Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546586
4 8 O C T O B E R 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 T he collegiate wrestling season is still more than a month away, but that hasn't stopped FloWrestling from releasing its initial rankings with roster battles beginning in earnest across the country. Flo projects that Penn State will win its sixth consecutive national team ti- tle. While the individual rankings will change when the regular season gets closer, that particular prediction will certainly not. There are eight Nittany Lions in Flo's pound-for-pound top 20. Senior Mitchell Mesenbrink is first overall, while junior Josh Barr is third, junior Luke Lilledahl sixth, senior Shayne Van Ness eighth, junior Rocco Welsh 10th, sophomore PJ Duke 11th, redshirt junior Tyler Kasak 12th and sophomore Mar- cus Blaze 19th. In the weight-by-weight rankings, four Penn State wrestlers are first in their respective classes: Lilledahl at 125 pounds, Duke at 165, Mesenbrink at 174 and Barr at 197. In addition, Blaze is fourth at 133, senior Braeden Davis 11th at 141, Van Ness third at 149, Kasak second at 157, Welsh second at 184 and redshirt sophomore Cole Mirasola fifth at 285. As of mid-September, Levi Haines was not eligible to return for the 2026- 27 season. While it's possible that future court rulings could grant the two-time NCAA champion and other athletes in the class of 2022 a fifth season of eligi- bility, time is running out. Flo is not in- cluding him in its 174-pound rankings, and it's making some other assumptions about the Nittany Lions' lineup. Starting at 133 pounds, Flo has Blaze fourth behind No. 1 Jax Forrest of Okla- homa State, No. 2 Ben Davino of Ohio State and No. 3 Aaron Seidel of Virginia Tech. The sophomore could certainly stay there, but it wouldn't be out of the question for junior Masanosuke Ono or redshirt freshman Nate Desmond to move into the starting lineup at that spot, with Blaze moving up to 141. Of course, the 141-pound class is a challenge to figure out in its own right. It seems unlikely Ono could make that weight, but Davis, Blaze and Desmond all probably could. As for 157, Kasak is coming off a red- shirt year. If the two-time All-Amer- ican ends up there, it's not farfetched to imagine both Duke and Mesenbrink bumping up a weight class. After all, Duke is a big 157-pounder. But does Mesenbrink want to move? Presumably, he'd like to cut less for his final year if that's an issue. However, if the two-time defending champ wants to stay where he is, Duke could go up to take on redshirt freshmen Will Henckel and Asher Cunningham at 174, while Kasak, if healthy, battles it out with redshirt sophomore Joe Sealey and true freshman Jayden James for the right to compete at 157. WRESTLING Nittany Lions Lauded In FloWrestling's Preseason Rankings G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G . P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M Mitchell Mesenbrink is listed as FloWrestling's top pound-for-pound wrestler in the country going into his senior season. He's won the past two national championships at 165 pounds but is projected by Flo to move up to 174 this year. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS