Mitchell Mesenbrink has reached the point in his Penn State wrestling career where winning another national championship is no longer the only measure of what he can accomplish.
The two-time NCAA champion and reigning Dan Hodge Trophy winner enters the 2026-27 season at 174 pounds with an opportunity to add his name to two of the most exclusive lists in Nittany Lion wrestling history.
One involves winning national championships in multiple weight classes.
The other is joining Penn State’s small fraternity of multiple Hodge Trophy winners.
Neither accomplishment will come easily, even for FloWrestling’s No. 1 pound-for-pound wrestler entering the season.
FloWrestling’s Christian Pyles believes Mesenbrink faces a significantly more demanding road than the one he dominated at 165 pounds.
“I think he’s going to find a lot more resistance at 174 than he did at 165,” Pyles told Nittany Sports Now’s Joe Smeltzer. “Comparing the weight classes, it’s going to be more of a challenge. What steps he’s taking to get bigger is important.”
That assessment comes after Mesenbrink established himself as college wrestling’s most relentless offensive force.
His pace, ability to create scoring opportunities and willingness to attack repeatedly made him nearly impossible to contain.
Pyles believes those attributes remain Mesenbrink’s greatest advantage.
“But at the end of the day, the guy is transcendent in his leg-attack ability, his ability to score points and put pressure on guys,” Pyles said.
The question is whether the competition at 174 can provide resistance that was largely absent at 165.
According to FloWrestling’s November 2 rankings, Mesenbrink sits atop a division featuring Nebraska’s Christopher Minto at No. 2, Missouri’s Cam Steed at No. 3, Michigan’s Beau Mantanona at No. 4 and Arizona State’s Kaleb Larkin at No. 5.
Iowa’s Gabe Arnold, Cornell’s Simon Ruiz, Stanford’s Hunter Garvin and Iowa State’s MJ Gaitan add considerable depth.
Larkin particularly intrigues Pyles because of the stylistic challenge he presents.
“You take the greatest leg attacker in the game in Mitchell Mesenbrink, and you’ve got maybe the most unique leg-attack defense in Arizona State’s Kaleb Larkin,” Pyles said.
“If we see that match, I think it’s fireworks.”
The difference between winning a championship and dominating a weight class could become significant for Mesenbrink.
Pyles believes his offensive ability still makes him the favorite, but the margin separating him from the competition could shrink considerably.
“It’s a good thing Penn State has Mitchell Mesenbrink,” Pyles said. “He’s so great that he’ll still stand as a pretty significant favorite, but I think his third national title will be by far his toughest to earn.”
An Opportunity to Join Penn State’s Most Exclusive Company
According to Penn State’s 2026-27 wrestling media guide, only six Nittany Lions have won NCAA individual championships in multiple weight classes.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Quentin Wright accomplished it at 184 and 197 pounds, while Ed Ruth won titles at 174 and 184.
Bo Nickal captured championships at 184 and 197, Aaron Brooks won three at 184 before moving to 197, and Carter Starocci collected four at 174 before winning his historic fifth championship at 184.
Levi Haines became the latest member of that group, winning at 157 pounds in 2024 before capturing the 174-pound championship in 2026.
Haines also completed his collegiate career with four consecutive Big Ten individual titles – the first Nittany Lion wrestler to accomplish that feat.
For Mesenbrink, moving from 165 to 174 offers the opportunity to become Penn State’s seventh wrestler to win NCAA championships at multiple weights.
But another accomplishment could make his final collegiate season even more historically significant.
Mesenbrink captured the 2026 Hodge Trophy after a dominant campaign. Winning another would place him alongside David Taylor (2012, 2014) and Zain Retherford (2017, 2018) as Penn State wrestlers with multiple Hodges.
Neither Taylor nor Retherford won NCAA titles across different weight classes.
Mesenbrink has an opportunity to accomplish both feats.
The challenge is that another Hodge Trophy would likely require more than winning the national championship.
It would demand the kind of bonus-point production and dominance that distinguished his previous season, this time against a deeper and potentially more difficult field.
That’s where Pyles sees the greatest obstacle.
“No one even slowed him down,” Pyles said of last season. “It wasn’t that no one challenged him; no one came close to challenging him. Can you just make it hard for him?”
That question could define Mesenbrink’s final season.
For a wrestler who often demonstrates an understanding of the bigger picture beyond individual accomplishments, the opportunity goes beyond collecting another trophy.
He has already established himself among Penn State’s greats.
Now he can separate himself further.
A third national championship across two weight classes, coupled with another Hodge Trophy, would produce a combination of achievements unprecedented in Penn State wrestling history.
Mesenbrink isn’t simply moving up nine pounds.
He’s wrestling for a place in history that few Nittany Lions have ever approached.
