It’s match day, folks.

Penn State wrestling returns from a long, eventful offseason Thursday at 7 p.m. to take on Bloomsburg at Rec Hall and celebrate the program’s 15th national championship.

On Wednesday, fellow Onward State staffer Brian Kriley broke down the lighter weights on the newly unveiled 2026-27 roster, so as we await Thursday’s match, it’s time to break down the depth chart at the heavier weights.

165 Pounds: PJ Duke

After a tremendous freshman season at 157 pounds, PJ Duke is set to move up to a new weight class to pick up where his teammate, Mitchell Mesenbrink, left off after consecutive national championships.

Duke went 25-2 as a freshman with 11 falls, five technical falls, and three major decisions for a 76% bonus rate. He avenged a loss to Antrell Taylor in dominant fashion to win a Big Ten title, but fell short at the NCAA Wrestling Championships via a controversial overtime call against Oklahoma State’s Landon Robideau in the semifinals, eventually finishing third.

Backing up Duke as the only other wrestler listed at 165 pounds is Joe Sealey, a former top recruit out of Wyoming Seminary. Sealey is 12-3 so far in his Nittany Lion career with wins over multiple NCAA qualifiers and a Southern Scuffle title.

174 Pounds: Mitchell Mesenbrink

Mesenbrink aims to follow up his Hodge Trophy campaign in 2025-26 by conquering a new weight class after Levi Haines graduated.

Entering his final year of eligibility, the two-time national champion and three-time Big Ten champion holds a 51-match winning streak and a 78-1 career record.

With Will Henckel off on a religious mission this season, the competition to back up Mesenbrink at 174 will be between three men.

Senior Sam Beckett is entering his third season at Penn State after starting his collegiate career at Stanford. As a Nittany Lion, he holds a 25-9 record with a 48% bonus rate while competing at open tournaments.

Junior Ty Watson has also frequented open tournaments in his first two seasons at Penn State, holding an 11-10 career record with four falls, three tech falls, and two major decisions.

Sophomore Sean Degl went 3-5 in the Southern Scuffle and Bloomsburg Open in 2025-26.

184 Pounds: Rocco Welsh

After winning a Big Ten title and finishing as the runner-up at the NCAA Wrestling Championships, Rocco Welsh returns for his second season at Penn State as a stalwart at 184 pounds.

The senior from Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, will chase that elusive national championship after two unsuccessful trips to the final, holding a 60-6 career record dating back to his two years at Ohio State. He was undefeated in 2025-26 until falling to Max McEnelly of Minnesota in the final.

Backing him up will be Asher Cunningham, the son of longtime associate head coach Casey Cunningham. The sophomore impressed with a 7-0 record in 2025-26, defeating a pair of NCAA qualifiers and winning a Southern Scuffle title in early January.

197 Pounds: Josh Barr

Reigning national champion Josh Barr will begin his quest for a repeat at 197 pounds after a dominant 2025-26 season, going 24-0 with a 96% bonus rate.

Barr has already established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in the country, entering the season with a 58-4 career record, but now has his eyes set on improving upon his third-place finish in Hodge Trophy voting from last season.

Also listed at 197 is sophomore Mason Ellis. The Alabama native went 10-3 with six bonus victories as a freshman at various open tournaments. His most impressive accomplishment from that season might have been holding eventual ACC champion Sonny Sasso to a 4-2 decision at the Southern Scuffle.

285 Pounds: Connor Mirasola

With last year’s starter Cole Mirasola away on a religious mission with Henckel, his twin brother is set to take over at heavyweight after a strong first impression in 2025-26.

Entering his third year on campus, Mirasola can draw on his experience filling in for Barr at the start of last season, when he impressively took down multiple NCAA qualifiers before spending the rest of the season bulking up for heavyweight freestyle. He holds a 14-1 career record with four falls, four tech falls, and three major decisions.

Junior Dawson Bundy will likely back him up after spending 2025-26 competing in open tournaments, where he went 4-4 with a tech fall and two major decisions.

True freshman Elijah Brown, the No. 66 pound-for-pound recruit in the Class of 2026, according to FloWrestling, will spend the year acclimating to college wrestling.

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