Japanese freestyle wrestler Masanosuke Ono has committed to Penn State wrestling, he announced Monday on FloWrestling Radio Live.

Ono previously trained with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club (NLWC) ahead of his match with former Iowa national champion Spencer Lee.

Ono took the wrestling world by storm in 2024. After placing second at the Japanese National Championships in 2023 at 65kg, Ono dropped down to 61kg and won the event in 2024 to earn a spot in the freestyle World Championships.

In September, he ran the table at the U20 World Championships, defeating Penn State commit Marcus Blaze along the way to claim the junior world title. Just one month later, Ono dominated the field of much older wrestlers en route to a 2024 World Championship at 61kg, defeating a former Olympic gold medalist and the reigning world champion on his way.

After training for a few months in State College with the NLWC, Ono defeated Lee in FloWrestling: Night in America in freestyle competition, improving his record to 20-3. Earlier this week, he was spotted in the Penn State student directory as a student, instead of a “member” as he previously was.

Ono has competed at 59.5 and 61 kilograms in recent months, which puts him at around the 133lb weight class. He may begin competing right away at 133 or 141, with 141 notably being vacated by All-American Beau Bartlett’s graduation.