CLEVELAND, Ohio — Penn State’s Josh Barr added another national title to the Nittany Lions’ historic weekend Saturday night, defeating Oklahoma State’s Cody Merrill 6-3 in the 197-pound final at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena.
Barr wasted little time setting the tone. Just 31 seconds into the opening period, the Penn State standout scored a takedown to grab a 3-0 lead. Merrill answered with an escape moments later, but Barr carried a 3-1 advantage through the first period and stayed in control of the bout.
Merrill trimmed the lead again with an escape in the second period, making it 3-2 heading into the final two minutes, but Barr responded when the match tightened. In the third period, Barr turned the momentum decisively with a reversal at the 1:43 mark to push the lead to 5-2.
From there, Barr managed the closing sequence well. A penalty point and a stalling point against Merrill added to Penn State’s cushion, while Merrill could only add one more escape before time expired.
The 6-3 victory capped an outstanding tournament for Barr, who outscored his opponents 70-17 in five bouts, and delivered yet another individual championship for a Penn State team that continued to overwhelm the field in Cleveland.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Before Barr’s national title, Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) and Levi Haines (174) also won championships for Penn State.
For Barr, the win also avenged last year’s 5-2 loss to Stephen Buchanan in the NCAA finals.
The victory was historic for more than one reason. With Barr’s title, Penn State eclipsed its own NCAA Championships team scoring record of 177 points, which it set last season.
Penn State now sits at 177.5 points, and with Luke Lilledahl still to wrestle, the Nittany Lions can add even more to their historic total.
