The top-ranked Penn State wrestling team (15-0, 8-0 Big Ten) defeated the Princeton Tigers (4-11, 2-3 Ivy) 50-0 on Friday night to finish the 2025-26 regular season undefeated for the sixth season in a row.

The match marked the team’s eighth shutout of the season as the Nittany Lions tallied 39 takedowns and nine bonus-point victories, including three pins, three technical falls, two major decisions, and a disqualification.

Top-20 wins from Luke Lilledahl, Shayne Van Ness, and Mitchell Mesenbrink highlighted the Penn State victory in the final dual of the season.

What Happened?

125 Pounds

Up first, No. 1 Luke Lilledahl faced off against No. 12 Marc-Anthony McGowan at 125 pounds. The Nittany Lion pushed the pace early, firing off multiple shots and earning a stall warning out of the Tiger. Moments before the end of the first period, McGowan was docked a point for stalling, giving Lilledahl the lead.

McGowan escaped to start the second period, tying the matchup. Another stall point was given to the Nittany Lion to claim the 2-1 lead. The Nittany Lion claimed a fourth stalling point with under 30 seconds remaining to put a three-point lead on the board before the final period.

Lilledahl elected to start in neutral position at the top of the third. Lilledahl received three more stall points, disqualifying his opponent from the matchup and earning the Nittany Lions six team points.

133 Pounds

Up next, No. 2 Marcus Blaze faced off against No. 32 Ethan Rivera at 133 pounds. Blaze finished off a shot at the 1:30 mark in the first period.

Rivera was able to escape to start the second period to cut the deficit down to two. The Nittany Lion was given a penalty point before securing his second takedown to cap off the period.

In the third, Blaze secured his third takedown and secured riding time to win in an 11-3 major decision.

141 Pounds

At 141 pounds, No. 12 Braeden Davis faced off against Matthew Martino. The Nittany Lion scored his first takedown before the midway point of the period. Martino escaped to get on the board after just 18 seconds of riding time. The Nittany Lion got his second takedown of the period just before the buzzer sounded.

Davis escaped after 40 seconds to add to his lead. Martino secured a takedown of his own, but Davis escaped to make the deficit four before the third period.

Martino escaped to bring the match within three with well over a minute remaining. Martino was given a penalty point for Davis’ stalling, but the Nittany Lion responded with his third takedown to put the match out of reach, 11-8.

149 Pounds

At 149 pounds, No. 1 Shayne Van Ness wrestled No. 14 Eligh Rivera. Van Ness was quick to get to his offense as the Nittany Lion secured his first takedown within the first minute of the matchup. Rivera escaped and was eventually able to get a takedown of his own to take a 4-3 lead. Van Ness was able to escape and get his second takedown, including over a minute of riding time.

Rivera escaped to cut the deficit to two at the start of the second. The Nittany Lion tallied his third takedown to push the lead to 10-5 as the two went into the third period.

Van Ness scored his fourth takedown to start the third; however, Rivera escaped to make it 13-6. The Nittany Lion was able to get a stall point to make it a 15-6 major decision victory.

157 Pounds

Next, No. 4 PJ Duke faced off against Gavin Hawk at 157 pounds. Duke was quick to score with four takedowns in the first period to take a 12-4 lead after the first.

The Nittany Lion secured his fifth and sixth takedowns to make it 18-6 after the second period.

Hawk escaped but was taken down two more times to forfeit the 24-8 technical fall.

165 Pounds

In the first matchup after the break, No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink took on No. 19 Ty Whalen. The Nittany Lion was in attack mode early on, trying multiple shot attempts before landing his first with over two minutes remaining. Whalen escaped after a minute of riding time from Mesenbrink. The Nittany Lion racked up another takedown before spinning the Tiger to his back for the first-period pin.

174 Pounds

At 174 pounds, No. 1 Levi Haines faced off against Cody Tavoso. Haines defended a deep shot from his opponent before gaining a takedown of his own to take the 3-0 lead. Tavoso escaped but was sat down for a second time by the Nittany Lion.

In the second, Haines reversed Tavoso before getting a takedown and the eventual pin to cap off an incredible career at Rec Hall.

184 Pounds

Next, No. 1 Rocco Welsh wrestled Xavier Giles at 184 pounds. The Nittany Lion dragged in his opponent’s second ankle to get the scoring going in the first period. Welsh scored three more takedowns before the end of the period to head into the second up 12-4.

In the second, Welsh secured three more takedowns to get the 21-6 technical fall.

197 Pounds

At 197 pounds, No. 1 Josh Barr faced off against Conor McCloskey. The Nittany Lion tallied two first-period takedowns before flipping the Tiger on his back and getting the dual’s third pinfall victory.

Heavyweight

In the final match of the regular season, No. 6 Cole Mirasola wrestled Sebastian Garibaldi. Mirasola scored five consecutive takedowns in the first period to head into the second period up 15-4 with over a minute of riding time.

The Nittany Lion tallied two more takedowns to take the match in a 21-6 technical fall demolition.

What’s Next?

Penn State will be back in action on March 7-8 when the Nittany Lions host the Big Ten Wrestling Championships in the Bryce Jordan Center.