How Many Big Ten Champions Will Penn State Wrestling Have?

With Penn State hosting the 2025-26 Big Ten Wrestling Championships at the Bryce Jordan Center this Saturday and Sunday, we have our predictions for each weight class. 

125

Highest Preliminary Penn State Wrestling Seed: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl

Lilledahl’s Record Versus Top 10 Seeds: 6-0

Lilledahl Career Record In Big Ten Tournament: 4-0

Season Record: 17-0 (66.67% bonus rate)

Notes: Lilledahl looks to capture his second Big Ten conference championship and with signature wins already this season against No. 3 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) and No. 4 Jacob Moran (Indiana). Lilledahl (51) trails only Shayne Van Ness (58) on the team in dual takedowns and 10 of his 17 wins have been by double-digits.

Will Lilledahl be a Big Ten Champ: Yes

133

 

Highest Preliminary Penn State Wrestling Seed: No. 1 Marcus Blaze

Blaze Record Versus Top 10 Seeds: 6-0

Blaze Career Record In Big Ten

Tournament: First Appearance

Season Record: 19-0, 84.21% bonus rate

Notes: Blaze’s signature win against Ohio State’s Ben Davino, who is seeded at No. 3, has fueled much of the hype for the true freshman many feel could contend for the Hodge Trophy.

Sudden Victories: Penn State Wrestling Gets it Done in Crunch Time

Blaze is tied with Mitchell Mesenbrink for team link in wins (19) and with Braeden Davis (6) in major decisions. Many may point to Illinois Lucas Byrd as a snub for the No. 1 seed, with Byrd the reigning Big Ten and NCAA Champion at 133 who is 17-0.

Byrd may be unfairly punished because he didn’t get to see Jacob Van Dee when Illinois took on Nebraska or Indiana’s Blaine Frazier or Sean Spidle of Northwestern. It looks to be an exciting potential final at 133, and even against the defending champ, it’s hard to bet against Marcus Blaze.

Will Blaze be a Big Ten champ?: Yes

141

Highest Preliminary Penn State Wrestling Seed: No. 7 Braeden Davis

Record Versus Top 10 Seeds: 6-0

Career Record In Big Ten Tournament: 8-2

Season Record: 9-3 (66.67% bonus rate)

Notes: It’s been an up-and-down year for Davis who is seeking a big tournament push to give him momentum into 2026-27. Davis lost a tough match 3-2 to Iowa’s Nasir Bailey, who is seeded No. 4 in this tournament. Davis tough luck continued against Nebraska where he was leading No. 2 Brock Hardy before being pinned. The only match all year Davis was truly never in was against Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez, who is not only the No. 1 at 141 but could potentially be a Hodge Trophy winner this year.

Prediction: Mendez 

 

149 

 

Highest Preliminary Penn State Seed: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness

Van Ness’ Record Versus Top 10 Seeds: 4-0

Van Ness  Career Record In Big Ten Tournament: 7-3

Season Record: 18-0 (84.21% bonus rate)

Notes: Van Ness has been the consensus No. 1 wrestler at 149 by InterMat all season long. He has led Penn State in dual techfalls (7), dual reversals (6), and dual takedowns (58). A matchup many hoped to see was Van Ness take on Ethan Stiles during the Ohio State dual, but Stiles was out. Surging at 149 is Joesph Zargo from Wisconsin. While Zargo did lose to Northern Iowa’s Caleb Rathjen, Zargo has wins this season over Stiles and Michigan’s Lachlan McNeil and could be someone who has a big tournament and sees Van Ness for the first time in 2025-26.

Will Van Ness be a Big Ten Champ?: Yes

157

 

Highest Preliminary Penn State Seed: No. 2 PJ Duke

Duke Record Versus Top 10 Seeds: 1-1

Duke Career Record In Big Ten

Tournament: First Appearance

Season Record: 16-1 (72.22% bonus rate)

Notes: The highly touted freshman has impressed many in his first season at Penn State being in a three-way team for the team lead in dual pins with Mesenbrink and Levi Haines and tied with Mesenbrink with falls with eight. While Duke’s future is promising, Nebraska junior Antrell Taylor has been the class of the division since Ohio State’s Brandon Cannon’s injury. Taylor defeated Duke in a tiebreaker back on January 30 and Duke did not see Cannon – who was previously the top wrestler at 157. Cannon got an interesting seed selection at 7 that might be undervaluing his own ability considering Cannon got a major decision victory over Taylor 16-4 Nov. 16.

Prediction: Cannon (OHIO STATE)

165

Highest Preliminary Penn State Seed: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink

Career Record in Big Ten Tournament: 6-0

Season Record: 19-0 (100% bonus rate)

Notes: There are not enough superlatives to describe how good Mesenbrink is considering he is near the top this season at every major wrestling statistic. If anything sticks out from his outstanding 2025-26 campaign with his eight falls and three major decisions was his domination over Iowa’s Michael Caliendo, the No. 2 seed in this tournament. Mesenbrink dominated Caliendo 11-2 for a major decision back Jan. 16. If anyone could bring a challenge, it may be Marcus Blaze’s older brother, Joey, who is 18-0 at Purdue and also won by decision (7-4) over Caliendo.

Will Mesenbrink be a Big Ten Champ?: Yes

174

 

Highest Preliminary Penn State Seed: No. 2 Levi Haines

Record Versus Top 10 Seeds: 2-0

Career Record in Big Ten Tournament: 9-0

Season Record: 18-0 (84.21% bonus rate)

Notes: This is the source of Cael Sanderson’s frustration of seeding with a third party. Haines has wins over No. 1 Christopher Minto from Nebraska and No. 4 Beau Mantanona from Michigan and has been InterMat’s No. 1 wrestler at 174 all season. Minto had losses not only to No. 2 Haines, but also No. 3 Patrick Kennedy from Iowa, and Ohio State’s Carson Kharchala (No. 5). While Minto has a win over Mantanona, being 1-3 versus the rest of the Top 5 does not bode well and his fourth loss came to Oklahoma State junior Alex Facundo (former Penn State wrestler) who is ranked No. 7 by Intermat, it makes you wonder how much motivation Haines needs to right this seeding issue.

Will Haines be a Big Ten Champ?: Yes

184

 

Highest Preliminary Penn State Seed: No. 1 Rocco Welsh

Record Versus Top 10 Seeds: 6-0

Career Record in Big Ten Tournament: 5-1

Season Record: 17-0 (61.11% bonus rate)

Notes: Welsh is one of the more battle-tested wrestlers for Penn State with six wins over current Big Ten seeded competitors. Throughout 2025-26, Welsh has been tested throughout especially with his 2-1 tiebreaker win over Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari and finding a way to clip Ohio State’s Dylan Fishback 7-6. Many feel the Big Ten Championship at 184 could be a preview of the NCAA Championship match with Minnesota’s Max McEnelly ranked the No. 2 in the Big Ten Tournament and currently No. 4 by InterMat. McEnelly is 17-1 this season with his lone loss to Intermat’s No. 3 wrestler  Aeoden Sinclair from Missouri by a 6-3 decision. 

Will Welsh be a Big Ten Champ?: Yes

 

197

Highest Preliminary Penn State Seed: No. 1 Josh Barr

Record Versus Top 10 Seeds: 6-0

Career Record in Big Ten Tournament: 1-2

Season Record: 16-0 (100% bonus rate)

Notes: This is Barr’s to lose with victories over each of the Big Ten’s Top 5 wrestlers. Barr has major decisions against No. 2 Camden McDaniel from Nebraska  (21-9) and No. 5 Luke Geog from Ohio State (11-2). Barr is looking to secure his first Big Ten Championship at 197 after losing last season to Michigan’s Jacob Cardenas and medically defaulting in the consolation bracket against Minnesota’s Isaiah Salazar.

Prediction: Barr

 

285

 

Highest Preliminary Penn State Seed: No. 4 Cole Mirasola

Record Versus Top 10 Seeds: 3-2

Career Record in Big Ten Tournament: first appearance 

Season Record: 20-6 (47.37% bonus rate)

Notes: The evolution of Mirasola throughout 2025-26 has been something to watch. After taking consecutive losses to Wyoming’s Christian Carroll and Lehigh’s Nathan Taylor both ranked in Intermat’s Top 15, some may have written off Mirosola prematurely. Currently ranked No. 5 overall at heavyweight by Intermat, Mirasola’s other two losses came to the Top 2 seeds at heavyweight in the Big Ten Championships in Michigan’s Taye Ghadiali and Nebraska’s AJ Ferrari. Mirasola dropped a tough one to Ferrari 2-1 and wrestled hard against Ghadiali to a 4-1 loss. This could be something Mirasola can build momentum on.

 

Prediction: Ferrari (Nebraska)