Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544053
A P R I L 2 0 2 6 4 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Senior Levi Haines and junior Mitchell Mesenbrink both won their second career national titles at this year's NCAA Wrestling Championships, while sophomore Josh Barr won his first. Haines ended his career on top of the 174-pound bracket after beating Nebraska's Christopher Minto by decision, 2-1. Mesenbrink defended his 165-pound title by beating the same wrestler he did a year ago, Iowa's Mikey Caliendo, by technical fall, 20-4. Barr decisioned Cody Merrill of Oklahoma State, 6-3, for the 197-pound crown. Mesenbrink was named both the season's most dominant Division I wrestler and the most outstanding wrestler of the national tournament, but Haines and Barr were dazzling, too. Haines won three of his first four matches by tech- nical fall after pinning his first opponent, Grant O'Dell of Bellarmine. Barr had 2 tech- nical falls and 2 major decisions heading into his title match. To put it simply, all three were deserving of OW honors at the national meet, though it was hard to argue with the choice of Mesenbrink. And, speaking of arguments, another one is coming in the college wres- tling community: Which Nittany Lion should win the Dan Hodge Trophy? Considered college wrestling's version of the Heisman Trophy, the Hodge goes to the nation's best wrestler. People inside Penn State's program, including Mesen- brink, Haines and Barr themselves, have downplayed the award. Head coach Cael Sanderson has also expressed ambivalence about the honor, which is presented by WIN Magazine. "We're not worried about that stuff, because those are just a bunch of votes and opinions," Sanderson said in Febru- ary. "In the past, we've had three guys on the ballot getting voted against, splitting our votes. We're not worried about it. Obviously, you bring that up, and so it strikes a chord with me a little bit. We should have had some guys that won Hodge trophies in the past." Before the final round at nationals, there was a real possibility that a vote-split between the Penn State standouts might lead to Ohio State's Jesse Mendez taking home the Hodge. But that scenario that went out the window when Men- dez lost his 141-pound final to Ser- gio Vega of Oklahoma State. Once Haines, Barr and Mesenbrink won titles, there was no reason to think anyone other than those three would win the Hodge. Oklahoma State freshman phenom Jax Forrest could get some votes, but it will al- most certainly come down to three Nittany Lions in the end. So, which will it be? The logi- cal answer is Mesenbrink. His 6-0 quarterfinal win at nationals over Bryce Hepner of North Carolina was his only triumph of the year that did not come with bonus points. Barr won all his matches by bonus-point margins except for his 6-3 victory in the NCAA finals. Haines was impressive, too, compiling a bonus-point percentage of 80.77, per WrestleStat. But in its Hodge Trophy tracker, WrestleStat has Mesenbrink as the favorite. No matter who brings home the honor, Mesenbrink's season and career won't be defined by the outcome. "I like wrestling because, for the most part, I can keep pretty much everybody else's opinion out of it," he said. "That's how I wrestle, too — so that the refs don't have to go, 'Is it a takedown or not?' "The Hodge is such an opinionated thing, a futile kind of thing at the end of the day that people vote on. I'm not going to put my hope or well-being into something that people are going to vote and think about. "It's interesting, because … when they crown the Hodge Trophy, they're going to be talking about who's going to get it the next time. We're talking about things that come and go, collect dust." — Greg Pickel Mitchell Mesenbrink compiled a 27-0 record en route to the 165-pound national title. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS Levi Haines finished 26-0 and won his second NCAA title in his final college season. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS Josh Barr finished the season 24-0, with a national title at 197 pounds and had 23 bonus-point wins. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETIC Penn State Has Three Worthy Hodge Trophy Contenders PENN STATE'S HODGE TROPHY WINNERS Yr. Name Wt. Record 2024 Aaron Brooks 197 22-0 2019 Bo Nickal 197 30-0 2018 Zain Retherford 149 31-0 2017 Zain Retherford 149 28-0 2014 David Taylor 165 34-0 2012 David Taylor 165 32-0 1997 Kerry McCoy 285 41-0