Penn State and the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club will have a strong presence in the Senior Men’s Freestyle semifinals at the 2026 U.S. Open Championships in Las Vegas.
Six NLWC wrestlers advanced to the semifinal round, with Luke Lilledahl, Marcus Blaze, Tyler Kasak, Kyle Dake, Rocco Welsh and Josh Barr all winning their quarterfinal matches.
The group gives Penn State wrestling/NLWC representation across six different weights: 57, 61, 70, 86, 92 kilograms and, through NLWC ties, several of the tournament’s most intriguing semifinal matchups.
At 57 kilograms, Lilledahl continued his run with a hard-fought 3-1 decision over Antonio Mills in the quarterfinals. Lilledahl opened his tournament with a bye before rolling through Natan “Adonias” Cantu by technical fall, 12-1, in 3:38 in the round of 16. He will face Cronin in the semifinals.
Blaze was dominant at 61 kilograms, reaching the semifinals with back-to-back technical falls. Blaze defeated Quade Smith 11-0 in 1:47 in the round of 16, then followed with a 10-0 technical fall over Michael McGee in the quarterfinals. Blaze will meet Gross in the semifinal round.
At 70 kilograms, Kasak survived one of the tighter quarterfinal matches of the session, beating Edward Scott 7-6 to reach the semifinals. Kasak opened with a bye, then earned a 12-2 technical fall over Cody Welker in 1:20 before defeating Jaivon Jones 5-2 in the round of 16. Kasak will wrestle Henson in the semifinals.
Dake also advanced at 86 kilograms, putting together a controlled run to the semifinals. Dake pinned Jackson Sapp in 33 seconds in his opening match, then beat Joshua Cordio by 11-0 technical fall in 1:05. In the quarterfinals, Dake defeated Cade DeVos 3-0. He will face Sinclair in the semifinals.
The 86-kilogram bracket will also feature Rocco Welsh, who gave the NLWC another semifinalist at the weight. Welsh defeated Daryus Webb by technical fall, 12-1, in 1:52, then beat Dylan Newsome by technical fall, 13-0, in 2:53. In the quarterfinals, Welsh earned one of the biggest wins of the day, defeating Mekhi Lewis 5-1. Welsh will face Keckeisen in the semifinals.
At 92 kilograms, Barr powered into the semifinals with a dominant run. Barr opened with a bye, then defeated Robert Bates by 10-0 technical fall in just 1:08. In the quarterfinals, Barr beat Seth Shumate by 14-4 technical fall in 5:21. Barr will face Macchi in the semifinals.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Several other NLWC wrestlers had strong tournament runs but fell short of the semifinals.
Connor Pierce won two matches at 70 kilograms, defeating Garrett Bass 10-0 in just 31 seconds and Nikolas Slatoff 11-0 in 2:26 before falling to Ian Parker 15-8 in the round of 16.
Cole Mirasola advanced at 125 kilograms with a 7-4 decision over Tyrie Houghton before falling by technical fall to Coby Merrill in the round of 16.
Connor Mirasola won his round-of-16 bout at 97 kilograms, defeating William Fulgentes by 10-0 technical fall in just 27 seconds.
Joseph Sealey picked up two wins at 74 kilograms, beating Breck Williams 10-0 and Drayden Morton 10-3 before dropping a narrow 3-2 decision to James Green in the round of 16.
William Henckel reached the 79-kilogram quarterfinals after technical fall wins over Justin Grant, 15-3, and Brandon Murray, 10-0. Henckel’s run ended in a tight 5-4 decision loss to Evan Wick.
At 65 kilograms, Nate Desmond opened with a 10-0 technical fall over Ruben Calderon before falling to Beau Bartlett in the round of 16. Kyison Garcia also competed at 65 kilograms, earning a 10-0 consolation technical fall over Colby McDermott after dropping his championship-bracket match to former Penn State wrestler David Evans.
The semifinal round now gives the NLWC a chance to push multiple wrestlers into the U.S. Open finals, with Barr, Blaze, Lilledahl, Kasak, Dake and Welsh all still alive for Senior Freestyle titles.
