Five Penn State wrestling stars and one Nittany Lions Wrestling Club member are going to Final X.
Coming into this weekend’s U.S. World Team Trials, Luke Lilledahl (57 KG) and Mitchell Mesenbrink (75 KG) had already punched their tickets thanks to their performances at last month’s U.S. Open in Vegas.
Everybody else had to earn their way through the trials.
Two Penn State All-Americans did so, as did a high school superstar who hasn’t wrestled a college match yet. Finally, an NLWC member beat a Penn State wrestling legend in controversial fashion.
PJ DUKE
Of the four qualifications, Duke’s might be the most impressive because he hasn’t wrestled a college match yet. Sure, Duke won four New York state titles and was the No. 2 recruit in the country for the Class of 2025. But for anybody— let alone a high school kid— to beat two national champions and a two-time All-American over one weekend would be a tall order. Duke proved to the task, taking out Antrell Taylor and Ridge Lovett Friday and then beating Bryce Andonian Saturday to punch his Final X ticket. Taylor is the reigning national champ at 157 at Nebraska and Lovett accomplished the same feat at 149 this past March in Philly. In the finals, Duke took out Andonian 4-1.
Duke’s next order will be his tallest yet. He’ll take on four-time national champ Yianni Diakomihalis in a best-of-three series at Final X to determine who will be on the World Team.
LEVI HAINES
Haines has an opportunity for revenge during these trials and he took advantage. Dean Hamiti stopped Haines from making his third straight national title match appearance by beating him in the semis at 174. Hamiti, competing for Oklahoma State, went onto win the national title. But freestyle told a different tale. Haines took care of Hamiti with a 10-2 win at 79KG. Before that, he beat Carson Kharchla 10-6.
At Final X, Haines will face Cal Poly’s Evan Wick in a best-of-three series for a spot on the World Team.
JOSH BARR
The beat goes on for Barr, who ended his fantastic redshirt freshman season by making it to the national championship match at 197 pounds in Philly. At 92 KG, Barr beat Aeoden Sinclair to punch his Final X ticket. He’ll now take on NC State great Trent Hidlay for a spot on the World Team.
KYLE DAKE
This one was the most controversial. Dake, a Nittany Lion Wrestling Club member who wrestled collegiately at Cornell and won four national titles, beat Penn State legend and five-time champ Carter Starocci 3-3 on criteria.
But it was the way the match ended that most people will be talking about.
Starocci, facing another legend in Kyle Dake, was tied at three with Dake in the final seconds.
Because Dake led on criteria— which means he had the move that scored the highest amount of points— Starocci needed to score to win. He got what many felt was a takedown, but instead, the referee ruled that it wasn’t.
“What’s the call?” Christian Pyles, doing play-by-play- for FloWrestling, asked. “What’s the call? Time is up. They don’t do anything. They’re saying no takedown.”
As a result, Kyle Dake is doing to Final X next month, taking on Zahid Valencia at 86 KG with a spot on the World Team on the line.
Final X is scheduled for June 14 in Newark, New Jersey.
