WEST POINT, N.Y.; Nov. 23, 2025 – The Penn State wrestling team (1-0, 0-0 B1G) dominated the action at the Black Knight Invitational on Sunday, Nov. 23. Head coach Cael Sanderson’s squad notched nine individual champions and had six runners-up.

Penn State sent 20 wrestlers into competition at West Point and 19 placed (with the other bowing out with an injury). An important reminder, NCAA rules state that any result against a teammate does not count as a win or loss, including forfeits, medical forfeits, defaults, etc.

True freshman Nate Desmond won the title at 125. Desmond went 3-0 plus picked up a victory over teammate No. 1 Luke Lilledahl in the finals, winning 5-3. Sophomore Lilledahl went 2-0 with two tech falls to place second.

True freshman Marcus Blaze, ranked No. 14 at 133, won the title as well. Blaze went 4-0 with a pin, two techs and a major, including a 21-6 win over No. 27 Ethan Berginc of Army in the finals.

Junior Aaron Nagao, ranked No. 10 at 141, placed second, suffering an injury default. Nagao used two techs and a decision to advance to the finals before, while leading, suffering an injury to end the bout.

Junior Shayne Van Ness, ranked No. 1 at 149, took the crown for Penn State. Van Ness went 3-0 with two pins and a tech to advance to the finals. He met teammate Connor Pierce in the title bout and won 14-7. Pierce went 3-0 with a pin, a tech and a major to take second place.

True freshman PJ Duke won the championship at 157. Duke went 3-0 with three first period falls to advance to the title bout. He took on teammate Joe Sealey in the finals and notched a hard fought 2-1 win. Sealey went 3-0 with a pin, a tech fall and a major to move to the finals before dropping the close 2-1 bout to Duke.

Junior Mitchell Mesenbrink, ranked No. 1 at 165, rolled to the title as well. Mesenbrink went 4-0 with three pins and a tech fall. He pinned No. 18 Gunner Filipowicz of Army in the championship match.

Senior Levi Haines, ranked No. 1 at 174, took first for Penn State. Haines went 3-0 with three tech falls to advance to the title bout. He took on teammate William Henckel in the finals and posted a hard fought 4-0 win. Henckel, a true freshman, went 3-0 with two tech falls to take second place.

Sophomore Rocco Welsh, ranked No. 4 at 184, took first place at the tournament. Welsh went 2-0 with a tech fall and a major to advance to the finals. He met teammate Asher Cunningham in the finals and notched a 13-5 major. Cunningham, a true freshman, went 2-0 with two majors to place second in his collegiate debut.

Redshirt freshman Connor Mirasola won the title at 197. Mirasola went 3-0 with a pin and two tech falls to win the crown, including a 17-2 tech over No. 25 William Frable of Army in the finals.

Redshirt freshman Cole Mirasola, ranked No. 10 at 285, capped off Penn State’s great day with another individual crown. Mirasola went 3-0 with two pins (plus a win over teammate Lucas Cochran in the semifinals) to grab Penn State’s ninth title. Cochran placed third at 285, going 2-0 with a tech and major.

Redshirt freshman Cael Nasdeo placed fourth at 141. Nasdeo began the tournament with a 15-12 win over No. 26 Lorenzo Frezza of Columbia before dropping two bouts. Sophomore Kyison Garcia took sixth at 133. Garcia went 4-2 overall, including a tech and two majors. Senior Sam Beckett placed fifth at 165. Beckett went 3-1 with a major, bouncing back from an opening round loss to win three straight. True freshman Dalton Perry went 1-1 at 149. Perry won his first match by tech fall and then was injured during his second, bowing out of the tournament with an injury default loss.

Penn State is 1-0 on the year, 0-0 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions return to dual meet action in two weeks, visiting Drexel on Friday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. and then hosting Lehigh on Sunday, Dec. 7, at 1 p.m. in Rec Hall.