Another Penn State Wrestling Star Projected to Move Up

It appears the Penn State wrestling lineup will look different this year.

In FloWrestling’s preseason individual rankings, Mitchell Mesenbrink is the top dog, which isn’t unexpected.

After all, he’s the reigning Hodge Trophy winner, which made it a formality that he’d top the rankings for pound-for-pound and, of course, his individual weight class.

The suprising part is that Mesenbrink is ranked No. 1 not at 165, which he has owned for the last two years, but rather at 174, and he isn’t the only one that looks to be bumping up. Flo has PJ Duke succeeding Mesenbrink at 165, and ranks him first in the class, which speaks to the talent that the sophomore has already shown. As a true freshman, Duke entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 1 seed and was arguably robbed of a chance to compete for a national title before finishing in third.

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Duke got his first piece of college championship glory when he won the Big Ten championship in March.

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If all goes according to plan, there will be plenty of glory to come.

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If this projection is accurate, it will mean that Levi Haines’ college career is over, which, for the moment, looks to be the case.

It will also mean that Penn State fans will have to wait to see Duke’s close friend, Jayden James, in the lineup. Even as a true freshman, James, who left high school as the No. 2 pound for pound wrestler in his class, would be a good bet to start most places. But, well, this is Penn State, where some of the best wrestlers in the country have to fight to get into the lineup.

If Mesenbrink and Duke are indeed moving up, Penn State has a chance to have the deadliest 157-174 trio in program history, with Tyler Kasak starting at 157.

Kasak, who redshirted last season, already has two third-place national finishes under his belt and is ranked No. 2 in his class, behind only defending national champ Landon Robideau.

Yeah, things are looking good for Penn State wrestling.