Four Penn State wrestlers won individual national titles and the Nittany Lions eclipsed 180 team points to set the record for a third consecutive year on the final night of the NCAA Championships on Saturday in Cleveland.
Redshirt junior Mitchell Mesenbrink and senior Levi Haines won their second national titles, while redshirt sophomore Josh Barr and sophomore Luke Lilledahl won their first.
Mesenbrink won the 165 pound title with a tech fall against Iowa’s Mikey Caliendo and Haines earned a decision over Nebraska’s Christopher Minto for the 197 pound championship in his final collegiate bout. Barr took the 197 pound crown with a decision against Oklahoma State’s Cody Merrill and Lilledahl claimed the 125 pound title with a decision over Princeton’s Marc Anthony-McGowan. All four finished the season undefeated.
Redshirt junior Shayne Van Ness and redshirt sophomore Rocco Welsh finished as silver medalists, with Van Ness dropping a sudden victory decision to Stanford’s Aden Valencia and Welsh on the short end of 4-2 decision against Minnesota’s Max McEnelly.
True freshmen PJ Duke, the No. 1 seed at 157 pounds, won third place and Marcus Blaze, the No. 3 seed at 133, took fourth during the medal round earlier in the day.
Penn State already had the team title wrapped up on Saturday morning and finished the tournament with 181.5 points, breaking the record of 177 also set by the Nittany Lions in 2025. It’s Penn State’s fifth consecutive national team title and 13th in the last 15 tournaments.
Oklahoma State finished second with 131 points, followed by Nebraska with 100.5, Iowa with 92.5 and Ohio State with 84.5 to round out the top five.
Penn State now has 44 individual national champions in 17 seasons under Cael Sanderson and 65 all time. With eight this year, the Nittany Lions have 109 All-Americans under Sanderson
149 Pounds
With the championship round starting at 141 pounds, Penn State’s first bout of the night was at 149.
No. 10 seed Aden Valencia of Stanford struck first against No. 1 seed Shayne Van Ness, getting a first-period takedown out of a scramble at the edge of the mat. Van Ness escaped, and Valencia took a 3-1 lead into the second. The Cardinal redshirt freshman escaped to start the middle period, but Van Ness tied it up with a counter shot for a double leg takedown at the edge. Valencia escaped and, after Van Ness failed to finish off a takedown late, led 5-4 at the end of two. Van Ness escaped to tie it 5-5, and that’s where the score remained at the end of seven minutes
Early in sudden victory, Valencia worked his way to a decisive takedown. Penn State challenged, but the call was upheld and Valencia won an 8-5 decision for the title.
Van Ness finishes his redshirt junior season as national runner-up with a 25-1 record, Big Ten title and his third All-America honor.
165 Pounds
No. 1 seed Mitchell Mesenbrink took control from the start against No. 3 seed Mikey Caliendo of Iowa in a rematch of the Big Ten title bout won by the Nittany Lion. Mesenbrink drove through on a double for a takedown to takedown 13 seconds in and added three more before the period was out for a 12-4 lead. After escaping to start the second, Mesenbrink scored a fifth takedown and picked up two stall points to move ahead 18-4. Caliendo chose the top position to start the third, and Mesenbrink didn’t take long to reverse him and secure a 20-4 tech fall at 5:12 to win his the title. Mesenbrink improved to 9-0 all-time against the Hawkeye senior.
Mesenbrink finishes an outstanding redshirt junior campaign with his second national title, third All-America honors and a 27-0 record, with all but one win a bonus point victory. With Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez losing in the 141-pound title bout, Mesenbrink should be the odds-on favorite to win the Hodge Trophy.
174 Pounds
No. 1 seed Levi Haines and No. 3 seed Christopher Minto of Nebraska wrestled a scoreless first period before Haines escaped for a 1-0 lead early in the second. Haines added a critical point on a second stall call against Minto and took a 2-0 lead into the final period. Minto escaped to start the third, but couldn’t find an opening the rest of the way. Haines fended off a series of late shots to claim the 2-1 decision for his second national title in his final collegiate bout.
The only senior in the Nittany Lions’ starting lineup, Haines finishes the season 26-0. He closes out his time at Penn State as a two-time national champion, four time All-American and four-time Big Ten champ with a 99-4 career record,
184 Pounds
No. 3 seed Max McEnelly of Minnesota got on the board first against No. 1 seed Rocco Welsh with a single leg takedown a minute into the bout. Welsh escaped to narrow the deficit to 3-1 before the period ended. McEnelly escaped for a 4-1 lead and the only point of the second. Welsh escaped at the start of the third to narrow the Gopher’s lead to 4-2 but couldn’t find a good shot the rest of the way and McEnelly claimed the decision for a title.
Welsh ends the season with a 24-1 record and finishes as two-time All-American and national runner-up for the second-time.
197 Pounds
No. 1 seed Josh Barr used a strong double leg for a takedown against No. 7 seed Cody Merrill of Oklahoma State with 30 seconds remaining in the first period for a 3-0 lead. Merrill escaped before the first ended and again at the start of the second to cut the lead to 3-2. Barr sat in and quickly got the reversal to open the third, then added a point on a locked hands call against Merrill. Following a Merrill escape, Barr led 6-3, but that was it for the scoring, despite some shots by both wrestlers. The decision victory — Barr’s first win without bonus points — gave the Nittany Lion redshirt sophomore the title.
Winning his first national title in his second consecutive finals appearance, Barr finished the season with a 25-0 record, his first Big Ten title and his second All-America honors. He’ll likely be a contender for the Hodge Trophy.
125 Pounds
After a scoreless first period, No. 10 seed Marc-Anthony McGowan of Princeton escaped to start the second for a 1-0 lead against No. 1 seed Luke Lilledahl. The Nittany Lion sophomore escaped quickly to start the third and tie the bout 1-1, and with 1:10 remaining McGowan gt hit with a second stall call to give Lilledahl a point for a 2-1 lead. McGowan couldn’t get anything more, and Lilledahl won a 2-1 decision for the title.
Lilledahl, now a two-time All-American after taking third last year, finishes his true sophomore season with his first national championship and a 25-0 record.
2026 NCAA CHAMPIONS
- 125 – Luke Lilledahl (Penn State)
- 133 – Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State)
- 141 – Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State)
- 149 – Aden Valencia (Stanford)
- 157 – Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State)
- 165 – Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State)
- 174 – Levi Haines (Penn State)
- 184 – Max McEnelly (Minnesota)
- 197 – Josh Barr (Penn State)
- 285 – Isaac Trumble (North Carolina State)
