Do we hear a three-peat?

Penn State wrestling was as dominant as ever in the fourth and final session of the 2025 Big Ten wrestling championships, taking home its third Big Ten championship in a row with 181.5 points.

The final session of matches saw Greg Kervliet honored as runner-up, Beau Bartlett and Shayne Van Ness secure third-place finishes by way of the consolation bracket, Braeden Davis take fourth place after a session IV loss, Josh Barr take sixth after another medical forfeit, and Luke Lilledahl, Tyler Kasak, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Levi Haines and Carter Starocci take home individual Big Ten titles.

The performance will go down as the fourth-best all-time at the Big Ten Championships as the Nittany Lions collected 181.5 team points, while the 1983, 1985, and the 1992 and 1995 (tie) Iowa Hawkeyes make up the top three. Head coach Cael Sanderson now has nine Big Ten team titles, placing him in a tie for second all-time.

Highlighting the session was Lilledahl and Kasak winning their first individual Big Ten titles, plus Starocci taking home his third career title in his last time at the conference tournament.

How It Happened

Finals

125 Pounds

In the first final of the night, No. 4 Lilledahl took on No. 2 Caleb Smith of Nebraska. Lilledahl grabbed the bout’s first takedown with a low ankle pick on Smith’s left leg with less than 60 seconds left in the first, taking a 3-0 lead with 40 seconds of riding time into the middle period. Smith escaped to start the second period in just 11 seconds, taking the only point of the period and closing in on Lilledahls lead that now read 3-1.

Lilledahl then escaped himself to start the third to go back in front by three points with 34 seconds of riding time. Despite two stalling calls against Lilledahl in the remainder of the third, the true freshman hung on for the 4-3 decision victory to win his first Big Ten title at 125 pounds.

157 Pounds

After the Nittany Lions’ third-place bouts, No. 2 Kasak took to the mat to battle against No. 8 Brandon Cannon of Ohio State. Kasak turned Cannon’s offensive pressure against him as the Nittany Lion came out on top of a short scramble to notch the bout’s first takedown and head into the second period leading 3-0. Cannon quickly escaped to start the period, tallying the only point scored in the middle two minutes as Kasak still stood in front 3-1 after two. Kasak matched Cannon’s effort with a quick escape of his own to start the third, countering another aggressive shot from Cannon with a strong takedown and a four-second near-fall to take the 12-2 major decision victory and secure his first Big Ten title.

165 Pounds

After the break, we saw No. 1 Mesenbrink take on No. 2 Michael Caliendo of Iowa. A flurry of offensive shots from Mesenbrink were all defended nicely by Caliendo until the Hawkeye eventually fell to the onslaught when Mesenbrink stepped over for the bout’s first takedown to take a 3-0 lead into the second. An escape from Caliendo to start the second was the only point scored in the period as the Nittany Lion’s lead now read 3-1.

Mesenbrink escaped from bottom position to start the third to increase his lead back to three points, holding on for the remainder of the period to win 4-1 and secure his second straight Big Ten title.

174 Pounds

Up next in the finals, we saw No. 1 Haines stare down No. 3 Lenny Pinto of Nebraska. Pinto got in deep on a single-leg attempt midway through the first, although the flexibility of Haines aided the blue and white wrestle in a successful defense. On the other hand, Haines shot for a single leg of his own, which he finished off for a takedown in the waning seconds of the period to take a 3-0 lead into the second. Haines escaped from bottom position to start the second where he quickly wrapped up his second takedown of the bout and followed it up with a four-second near-fall to extend his lead to 11-1 after two.

Haines rode out Pinto for the whole third period to take the 12-1 major decision, becoming a 3-time Big Ten champion.

184 Pounds

In the penultimate title match for the Nittany Lions in the tournament, No. 1 Carter Starocci took on Max McEnelly of Minnesota. McEnelly surprised all and struck first with the bout-opening takedown, leading Starocci 3-1 heading into the middle period. Starocci began clawing his way back with an escape from bottom position to start the second, following it up with his first takedown with under a minute left in the period to jump in front 5-4 heading into the final two minutes. The Golden Gopher escaped from bottom position to start the third, locking up the score at 5-5 as the bout entered sudden victory.

Both wrestlers kept their distance in the sudden victory period until McEnelly took a late shot only for Starocci to execute the go-behind for his second takedown of the bout, defeating McEnelly 8-5 in sudden victory for his third Big Ten title.

285 Pounds

Wrapping up the final match of the Big Ten Championships, we saw No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet take on No. 1 Gable Steveson of Minnesota. Kerkvliet fell victim to a late takedown from Stevenson as the Golden Gopher led 3-0 after the first. Kerkvleit escaped from bottom position to start the second, only to give up yet another takedown as Steveson increased his lead to 6-2 entering the third period. A third takedown from Steveson in the final period gave him the 10-3 decision.

Third Place Matches

133 Pounds

In the first third-place bout of the night for the blue and white, No. 4 Davis faced off against No. 9 Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State. Davis opened the match with a takedown, only to give up two back points stemming from a reversal from the Buckeye, then finding himself back on top with a reversal of his own to lead 5-4. After a restart in top position, Davis was turned to his back and fell to Bouzakis via pin at 2:22. Davis will finish fourth in the weight class.

141 Pounds

Next up out of the consolation bracket was No. 1 Bartlett taking on No. 2 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State. Despite some decent shots from Mendez, Bartlett defended well and no points were scored in the first period as Bartlett started on bottom to begin the second. Bartlett escaped in 51 seconds to open up the scoring for the bout as he led 1-0 heading into the final two minutes.

Mendez escaped to begin the third, locking up the score at 1-1 with over 60 seconds left in the period. Bartlett then capitalized off a poorly finished shot from Mendez to earn the first takedown of the bout and put himself in front 4-1 with less than 30 seconds remaining. Despite an escape from Mendez with 10 seconds left on the clock, no other points were scored as Bartlett hung on for the 4-2 decision to finish in third place.

149 Pounds

In the final third-place bout of the night for the Nittany Lions, No. 1 Van Ness shared the mat with No. 2 Kyle Parco of Iowa. Van Ness fought hard through a scramble to earn the bout’s first takedown and quickly paired it with a four-point near fall to jump out to a 7-0 lead after the first period. After escaping to start the second period, Van Ness hauled in the second takedown of the bout to extend his lead to 11-0 heading into the final two minutes. Van Ness rode out Parco for the entirety of the third to take the 13-0 major decision victory after riding time to finish in third place.

Fifth Place Matches

197 Pounds

Barr did not compete in his fifth-place bout, choosing to medically forfeit and take sixth place in his weight class with a 1-2 record.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will be in action again beginning on Thursday, March 20 through Saturday, March 22 in Philadelphia for the NCAA Championships.