It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
The Nittany Lion wrestling team takes the mat again, this time looking for a program-record fifth straight team national title. They’re starting this season after their second record-setting national tournament in a row, and fresh off of seven participants winning four medals at this year’s under 23
world championships. Yet again, this team is poised to be pretty special.And it’s special even with two returning all-Americans from last year’s team likely redshirting
in Tyler Kasak and Braeden Davis – as likely is new PSU enrollee and world champ Masanosuke Ono, provided the NCAA doesn’t change his eligibility. But that’s what happens when you have two of the most exciting recruits in collegiate wrestling coming in and ready to compete as true freshman, as well as a returning finalist transfer from a different Great Program. Only the final grappler on that list, Rocco Welsh, is currently ranked – but if Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke are the ones who get the call this week, as I hope, they won’t be able to stay outside the top ten (if not top five) for very long.
They’re facing an Oklahoma squad that’s still rebuilding under third year head coach Roger Kish – but they’ve got very good blood in their corner with former Penn State national champ Mark Hall as part of their coaching staff. It’s going to be a tough, uphill battle for the Sooners against the champs, but if you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best; I learned that from Bring It On. And you know Penn State wrestling will always bring it.
How To Watch
What: #1 Penn State vs #15 Oklahoma*
Where: Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, PA
When: Friday, November 14, 6 PM EST
Audio: Free (via GoPSUSports)
Video: Big Ten Network
Lineup
125 LBS
Lilledahl made it all the way to #1 near the end of last season after starting off unranked. This year, he starts off exactly where he finished last year – in third behind NC State’s Vince Robinson (the returning champ) and Oklahoma State’s Troy Spratley. But this year, he’s an U23 world gold medalist – and more focused than ever. I like his chances for the entire season, and expect him to start of the year with a big splash. He’ll be helped, too, by facing a freshman in his first outing, whichever Sooner is the one that takes the mat.
Prediction: Lilledahl by pin
Score: PSU 6, UO 0
133 LBS
I’m a big Masa Ono fan, so I am a bit disappointed that it looks like we won’t be seeing him compete in a PSU singlet for a bit. But that disappointment will likely be short-lived, as Ono’s roommate (and his successor at the U20 world championships this past year) Marcus Blaze will be coming in…well, guns a-blazing. Many expected Blaze to follow his brother, Joey (who shockingly beat Tyler Kasak in Philly last year), to Purdue this year, but Marcus elected to enroll with Penn State – and despite a potential logjam at these lower weights, we’re lucky to have him. He’s unranked for now, but will look to climb up the ranks significantly. I’m picking only a slight bonus here because there’s a chance it takes a bit for him to settle into the NCAA wrestling world – but big points from Blaze would be far from surprising.
Prediction: Blaze by major decision
Score: PSU 10, UO 0
141 LBS
Aaron Nagao was an all-American as a freshman at Minnesota, and had an underwhelming sophomore campaign as a Nittany Lion – before getting injured and redshirting all last year. He’s back and the iron-sharpening-iron aspect of the NLWC room can only make him even better. He’s starting out outside the top ten, but I’d be surprised if that’s where he stays as the season goes on. I expect this first bout back to lack bonus as he shakes off the rust – but as the season goes on, he’ll pick up the offensive pace.
Prediction: Nagao by decision
Score: PSU 13, UO 0
149 LBS
Shayne Van Ness faces one of Oklahoma’s top fifteen wrestlers in returning NCAA qualifier Gioffre, but it likely wouldn’t make a difference if the Sooner was in the top five – he’s on a mission, and there’s no funky Ridge Lovett to stand in his way this year. Nessie’ll come out looking to have fun and score, and will fight to be the guy with the shortest mat time this first week.
Prediction: Van Ness by pin
Score: PSU 19, UO 0
157 LBS
Tyler Kasak, like Lilledahl, made it all the way to number one last year before falling much earlier than expected, then storming back to finish third for the second year in a row. That performance may make it surprising that he’s likely going to redshirt this year – but that’s less surprising if you’ve watched or heard about PJ Duke. Duke, like now-teammate Marcus Blaze, won U20 gold earlier this year, and also won U23 bronze in October. He was the #1 pound-for-pound recruit in this year’s recruiting class, and pinned Yianni Diakomihalis earlier this year at Final X. Yes, that Yianni. He’ll be a joy to watch – though I do feel like I am going out on a limb a bit here in predicting bonus, since he’s up against Oklahoma’s highest ranked wrestlers in VT transfer Hipolito – but again, HE PINNED YIANNI.
Prediction: Duke by major decision
Score: PSU 23, UO 0
165 LBS
This was the easiest prediction to make in this preview. Oh, is Mitch Mesenbrink wrestling? Doesn’t matter who he lines up against, it’s going to be a tech fall. It’s just a question of, will it even get to the second period?
Prediction: Mesenbrink by tech fall
Score: PSU 28, UO 0
174 LBS
Levi was an undersized 174-er last season, in a weight class with a pair of elite seniors. This year, as the senior himself this title is his to lose – similar to two years ago, and the 157 weight class. According to Cael, he’s bulked into the 174 class and, according to me, won’t have to rely just on his intelligence and quickness – he’ll likely be able to brute strength even the other best guys at this weight. Looking at the weight class, there’s no one that scares me here, and the question in this first bout is what does Haines want to work on; if it’s mat wrestling, this may just be a major. But it could very quickly turn into something more (see what I did there?).
Prediction: Levi by major decision
Score: PSU 32, UO 0
184 LBS
Rocco Welsh was still at Ohio State last year when he redshirted; there are rumors questioning that decision, but ultimately it means that he has three more years to compete, now for a team title as well as an individual one. He burst on the scene late in the 2023-2024 season, beating Big Ten champ Edmond Ruth in the quarterfinals and eventually falling to Carter Starocci just 2-0 in the national championship bout. A Pennsylvania kid, Welsh by all accounts fits right in at PSU – and already represented the USA at the U23s a few weeks ago. How much he wins by this week will give us an early indicator of how much he’s bought in to his new weight room.
Prediction: Welsh by major decision
Score: PSU 34, UO 0
197 LBS – Match of the Meet
It might have surprised some that Josh Barr made it to the NCAA finals last year, despite starting off the season outside the top 20; not anyone who’d seen him wrestle, though. Unfortunately, it looks like Barr tweaked something at the U23s a few weeks ago, so I’m anticipating the lighter Mirasola brother, Connor, to make the start in his stead. He’ll be facing a very good wrestler in DJ Parker, an NCAA qualifier who pinned Iowa’s Gabe Arnold in the first period last March down at 184 pounds. This is Oklahoma’s best shot at not getting shut out, and Connor, who won an U20 bronze in the summer, will have his work cut out for him – but I can see him sealing the win late.
Prediction: Connor by decision
Score: PSU 37, UO 0
285 LBS
Cole Mirasola is the obvious pick to start here, but Big Lu has worked his butt off these last few years and has had some big moments in the BJC in the past. He’s bulked up significantly, and I’m manifesting him getting the nod over the ranked Cole, who, like his brother, won bronze at the U20 world tournament earlier this year. Whoever gets the nod, I think the result will be pretty much the same – a low-scoring affair, with something like a 3-0 or 4-1 win by the Nittany Lion.
Prediction: Cochran by decision
Score: PSU 40, UO 0
Overall score prediction: Penn State 40, UO 0
*The Penn State athletic department, in its official capacity, uses Intermat’s Tournament Power Index in all its match literature; I’m using Intermat’s Dual Meet Rankings because this happens to be a dual. Penn State is #1 in both rankings; Oklahoma is #22 in the tournament rankings, and #15 in the dual meet rankings.
