One Penn State wrestling star won a Gold Medal at the U23 World Championships in Serbia, and two more have a chance to do it Sunday.
Mitchell Mesenbrink took care of business at 70 KG Saturday afternoon, and teammates Luke Lilledahl (57 KG) and Levi Haines (79 KG) will have a chance to do the same.
Lilledahl will be taking on Yuta Kikuchi of Japan at around noon eastern time.
Haines, on the other hand, will be taking on Ibrahim Yaprak of Turkey.
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.
Haines, Lilledahl and Mesenbrink aren’t the only Penn State wrestlers impressing this weekend.
PJ Duke— who graduated high school a mere three months ago— will be wrestling for Bronze Sunday at 70-kg. His opponent is to be determined.
There are also a pair of Lions who will be starting their tournaments Sunday. At 65 KG, true freshman Marcus Blaze will take on Kyrgyzstan’s Bilol Sharip Uulu in the qualifying round. At 85 KG, Rocco Welsh will take on Israel’s Aaron Ayzerov.
Both Blaze and Welsh are people Penn State fans will have their eyes on. Blaze is Penn State’s projected starter at 141, filling the boots of three-time All-American and 2024 national runner up Beau Bartlett.
Welsh is succeeding five-time champ Carter Starocci at 184, so he has big boots to fill as well.
Penn State begins its season Friday, Nov. 14 against Oklahoma at Rec Hall. The dual meet is scheduled to begin at 6.
