A trio of Penn State wrestling competitors took home gold medals this weekend.
Competing at the U23 Pan American Championships, a pair of stars in Luke Lilledahl (57KG), Levi Haines (79 KG) won gold, as did young Connor Mirasola (92 KG).
Lilledahl and Haines are both established starters for Penn State.
Lilledahl came on the scene as a true freshman this past season. Competing at 125 pounds, he won the Big Ten Championship and earned the No. 1 seed at the NCAA Championships two weeks later.
At NCAAs, he finished third, becoming an All-American in his first college season.
Haines has been an All-American three times now.
As a true freshman, he made it all the way to the national finals at 157 pounds.
The next season, he made it back to the finals and, this time, he won the whole thing.
This past season, Haines competed at a new class, 174 pounds. He ended up making another deep run at the National Championships but lost to Oklahoma State’s Dean Hamiti in the semis and settled for third.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Mirasola has only wrestled at Penn State for one season, and due largely to national runner-up Josh Barr competing at 197, he didn’t compete during the dual meet season. But he competed this weekend and made the most of it.
LILLEDAHL’S JOURNEY
Photo by Penn State Athletics: Luke Lilledahl
Lilledahl absolutely dominated during his gold medal journey. He combined to outscore his opponents 31-0. Then, his scheduled opponent in the finals, Canada’s Treye Trotman, medically forfeited.
HAINES TAKES CARE OF BUSINESS
Photo by Penn State Athletics: Levi Haines
As expected, Haines took care of business. He went 4-0 with two pins and two tech falls.
MIRASOLA MAGIC
Mirasola was part of a four-man bracket and proved to be the best of the four. He had two 10-0 tech falls wins en route to taking home Gold.
All three Penn State wrestling competitors have now qualified for the 2025 Junior Pan American Games, which will be held later this year in Paraguay.
