The real final four are here, folks.

As Penn State wrestling heads into session IV of the 2025 NCAA Championships, seven Nittany Lions will see action in the semifinal round of the championship bracket in their respective weight classes. With all seven semifinal participants already locking up All-American honors, an additional win Friday would mean a shot at a national title Saturday evening.

Here is a bout by bout breakdown of every Nittany Lion wrestling in the semifinals, and their respective opponents.

141 Pounds – No. 2 Beau Bartlett vs. No. 3 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State)

In a tale as old as time, Beau Bartlett and Jesse Mendez will class in a highly anticipated bout under extremely high stakes.

Last season, the Buckeye had Bartlett all figured out. The pair faced off three times with Mendez taking the series 2-1 by the end of the season. Mendez dropped their first bout of the 2023-24 season against Bartlett during their respective team’s dual, however, in both post-season tournaments, Mendez brought home the win.

At last year’s Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships, the pair faced off in the finals as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. Both times, Mendez defeated Bartlett via a 4-1 decision, awarding the Nittany Lion the runner-up trophy at both events.

However, this season, the momentum has seemed to turn in Bartlett’s favor. Once again in their regular season dual, Bartlett defeated the Buckeye via a 4-2 decision. When the pair met up again at the Big Ten Championships, this time in the third-place bout, Bartlett won again by the same 4-2 decision. The win put Bartlett ahead in the series over the last two seasons 3-2.

As the pair matches up again tonight in the semifinals, it is still anyone’s guess on who will win. While Bartlett has beaten Mendez twice in a row, all five of their last bouts have been decided by one takedown or less, hinting at another close battle.

149 Pounds – No. 3 Shayne Van Ness vs. No. 2 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska)

After seeing only three matches last year due to injury, Ridge Lovett and Shayne Van Ness have only battled against each other one time, resulting in a 10-2 major decision victory from the Cornhusker. While the two don’t have a lost history comparable to that of Bartlett and Mendez, similar opponents on the season can also help tell the story.

Against currently seeded top-10 wrestlers, Lovett sits at 5-2 while Van Ness is one win behind at 4-2. Their shared opponents on the season include No. 5 Kyle Parco of Iowa and No. 7 Kannon Webster of Illinois.

One of Van Ness’ lone two losses comes against Webster, however, the Nittany Lion got his revenge at Big Tens and beat the wrestler from Illinois 15-4. In Lovett’s sole match against Webster, he won by a much narrower margin of victory at 1-0. Furthermore, one of Lovett’s two losses comes against Parco via a 3-2 decision, while on the other hand, Van Ness has defeated Parco twice this season, winning 13-0 and 17-6.

While the single head-to-head matchup may be more telling, looking back at shared opponents on the season presents the semi-final bout as a close one.

165 Pounds – No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink vs. No. 12 Christopher Minto (Nebraska)

As one of the frontrunners for this year’s Hodge Trophy, awarded to the most dominant pound-for-pound wrestler in college wrestling, Mitchell Mesenbrink will be a favorite no matter who is matched up against. While you may or may not believe the same thing, here is some background on the bout.

Before the national tournament, Mesenbrink was 3-0 this season against top ten opponents, winning the three bouts by a scoring margin of 33-6. On the other hand, Minto was 1-1 against top ten opponents and 4-5 against all ranked opponents before nationals.

It is worth noting that Christopher Minto has been running hot so far at the NCAAs, defeating No. 3 Julian Ramirez of Cornell and No. 5 Terrel Barraclough of Utah Valley in his route to the semifinals. However, while Minto may be competing at a high level this weekend, Mesenbrink has been doing it all season, making for an interesting combination for their bout.

174 Pounds – No. 2 Levi Haines vs. No. 3 Dean Hamiti (Oklahoma State)

Both of these one-loss wrestlers have yet to face each other so far this season, in fact, they’ve only shared one common top-ten opponent all year, No. 1 Keegan O’Toole of Missouri.

Levi Haines and Dean Hamiti’s lone losses on the season both came at the hands of O’Toole, acting as our best way to possibly compare the two wrestlers. While both wrestlers lost in sudden victory, Haines lost 4-1 while Hamiti lost 7-4. The scores show that Hamiti, unlike Haines, was able to takedown O’Tool in their bout, a feat only a select few wrestlers have been able to achieve.

Beyond this, the two don’t share many similarities on their path to the semifinals, alluding to what will most likely shake out to be a closely contested bout.

184 Pounds – No. 1 Carter Starocci vs. No. 4 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State)

Similarly to others in this post, the pair of Carter Starocci and Dustin Plott has yet to face off against each other this season, the two also share only one similar opponent, No. 2 Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa.

Keep in mind, Starocci defeated Keckeisen at the NWCA All-Star Classic via a 4-1 sudden victory decision, however as the event was marked as an exhibition, the bout did not go on either wrestler’s records. On the other side of the coin, Plott wrestled Keckeisen three times this season, all counting for his record, and all resulting in losses. The Cowboy was defeated 8-1, 15-4, and 8-3.

The disparity between bouts against Keckeisen can shed some light on how you may expect this bout to go.

197 Pounds – No. 4 Josh Barr vs. No. 1 Jacob Cardenas (Michigan)

This bout will be close, very close.

Josh Barr and Jacob Cardenas have split this year’s series 1-1, with both bouts requiring overtime. In Penn State’s regular season dual against Michigan, Barr defeated Cardenas in their first matchup of the year 3-2 in the first tiebreaker with a thunderous reversal. However, in their second bout at Big Tens, Cardenas got one back against Barr, winning 4-1 in sudden victory.

Besides the reversal, Cardenas is the only wrestler to score a takedown in the pair’s two bouts, showing how similarly matched the two wrestlers are. While the winner-take-all grudge match can go either way, don’t be surprised if we see some free wrestling in this bout.

285 Pounds – No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet vs. No. 2 Wyatt Hendrickson (Oklahoma State)

For almost the entire year, Greg Kerkvliet was regarded as the No. 2, and Wyatt Hendrickson the No. 3, until Kerkvliet’s defeat to No. 1 Gable Steveson in the Big Ten titles.

The pair have yet to meet on the mat this season, however back in 2023, the two wrestlers met for the first and only time at the national tournament, with Kerkvliet winning 4-2.

The only common opponent the two share on the season is No. 5 Ben Kueter of Iowa. Both wrestlers are undefeated against the Hawkeye, with Kerkvliet winning both of their matchups, one by fall and one by a score of 12-2, while Hendrickson won their lone bout by a score of 18-3.

Once again, this bout could truly go either way, no matter, what awaits the winner in the finals may be a different story.

Session IV of the NCAA Championships will begin at 8 p.m. on Friday. All bouts will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN+.