Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543434
7 0 M A R C H 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M S ince Cael Sanderson took over as head coach of the Penn State wrestling team ahead of the 2009-10 season, the Nittany Lions have won more NCAA championships (12) than Big Ten titles (nine). One can cite two reasons for the discrepancy — the Big Ten with its balance and star power makes winning a team title a difficult achievement, and many teams such as Penn State strive to peak for the NCAAs instead of the confer- ence meet. The Nittany Lions, who shut out Princeton, 50-0, on Feb. 20 to finish a sixth consecutive unbeaten season at 15-0, are heavy favorites to earn their fifth NCAA title in a row, but first comes the conference meet at Penn State March 7-8. For the Lions to prevail, they must do what they've been doing all season, and that's winning the vast majority of bouts decided by three points or fewer. With nine wrestlers ranked among the top five in their respective weight classes, the numbers speak for themselves as to which team should assume the favorite's role. The NCAA's weight-by-weight alloca- tions typically award the Big Ten seven to 10 NCAA qualifiers per weight class, making the conference tournament's consolation rounds vitally important. Here's a weight-by-weight look at the conference event at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. 125 pounds: Penn State sophomore Luke Lilledahl will be the No. 1 seed and should be followed by Ohio State's Nic Bouzakis, Iowa's Dean Peterson and Minnesota's Jore Volk. Look for a Lille- dahl-Bouzakis rematch from the dual meet that Lilledahl won, 4-1 in overtime, over his high school teammate at Wyo- ming Seminary in Kingston, Pa. 133 pounds: This is probably the most star-studded weight class anywhere in college wrestling, not just the Big Ten. Defending NCAA champ Lucas Byrd of Illinois is a likely top seed over Penn State freshman Marcus Blaze, Ohio State's Ben Davino and Iowa's Drake Ayala. The semifinals at 133 will be a must-see event. 141 pounds: This is another deep weight class, but no one is better than Ohio State's two-time NCAA champ Jesse Mendez at 141. Penn State junior Braeden Davis is a likely fifth or sixth seed behind Mendez, Nebraska's Brock Hardy, Minnesota's Vance VomBaur, Rutgers' Joey Olivieri and Iowa's Nasir Bailey. 149 pounds: Top-ranked junior Shayne Van Ness of Penn State is a clear favorite ahead of Ohio State's Ethan Stiles, Maryland's Carter Young, Wis- consin's Joseph Zargo, Michigan's Lach- lan McNeil and Iowa's Ryder Block. 157 pounds: Nebraska's defending NCAA champ Antrell Taylor will rate the top seed. The choice for No. 2 is be- tween Penn State freshman PJ Duke and Ohio State's Brandon Cannon, who did not wrestle in the dual meet between the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes on Feb. 13. Illinois' Kannon Webster, Michigan's Cam Catrabone and Iowa's Jordan Wil- liams are likely to follow. 165 pounds: Penn State junior Mitch- ell Mesenbrink is the clear No. 1 seed, but Purdue's Joey Blaze, who beat PSU's Tyler Kasak in last season's NCAA quarterfinals and is the brother of Mar- cus Blaze, is enjoying a ban- ner season. Blaze should face Iowa's Mikey Caliendo in the semifinals, while Nebraska's LJ Araujo and Illinois' Braeden Scoles will likely follow in seeding. 174 pounds: Penn State senior Levi Haines will be the top seed, and while Haines owns the series against Iowa's Patrick Kennedy, he has had close matches with Nebras- ka's Christopher Minto and Ohio State's Carson Kharchla. 184 pounds: This is probably the second-strongest weight class in the Big Ten. Penn State sophomore Rocco Welsh, as the probable top seed, will most likely await the winner of a possible epic semifinal between Iowa's Angelo Ferrari and Minnesota's Max McEnelly, although Ferrari has been out of the Hawkeye lineup since the Penn State match. Nebraska's Silas Allred, Michi- gan's Brock Mantanona and Ohio State's Dylan Fishback provide ample depth. 197 pounds: This weight class resem- bles 141 and the dominance of Mendez because no one at 197 is remotely close to Penn State sophomore Josh Barr. If he reaches the final as expected, Barr will most likely face either Nebraska's Cam- den McDanel, Maryland's Branson John, Ohio State's Luke Geog or Rutgers' Remy Cotton. Barr and Cotton were teammates at Davison (Mich.) High. 285 pounds: The Big Ten is eight- deep at heavyweight, with Penn State redshirt freshman Cole Mirasola a likely 3-seed behind Nebraska's AJ Ferrari and Michigan's Taye Ghadiali. Then come Nick Feldman (Ohio State), Ben Kueter (Iowa), Braxton Amos (Wisconsin), Koy Hopke (Minnesota) and Luke Luffman (Illinois). ■ The Bryce Jordan Center will play host to this year's Big Ten Wrestling Championships March 7-8. It'll be the second time since 2021 that the league tournament has been held at PSU. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS BIG TEN WRESTLING PREVIEW The host Lions will look to prevail against a loaded tournament field J I M C A R L S O N | B L U E W H I T E C O N T R I B U T O R