CLEVELAND, Ohio — When Iowa’s Mikey Caliendo advanced to the NCAA Wrestling Championships final at 165 pounds, he knew he would once again face a familiar foe in Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink, who entered the night with an 8-0 record against him.
Mesenbrink extended that dominance Saturday night with a 20-4 technical fall victory, pushing his career mark against Caliendo to 9-0 and securing his second individual national championship at 165.
Here is the tale of the tape from Mesenbrink’s nine-bout dominance over Caliendo.
Against Caliendo, Mesenbrink is averaging 14 points scored and 4.2 points allowed across the nine meetings, good for an average margin of victory of nearly 10 points.
The most lopsided win in the rivalry came on March 9, 2024, when Mesenbrink rolled to a 23-7 technical fall, a 16-point margin. Saturday night’s 20-4 technical fall in the NCAA final matched that 16-point margin as the most dominant victory of the series.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.The next most lopsided result came on Jan. 31, 2025, when Mesenbrink defeated Caliendo 19-4 by technical fall, a 15-point margin.
Breakdown of Results vs. Caliendo
Mesenbrink is 9-0 against Caliendo.
By result type:
- 3 technical falls
- 3 major decisions
- 3 decisions
Bout-by-Bout Results
- 02/09/24 — W, 12-6 (Decision)
- 03/09/24 — W, 23-7 (Technical Fall)
- 03/21/24 — W, 17-9 (Major Decision)
- 01/31/25 — W, 19-4 (Technical Fall)
- 03/08/25 — W, 4-1 (Decision)
- 03/20/25 — W, 8-2 (Decision)
- 01/16/26 — W, 11-2 (Major Decision)
- 03/07/26 — W, 12-3 (Major Decision)
- 03/21/26 — W, 20-4 (Technical Fall)
