STATE COLLEGE — — It’s only fitting that after another record-setting dual meet season, the Penn State wrestling team would continue the trend at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships.

The Nittany Lions set a team record Sunday in front of 13,226 fans in the Bryce Jordan Center by winning seven individual championships, qualifying all 10 wrestlers for the NCAA Championships and breaking its own Big Ten tournament team scoring record for the second straight year with 184 points to win its fourth consecutive championship.

Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds), Shayne Van Ness (149), P.J. Duke (157), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174), Rocco Welsh (184) and Josh Barr (197) all won titles. Marcus Blaze (133) fell in the championship bout. Cole Mirasola placed fifth at 285 and Braeden Davis (125) placed seventh.

Ohio State crowned two champs and finished in second place with 148.5 points. Nebraska was third with 116.5, Iowa was fourth with 87 and Michigan was fifth with one champion and 86.5 points.

Duke was voted the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. Ohio State swept the other three awards. Tom Ryan was voted Coach of the Year. Ben Davino (133) was the Freshman of the Year. And Jesse Mendez (141) was Big Ten Wrestler of the Year.

Mesenbrink summed up his team’s success in a post-tournament news conference.

“I just think it’s a strong testament to the people that we have around us and the great men and women that we’re so lucky to be around. I think that in an ever-changing world, especially with college sports and what NIL has done to it, I think our coaches have set a foundation at Penn State that, you know, that doesn’t change,” he said, as head coach Cael Sanderson listened to his left.

“It’s grounded in things that are intangible and not so futile as money or even wins. I think it’s a lot more important than that. It’s being the best person that you can be, or just striving for excellence, not even just on the mat, but the best person that you can be. And I think that just translates to what we can do on the mat.”

Sanderson alluded to Mesenbrink’s comments in trying to explain the weekend of domination while politely declining to compare this team to others under his tutelage.

“I don’t know how to really compare teams, but this is a really good team. And just kind of like Mitchell said, just the character and the determination. Everything is outstanding. And these guys are competitors, right?” he said.

“We won a lot of tough matches and close matches, and just these guys, making that decision to believe in themselves and just do what they do, and to do it consistently, like they have all year long. So, yeah, we’re happy and and definitely grateful to have a good weekend like this.”

Lilledahl started the Nittany Lions’ run of championships with a nip-and-tuck 4-1 win in sudden victory over Minnesota’s Jore Volk. Neither wrestler could score more than an escape in regulation. In the sudden victory period, Lilledahl nearly scored on a single but Volk kicked free near the edge and drew a stall call. Lilledahl finally converted on a single and, after a scramble, converted to a double for the winning takedown with 1:04 left in the period to secure his second consecutive Big Ten championship.

“It wasn’t really a game plan to get in scrambles, but wrestling happens, right?” Lilledahl said. “The more exchanges that we get in, the more tired they’re going to be in overtime. My game plan is to go out and score points as fast and as many times as I can. But at the same time, if things aren’t happening, you gotta stay patient.”

Van Ness added Penn State’s second title with a sudden and decisive pin at 149 over Ohio State’s Ethan Stiles. After a scoreless first, Stiles won the flip and chose bottom. The Buckeye sat out and Van Ness quickly chinned him back and then pancaked him to his back, tightened up his grip and scored the fall in 3:29.

It was a full-circle moment for Van Ness. He pinned Stiles, then with Oregon State, in the 2025 NCAA 149-pound third-place bout to clinch the team title for the Nittany Lions. His pin of Stiles in this year’s Big Ten finals clinched the team title again.

“I just felt like I kept getting better every match, and I’m happy with the way that I performed,” Van Ness said.

But shortly after the match ended, he was a little fuzzy on the details of his finishing move.

“I’m not quite sure. I’d have to go back and watch it to tell you,” he said.

Duke took a totally different tact this time around against Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor, the defending NCAA champion. In the dual meet, Duke was a bit tentative in a 2-1 tiebreaker loss. This time around, there was no doubt who was in charge as Duke displayed an aggressive ferocity that Taylor couldn’t counter.

The Nittany Lion freshman scored a takedown in each period and between times dictated the action in a never-any-doubt 12-4 major decision.

“I made a few mistakes in the first match. Most of them were my fault, and I kind of went back to my coaches, we figured things out, and had a better game plan, and it worked out,” Duke said.

“Obviously, Antrell is an amazing wrestler, amazing competitor. But after that first match, I kind of had that feeling like I know I can beat this guy. I’ve just got to wrestle differently and get to what I need to get to, and they’re more likely to go my way.”

Mesenbrink ran his record against Iowa’s Mikey Caliendo to 8-0 with another dominating performance against the Hawkeye. The Nittany Lion jumped out to a 6-2 first-period lead and added takedowns in the subsequent periods, as well as an escape, stall point and another for 2:07 in riding time.

Haines capped a fantastic Big Ten career by stamping himself as the fourth four-time conference champ in Penn State history. He joined Nittany Lion legends Ed Ruth, David Taylor and Aaron Brooks in that exclusive Penn State fraternity. Haines is the 20th four-time champ in Big Ten history.

Paired with Nebraska’s Christopher Minto, the match turned on a technical violation in the second period. After a scoreless first, Minto escaped but Haines got in on a single and was trying to finish. Minto, in defending the shot, was called for an illegal head scissors, which resulted in a point for Haines and a tied score. Haines escaped in the second and couldn’t finish off a couple takedown attempts and held off Minto for the 2-1 decision.

“I guess it’s pretty cool. Right place at the right time,” Haines said of his status as a four-time champ. “Yeah, this one was, you know, just like the other ones, just good practice getting ready for the nationals”

Welsh won his first Big Ten title and did it the hard way, winning three straight overtime bouts. Against Minnesota’s Max McEnelly in the final, the two battled to a 1-1 draw through regulation and the sudden victory period. Welsh quickly escaped to start the first tiebreaker period and survived a challenged no-takedown call at the end of the period. McEnelly chose neutral to start the second tiebreaker bout couldn’t score and Welsh was the winner.

Barr once again dominated Nebraska’s Camden McDanel, moving his record against the Cornhusker to 4-0, three of them by technical fall. In this one, Barr opened a 6-1 lead after one and expanded it to 9-2 after two. He exploded for 10 points in the third to end the match at 19-4 in 6:46.

Blaze tasted defeat for the first time in the finals against Ohio State’s Ben Davino in a match reminiscent of the bout they wrestled in the dual meet. Like the first encounter, regulation ended with the score tied at 1-1, although this time Blaze had so fight off low singles at the end of the second and third periods. In sudden victory, Blaze won the toss, chose bottom and escaped in 17 seconds. In the second tiebreaker period, Davino was able to escape in three seconds and held off Blaze for the 2-2 TB2 win.

Nine Nittany Lions earned NCAA berths on Saturday and Davis completed the 10-man contingent on Sunday with his win in the seventh-place bout at 141.

As dominant as Penn State’s tournament was, it still didn’t approach the all-time best performance. In 1983, Iowa crowned nine Big Ten champions and amassed an amazing 200 team points. The Hawkeyes finished 118.5 point ahead of second-place Michigan State. Iowa’s 10th wrestler finished fourth.

Penn State will have 10 days to fine tune before heading to Cleveland’s Rocket Arena on March 19-21 for the NCAA Wrestling Championships to try to win its fifth consecutive title.

BIG TEN WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

FINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Penn State 184; 2. Ohio State 148.5; 3. Nebraska 116.5; 4. Iowa 87; 5. Michigan 86.5; 6. Illinois 78; 7. Minnesota 76.5; 8. Rutgers 63.5; 9. Wisconsin 55; 10. Indiana 40; 11. Maryland 35.5; 12. Purdue 29.5; 13. Northwestern 14.5; 14. Michigan State 10.5.

MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER: P.J. Duke, Penn State.

BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Ben Davino, Ohio State, 133 pounds.

BIG TEN WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: Jesse Mendez, Ohio State, 141 pounds.

BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR: Tom Ryan, Ohio State.

FIRST-PLACE FINALS

125: Luke Lilledahl (PSU) dec. Jore Volk (MIN), 4-1 SV. 133: Ben Davino (OSU) dec. Marcus Blaze (PSU) 3-2 TB2. 141: Jesse Mendoz (OSU) dec. Brock Hardy (NEB), 7-2. 149: Shayne Van Ness (PSU) pinned Ethan Stiles (OSU), 3:29. 157: P.J. Duke (PSU) maj. dec. Antrell Taylor (NEB), 12-4. 165: Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) maj. dec. Mikey Caliendo (IOWA), 12-3. 174: Levi Haines (PSU) dec. Christopher Minto (NEB), 2-1. 184: Rocco Welsh (PSU) dec. Max McEnelly (MIN) 2-1 TB2. 197: Josh Barr (PSU) tech fall Camden McDanel (NEB), 19-4, 6:46. 285: Taye Ghadiali (UM) def. A.J. Ferrari (NEB).

THIRD-PLACE FINALS

125: Nic Bouzakis (OSU) dec. Jacob Moran (IU) 4-2. 133: Draka Ayala (IOWA) dec. Zan Fugitt (W), 4-2. 141: Nasir Bailey (IOWA) dec. Vance Vombaur (MIN), 7-4. 149: Lachlan McNeil (UM) dec. Carter Young (MD), 1-0. 157: Kannon Webster (ILL) dec. Brandon Cannon (OSU), 9-2. 165: Joey Blaze (PUR) dec. L.J. Araujo (NEB), 5-1. 174: Carson Karchla (OSU) dec. Patrick Kennedy (IOWA), 7-3. 184: Brock Mantanona (UM) dec. Chris Moore (ILL) 4-1 SV. 197: Luke Geog (OSU) dec. Gabe Sollars (IU), 7-5. 285: NicK Feldman (OSU) dec. Ben Kueter (IOWA), 6-2.

FIFTH-PLACE FINALS

125: Dean Peterson (IOWA) dec. Diego Sotelo (UM) 5-2. 133: Lucas Byrd (ILL) dec. Blake Boarman (PUR) 4-2. 141: Joey Olivieri (RUT) dec. Dario Lemus (MD), 5-2. 149: JosepH Zargo (WIS) dec. Michael Gioffre (ILL) 9-3. 157: Cameron Catrabone (UM) def. Bryce Lowery (IU), med. fft. 165: Andrew Sparks (MIN) dec. Andrew Barbosa (RUT), 8-6. 174: Beau Mantanona (UM) dec. Lenny Pinto (RUT), 7-5. 184: Shane Cartagena-Walsh (RUT) def. Silas Allred (NEB), med. fft. 197: yatt Ingham (WIS) dec. Remy Cotton (RUT), 7-5. 285: Cole Mirasola (PSU) def. Braxton Amos (WOS), med. fft.

SEVENTH-PLACE FINALS

125: Kael Lauridsen (NEB) dec. Ayden Smith (RUT), 6-3. 133: Sean Spidle (NW) def. Jacob Van Dee (NEB), med. fft. 141: Braeden Davis (PSU) dec. Billy KeKraker (NW), 8-1. 149: Andrew Clark (RUT) def. Clayton Jones (MSU), med. fft. 157: Luke Mechler (WIS) def. Charlie Millard (MIN), med. fft. 165: Paddy Gallagher (OSU) def. Braeden Scoles (ILL), med. fft. 174: Colin Kelly (ILL) dec. Brody Baumann (PUR), 7-5. 189: Dylan Fishback (OSU) def. Angelo Ferrari, med. fft. 197: Branson John (MD) def. Ben Vanadia (PUR), med. fft. 285: Koy Hopke (MIN) dec