After Penn State wrestling star Mitchell Mesenbrink won a world championship Saturday, two of his teammates did the same the next day.
At 57 KG, sophomore Luke Lilledahl won gold, and senior Levi Haines later did the same at 79 KG.
Lilledahl beat Japan’s Yuta Kikuchi 4-0 to seal the deal, and Haines took care of Turkey’s Ibrahim Yaprak 11-1.
To get to this point, Lilledahl won easily in his first two matches and then beat Russia’s Aiandai Ondar 7-1 in the semis. Haines beat Iran’s Mahdi Yousefihajivar— who happens to be a defending World Champ— in the first round before tech-falling his quarterfinal opponent and doing the same to Davud Daudov in the semis.
Lilledahl and Haines weren’t the only Penn State wrestlers to medal. True freshman PJ Duke pinned Armenia’s Davit Margaryan to win Bronze at 70 KG.
True freshman Marcus Blaze didn’t place at 65 KG, and Rocco Welsh didn’t place at 86 KG.
Overall, it was a big weekend for Penn State wrestling fans to get excited about the upcoming season, which is mere weeks away. Lilledahl took third at the national championships in Philly this March, and there’s no reason to think he isn’t a national championship contender. Haines competed up two weight classes last year and took third, but it determined to make it back to the top of the podium, where he was in March 2024. Mesenbrink got his first national title in March and is the odds on favorite to do it again.
Blaze is projected to start at 141 as a true freshman, and Duke is in a wrestleoff with Tyler Kasak for the starting spot at 157.
Welsh is projected to be Penn State’s man at 184, where Carter Starocci won it all last year.
Penn State’s first dual meet is against Oklahoma Friday, Nov. 14 at Rec Hall. The meet is scheduled to begin at 6.
