another early-season event—the Journeymen Collegiate round robin—Connor Pierce posted two technical falls en route to a winning record while teammates Joe Sealey, Sam Beckett, and Dawson Bundy also competed.
Both Levi Haines and Mitchell Mesenbrink were named to this year’s inaugural Big Ten preseason Wrestler to Watch list—a new distinction that highlights standout athletes from each school.
Since 2011, Penn State has achieved notable success within collegiate wrestling: it has won forty individual NCAA titles—more than any other program during that period—and twelve team championships out of fourteen possible events since then. Head coach Cael Sanderson has led the program to twelve national titles as coach—second most all-time—and Penn State remains unique for producing an individual champion across every weight class over the past decade.