Penn State is out to claim an elusive fifth straight NCAA Division I men’s wrestling title this weekend.
The Nittany Lions have won four straight championships three times under coach Cael Sanderson, including the current run. He said the pressure to win a 13th title overall and make this the longest streak isn’t an issue, and believes past success should help his wrestlers trust that they have been prepared for the moment.
“There hasn’t been a year that these guys, our teams haven’t wrestled great at the national tournament,” Sanderson said. “Should give them a lot of confidence. And they can just be confident and and comfortable and just go do what they do.”
The latest attempt to win five in a row starts Thursday in Cleveland. The three-day tournament concludes on Saturday.
The Nittany Lions have seven of the 10 No. 1 seeds heading into the weekend, including defending national champion Mitchell Mesenbrink (22-0) at 165 pounds. Penn State’s other top seeds are Luke Lilledahl (20-0) at 125 pounds, Shayne Van Ness (21-0) at 149, PJ Duke (19-1) at 157, Levi Haines (21-0) at 174, Rocco Welsh (20-0) at 184 and Josh Barr (19-0) at 197.
With all that firepower, the Nittany Lions could top the tournament record score of 177 points it set last year. Sanderson said that isn’t the goal.
“I mean, that’s just the furthest thing from our mind, really,” he said. “I mean, it’s — those are the things you look back later at, maybe. But when you’re looking ahead, you’re keeping things really simple. You’re focusing on exactly what you can control and the way you’re thinking and what you can do with your hands and your feet.”
Chasing greatness
A win would give Sanderson his 13th national title, two short of Iowa’s Dan Gable for the all-time lead.
Gable guided the Hawkeyes to 15 titles in a 20-year span, including nine straight from 1978 to 1986. He won his last one in 1997.
The 46-year-old Sanderson already is in second place after just 16 years of coaching. Last season, he passed Oklahoma State’s Ed Gallagher, who won 11 titles from 1928 to 1940.
Freshman talent
The top five seeds at 133 pounds are freshmen, knocking last year’s finalists to the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds.
Oklahoma State’s Jax Forrest (13-0) is the No. 1 seed at 133 after graduating from high school at the end of the first semester and joining the Cowboys at the start of 2026 for the stretch run.
Ohio State’s Ben Davino (27-1) is seeded No. 2 and Penn State’s Marcus Blaze (21-1) is seeded third. Davino defeated Blaze in a tiebreaker for the Big Ten championship. Virginia Tech’s Aaron Seidel (18-1) is seeded fourth. Arizona State’s Kyler Larkin (18-2), son of former Hodge Trophy winner Eric Larkin, is seeded fifth.
Their paths won’t be easy. Illinois’ Lucas Byrd (20-2), the defending champion, is seeded seventh. Iowa’s Drake Ayala (13-8), last year’s runner-up, is seeded sixth.
Stacked class
The 125-pound class is another one to watch.
Lilledahl (20-0) is the top seed after finishing third last year. Last year’s champion, N.C. State’s Vincent Robinson (15-4), is seeded 12th. Oklahoma State’s Troy Spratley (16-3), the runner-up last season, is seeded fifth this year. The No. 2 seed, Virginia Tech’s Eddie Ventresca (19-2), finished fifth in the class last season.
Returning champs
Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez (22-0), the top seed at 141 pounds, is a two-time defending champion in the class. Oklahoma State’s Sergio Vega (19-0), a freshman, is seeded second. Nebraska’s Brock Hardy (20-5), last year’s runner-up in the class, is seeded third.
Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor (22-3), the defending champ at 157, is seeded second. He lost to Duke 12-4 in the Big Ten championship match.
Robinson at 125 and Byrd at 133 are the other returning champions.
Heavyweight challenger
Nebraska’s AJ Ferrari has taken a long and winding road to the No. 4 seed at 285 pounds.
He started his career at Oklahoma State and won a national title at 197 in 2021. The next season, he was 10-0 and ranked No. 1 at 197 before a season-ending injury sustained in an automobile accident. He then had legal troubles in 2022 and left the Oklahoma State program.
He transferred to Cal State Bakersfield and finished third at 197 last year. Now 24, he has one more chance to add to his medal collection.
Iowa State’s Yonger Bastida (25-0) is the top seed in the class.
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Cliff Brunt, The Associated Press
