The 2026-27 Penn State wrestling roster is out.
The 28-man unit features three national champions, a senior world medalist and a senior world champ.
If Levi Haines ends up being eligible, it will feature four national champs and two senior world champs.
Here’s where the roster stands as of now.
Luke Lilledahl (125)
Lilledahl is looking to become a two-time national champion and is favored to do so, being preseason No. 1 in FloWrestling and InterMat’s 125-pound rankings.
Branden Wentzel (125)
Masanosuke Ono (133)
Coach Cael Sanderson confirmed in his press conference Tuesday that Ono will be competing at 133, and Marcus Blaze will move from 133 to 141.
Nate Desmond (133)
Braiden Weaver (133)
Marcus Blaze (141)
Blaze is No. 3 at his new weight class per InterMat, with freshman sensation Bo Bassett (Virginia Tech) being No. 1 and Lehigh’s Luke Stanich, whom Blaze could well wrestle Dec. 6 at Lehigh.
Hayden Cunningham (141)
Kyison Garcia (141)
Sam Herring (141)
Sanderson talked about Herring, a true freshman, at Tuesday’s availability.
“Sam was over at the World Championships (in Kazakhstan),” Sanderson said. “If you don’t have your school, academics and life in order, you can’t take two weeks away. He was Zay’s (Zain Retherford’s) training partner over there and did a great job. He’s a little behind on getting started, but he’s got a lot of talent, loves the sport and is an outstanding human being. He’s going to do really well.“
Shayne Van Ness (149)
Van Ness is ranked No. 3 by Flo and No. 4 by Intermat. His quest for his first national title in his final year of eligibility will be one of PSU’s more intriguing storylines of the season.
Cael Nasedo (149)
Dalton Perry (149)
Connor Pierce (149)
Brock Weiss (149)
Tyler Kasak (157)
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Kasak is back after redshirting last season and is ranked No. 2 by Flo and InterMat, behind defending national champ Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) in both. Kasak is also going for his first national title and has two years of eligibility left.
PJ Duke (165)
Sanderson confirmed Tuesday that Duke is moving up from 157 to 165. He’s No. 1 at that weight class on both Flo and InterMat.
Joe Sealy (165)
Mitchell Mesenbrink (174)
Sanderson also confirmed that the reigning Hodge Trophy winner will move from 165 to 174, where both outlets rank him No. 1.
Sam Beckett (174)
Sean Degl (174)
Ty Watson (174)
Rocco Welsh (184)
The reigning national runner-up is No. 2 on both sites behind defending national champ Max McEnelly (Minnesota). Welsh beat McEnelly for the Big Ten title before McEnelly got his revenge at nationals. Penn State takes on Minnesota Jan. 29 in Minneapolis.
Asher Cunningham (184)
Josh Barr (197)
The defending champ at 197 is No. 1 in both rankings. The biggest question is whether Barr can win his first Hodge Trophy. He finished third last season, and with Mesenbrink and Oklahoma State’s Jax Forrest back in the fold, it should be a fun race.
Mason Ellis (197)
Connor Mirasola (heavyweight)
Mirasola’s twin brother, Cole, was PennState’s‘ heavyweight last season.
This season, he won’t be on the roster due to going on a religious mission trip, along with sophomore William Henckel.
“Both are strong men of faith and felt like this would be a good opportunity for them to go out and share that with the world,” Sanderson said Tuesday. “Those are their personal decisions, obviously, so they won’t be on our roster this year. You’ll see that when the roster comes out.”
Elijah Brown (heavyweight)
Sanderson spoke about Brown Tuesday.
“He’s putting some weight on, but he’s got the frame,” Sanderson said. “He’s tall, very athletic and very tough on the mat. If you followed him through the Pennsylvania state championships and what he’s done there, he has a ton of potential. The sky really is the limit.“
Dawson Bundy (heavyweight)
Penn State-Bloomsburg is scheduled to begin at 7 on Big Ten+.
