The Penn State wrestling program won its fifth consecutive national championship Saturday at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Cleveland.
Four Nittany Lions wrestlers won national championships, setting an NCAA record 181.5 points and winning the national team championship. The score surpassed Penn State’s previous high of 177 points set last year.
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Luke Lilledahl defeated Princeton’s Marc-Anthony McGowan in the 125-pound class. Mitchell Mesenbrink edged Iowa’s Michael Caliendo for the title in the 165 class. Levi Haines defeated Nebraska’s Christopher Minto in 174. Josh Barr defeated Oklahoma State’s Cody Merrill for the title in 197.
All four wrestlers finished their seasons undefeated. Mason Brink and Haynes won for the second year in a row.
Additionally, Penn State had two other wrestlers place second, with Shayne Van Ness (149) losing to Stanford’s Aden Valencia and Rocco Walsh (184) finishing second to Minnesota’s Max McEnelly.
For Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson, the national championship is the 13th in his acclaimed career. In his 17 years in Happy Valley, the Nittany Lions failed to win a team championship just three times. Sanderson is now two championships away from tying legendary Iowa State coach Dan Gable’s record for most national championships in history.
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With most of the team returning next season, the Nittany Lions and Sanderson have a good chance of repeating themselves as national champions. Only Haynes is moving on to become a senior.
Penn State’s streak of five consecutive wrestling championships now stands as the longest in program history, surpassing four-year streaks from 2011-14 and 2016-19.
Oklahoma State ranks second in the NCAA tournament with 131 points, followed by Nebraska (100.5 points), Iowa (92.5 points) and Ohio State (84.5 points) to round out the top five.
