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Penn State wins the 2026 NCAA DI men’s wrestling championships

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4 months ago

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Penn State wins the 2026 NCAA DI men’s wrestling championships


285 pounds: No. 1 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) and No. 2 Isaac Trumble (NC State) advance

No. 1 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) over No. 4 AJ Ferrari (Nebraska), 15-7: Yonger Bastida takes an early shot against AJ Ferrari and converts for a takedown, but his coaches want near fall. Another shot from Bastida that nearly puts Ferrari on his back. This time he gets nearfall points and takes a 10-1 lead. Ferrari is helped on the mat by his trainers. Bastida chooses down to start the second period with a 10-2 lead. Ferrari is in on a shot, but he runs out of time in the period. Bastida will carry his 11-2 lead into the third. Ferrari chooses down to start the third period. The Cornhusker escapes. He trails 11-3. Takedown Ferrari. He still trails 11-6. Fourteen seconds. Bastida escapes. Takedown Bastida for good measure. The Cyclone is a national finalist with a 15-7 semifinal win. 

No. 2 Isaac Trumble (NC State) over No. 3 Taye Ghadiali (Michigan), 4-1: Ghadiali  is in on the first shot against NC State’s Trumble who finished fourth last year. No points. Scoreless first period. Ghadiali is on the board first with an escape to start the second period. Ghadiali’s point is the only point of the period. Trumble chooses down to start the third and final period. Ghadiali is warned for stalling. Ghadiali rides Trumble hard, but the Wolfpack veteran is out. Shot from Trumble. Ghadiali sprawls. Scrambling! Takedown Trumble. Both coaches threw bricks during that exchange. The call stands. Isaac Trumble is into the national finals! 

197 pounds: No. 1 Josh Barr (Penn State) and No. 7 Cody Merrill (Oklahoma State) advance

No. 1 Josh Barr (Penn State) over No. 5 Joey Novak (Wyoming), 14-3: Josh Barr is in a takedown right off the whistle, and he picks up a quick 3-0 lead. Reversal for Novak. The Cowboy has no quit in him. Escape Barr. The Nittany Lion leads 4-2. Takedown Barr. He leads 7-2 at the end of the first period. Novak chooses down to start the second period. He escapes, and Barr takes him down again. The Nittany Lion leads 10-3.  Barr does neutral in the third period and takes down Novak. He leads 13-3 with 2:30 of riding time. Barr is warned for stalling. Barr rides out Novak for the remainder of the third period, and he’s back in the national finals with a 14-3 win. 

No. 7 Cody Merrill (Oklahoma State) over No. 3 Stephen Little (Little Rock), 2-1: Scoreless first period. Merrill chooses down to start the second period and escapes quickly to put himself on the board first. Merrill’s escape is the lone point of the period. Little chooses down to start the third period. Let’s go to overtime. Little goes in on a shot and nearly gets the takedown. The officials review the call. No takedown. Time for tiebreakers. Little gets out in 24 seconds. Merrill chooses down. Little lets him up and goes for the takedown. He comes up just short. Cody Merrill is a national finalist. 

184 pounds: No. 1 Rocco Welsh (Penn State) and No. 3 Max McEnelly (Minnesota) advance

No. 1 Rocco Welsh (Penn State) over No. 5 Brock Mantanona (Michigan), 4-3: Scoreless after the first period. Mantanona chooses down to start the second. Mantanona escapes. Welsh in on a leg, but Mantanona scrambles away. Takedown Welsh. One minute to go. Rocco Welsh is a national finalist with a 4-3 victory!

No. 3 Max McEnelly (Minnesota) over No. 7 Angelo Ferrari, 2-1 (TB-1): Scoreless first period. McEnelly chooses down to start the second period. McEnelly escapes. Ferrari chooses down to start the third. McEnelly’s escape is the only point on the board so far. Ferrari escapes. This one is tied 1-1 with 30 seconds to go. Riding time is not a factor. Let’s go to overtime. Scrambling in short time. Ferrari wants the challenge brick. He thinks he had the takedown. No takedown. Time for tiebreakers. McEnelly starts down. McEnelly is out in seven seconds. Ferrari chooses down to start his 30-second tie-breaker. He needs to get out in less than seven seconds. McEnelly holds him down. Ten seconds. Ferrari escapes, but he runs out of time. McEnelly is a national finalist!

174 pounds: No. 1 Levi Haines (Penn State) and No. 3 Chris Minto (Nebraska) advance

No. 3 Chris Minto (Nebraska) over No. 7 Cam Steed (Missouri), 5-1: Shot from Minto, and he’s on the board with a takedown in the first two minutes of the period. He finished fourth at 165 pounds last year and second in the Big Ten at 174 pounds this year. Minto chooses down to start the second period and escapes to extend his lead 4-0. Steed chooses down to start the third period. Chris Minto is a national finalist with a 5-1 win! 

No. 1 Levi Haines (Penn State) over No. 5 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa), 18-3 Levi Haines also puts himself on the board with a first-period takedown. He now leads 7-1 after Kennedy’s escape. Kennedy chooses down to start the third period. Kennedy escapes. Takedown Haines. He leads 10-3 and is looking for back points. He adds to his total, leading 17-3. He also has riding time which would give him the tech fall at the whistle. He rides out Kennedy for the bonus points. Haines is back in the national finals!

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165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) and No. 3 Mikey Caliendo (Iowa) advance

No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) techs No. 12 Cesar Alvan (Columbia), 11-0: Takedown Mesenbrink. He’s looking for the fall. He takes near fall points instead and leads 11-0. He adds four more near fall points and earns the 15-0 tech fall. He’s back in the national finals. 

No. 3 Mikey Caliendo (Iowa) over No. 2 Joey Blaze (Purdue), 8-5: Blaze picks up a takedown over Mikey Caliendo. He leads 3-2 with one minute to go in the second period. Takedown Caliendo. He takes the 5-4 lead. Purdue challenges the takedown. Call is upheld. Ninety seconds to go. Scrambling! This one is going to overtime 5-5. Takedown Caliendo! He is back in the national finals! Iowa’s finalist streak stays alive for another year! 

157 pounds: No. 5 Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) and No. 2 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) advance

No. 5 Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) over No. 1 PJ Duke (Penn State), 3-1: Scoreless first period. Robideau chooses down to start the second period. He escapes for the only point of the second period. Duke chooses down to start the third period. Duke escape, and this one is tied 1-1. Let’s go to overtime! Takedown Duke. Challenge Oklahoma State. No takedown. Robideau in on a dangerous shot. Duke wrestles on the edge. Ten seconds. Time for ride-outs! Robideau chooses down and picks up a two-point reversal. Duke chooses neutral. He has 30 seconds to get a takedown. Robideau is warned for stalling. The crowd does not approve. Robideau is going to the national finals! He tops formerly undefeated PJ Duke of Penn State 3-1. 

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No. 11 Ty Watters (West Virginia) vs. No. 2 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska), 4-2: Scorless first period. Taylor, the reigning champ at the weight, chooses down to start the period and escapes. Watters is on a shot, but no points. Watters chooses down to start the third period. He escapes. Takedown Taylor! Watters escapes. Taylor leads 4-2. He carries that lead through the final whistle, and he’s back in the finals. 

149 pounds: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) & No. 10 Aden Valencia advance

No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) vs. No. 20 Chance Lamer (Nebraska), 22-1: Van Ness is on the board first with an early takedown. He’s looking for back points but settles for the three-point takedown. Lamer is hit for stalling. Van Ness ends the first period on top and carries his 3-0 lead into the second period. Van Ness escapes to start the second period and picks up another takedown. He leads 7-0. Escape Lamer. Takedown Van Ness. He picked up four nearfall points in the process and leads 14-1 with 26 seconds to go in the second period. Lamer chooses neutral to start the third period. Takedown and nearfall for Van Ness. He picks up the 22-1 win, and he’s a national finalist! 

No. 10 Aden Valencia (Stanford) over No. 11 Lachlan McNeil (Michigan), 9-5: Scoreless first period. McNeil escapes to start the second period. Takedown Valencia. He leads the All-American Wolverine 3-1 with short time in the second period. Valencia ends the period on top and chooses down to start the third period. He escapes for the 4-1 lead. Shot from Valencia. Takedown! He leads 7-1 and pushes riding time up over a minute. Takedown McNeil. Valencia leads 7-5 with 10 seconds to go. Aden Valencia is an NCAAA finalist with a 9-5 win. 

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141 pounds: No. 1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) and No. 2 Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State) advance
 

No. 1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) over No. 5 Luke Stanich (Lehigh), 4-1: Jesse Mendez continues his quest for another national title and a Hodge Trophy by going on offense right away with a shot against Stanich. The Mountain Hawk defends. Scoreless first period. Great defensive effort from Stanich. Mendez chooses down to start the second period and escapes.  Stanich chooses down to start the third period and escapes. This one is all tied up. One minute to go. Let’s go to overtime. Takedown Mendez. The Buckeye is back in the national finals!

No. 2 Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State) over No. 3 Brock Hardy (Nebraska), 5-4: Scoreless first period. Hardy chooses down to start the second period and escapes. He leads 1-0. Vega chooses neutral to start the third period. Takedown Vega. He leads 3-1. Reversal Hardy. This one is tied, but Hardy has been warned for stalling. Vega escapes and has the riding time advantage. Shot from Vega. Scrambling! Ten seconds. No takedown for Hardy, despite a tough effort. Vega takes the win 5-4. 

133 pounds: No. 1 Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) & No. 2 Ben Davino (Ohio State) advance

No. 1 Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) over No. 4 Aaron Seidel (Virginia Tech), 14-3 Takedown Forrest. He’s on fire this tournament. This is exactly the barn-burner it was advertised to be. Forrest leads 3-0 after the first minute.Forrest chooses down to start the second period with a 3-1 lead. Forrest leads 5-1 with 30 seconds to go in the second period. Takedown Forrest. Make that 8-1 in favor of the Cowboy. Shot from Seidel. Forrest leads 11-1 with twenty seconds to go in the period. Ten seconds. Out of bounds. Jax Forrest is into the national finals with a 14-3 major decision win over Seidel! 

No. 2 Ben Davino (Ohio State) vs. No. 3 Marcus Blaze (Penn State), 3-2: Scorless first period. Such a clash of styles across the two mats in this semifinal, with this one showing off impressive defensive prowess. Blaze is in on a leg. Davino scrambles on the edge and rolls into a shot of his own. Out of bounds. This one is all tied up 1-1 with less than a minute to go in the third period. Thirty seconds. Overtime. Davino is in on a shot. The crowd wants a takedown call. No takedown. Let’s resume sudden victory! Now tie-breakers. Davino escapes in 21 seconds. He holds down Blaze for 30 seconds, and Ben Davino is a national finalist! This crowd loves him! Challenge call. Call upheld. Davino is a national finalist!

125 pounds: No. 1 Luke Lilledadhl (Penn State) & No. 10 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton) advance

No. 1 Luke Lilledadhl (Penn State) vs. No. 5 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State), 8-3: Lightin’ Luke Lilledahl is living up to his nickname, and he picks up an early takedown against 2025 NCAA finalist Troy Spratley. Spratley escapes. Lilledahl leads 3-1. Another shot from Lilledahl. Spratley is scrambling. Lilledahl puts him on his back, but Spratley scrambles out of it. The Nittany Lions leads 8-1. Officials review the near fall points. Call is upheld. Escape Spratley. Lilledahl leads 8-3 with one minute to go in the second period. Lilledahl holds his lead through the third period and takes the win 8-3. He’s heading to the national finals!

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No. 10 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton) over No. 14 Jacob Moran (Indiana), 4-1: Scoreless first period. McGowan chooses down to start the second period and escapes. He’s in on a leg. Out of bounds. Moran chooses down to start the third period. He trails 1-0. Moran escapes. This one is all tied up. Short time takedown from McGowan! He’s a finalist for the Princeton Tigers with a 4-1 win.  





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Cleveland, OH

Guardians Lose Another Horrific Game

Published

4 hours ago

on

July 9, 2026

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Guardians Lose Another Horrific Game


Somehow, every game recap I write manages to be about an even more abhorrent game than the last. Tonight might take the cake for by far the worst game I have ever had the displeasure of watching. Just an unbelievably awful game start-to-finish. On the bright side, since coming to Minnesota, the Guardians seem to be at least losing a new type of game. Not just your average 1-run loss anymore, we’ve ascended to a new plane of suffering.

This game had everything!

Do you like lackluster starting pitching? Come on down!

Do you like walks? We’ve got a near unlimited supply at a discounted price!

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Do you like using every single reliever in your bullpen but one? Stop on by!

Do you like walkoff losses? We’re running a 2-for-1 special!

Fan of all the above? Then come on down to the Chris Antonetti and co.’s House of Horrors! Unfortunately located on a television set near you.

I’m just going to do everyone a favor and eschew the video evidence that I usually attach to my recaps so that those who either missed the game or wanted to rewatch a pivotal moment could catch up. No one deserves to experience this game once, let alone twice. We’re going to stick to just good old words tonight.

Cecconi was bad today! That’s about all I’m going to say.

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The Guardians scored 3 runs in the top of the 4th on back-to-back homers from Rocchio and Hoskins. If you’ve watched more than 3 Guardians games this year, then I’m sure you can guess what happened next.

Speaking of the 4th inning, Cecconi didn’t manage to get out of it! Final line: 3.2IP 6H 3ER 4K 1BB. Gave up the lead right after the Guardians took it.

Holderman had to pitch in the 4th (yes, fourth) inning to clean up his mess. Holderman was fantastic, and is one of four (I’ll get to the other three in a second) players today who are blameless. He cleaned up Cecconi’s garbage, and then pitched a scoreless 5th on 6 pitches.

Herrin pitched a relatively uneventful 6th, but unfortunately left the game when he was hit on the elbow off a comebacker from Royce Lewis. Shawn Armstrong got the last out of the inning.

All was quiet until the 7th, when beautiful, sweet Chase DeLauter had his 2nd of 2 hits and 2nd of 3 appearances on base tonight. He drove in the go-ahead run with that hit. Then, Rocchio squeezed home Kwan on a great surprise bunt, and even managed to get to first off bad defense from the Twins.

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Then, Armstrong pitched again! Our beloved Armstrong walked Keaschall and Kreidler, only recording one out in between the walks. Sabrowski came in in relief. In what is maybe the worst relief outing I have ever witnessed with my own two eyes, Sabrowski walked THREE batters. Included in 3 of those walks are TWO RBI walks. TWO (2). Dos. Deux. Zwei. Due. Two. TWO. Two of THREE RBI walks issued by the Guardians tonight. Three. Tres. Trois. Drei. Tre. THREE. I cannot emphasize how abhorrent of an evening Sabrowski had tonight. He threw 14 pitches, 2 of which registered as strikes. None of his other 8 pitches were close. He did not record an out. Him being broken isn’t something this team can overcome so he needs to figure it out.

Hunter Gaddis came in and cleaned up that mess, but then left a mess of his own with runners on 2nd and 3rd two batters into the 8th. Enter Cade Smith who had to clean up that mess. And, as a matter of fact, he did so. Brilliantly, I might add. Came in with Twins on 2nd and 3rd with no outs and did not surrender a run. Not a one.

Anyway, we headed to the 9th tied. The Guardians didn’t score. Shocker. So, because of how empty the bullpen was (Aleman having never pitched in back to back days), Matt Festa pitched. In what was, truly, a “put me out of my misery inning”, Festa almost wiggled out of it but, luckily, the defense behind him had our back for a short night. I’m not even mad at Festa. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before… Bazzana misplayed a rough hop in the rain and the dirt, and Hoskins failed to scoop what could only be characterized as a play my late 100-year-old grandmother could make. Once again, the Guardians defense gave away easy outs to the Twins. Alan Roden walked it off for the Twins later that inning.

Quick recap of the pitchers used tonight, along with their final lines:

Cecconi: 3.2IP 6H 3ER 4K 1BB

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Holderman: 1.1IP 0H 0ER 0K 0BB

Herrin: 0.2IP 0H 0ER 0K 0BB

Armstrong: 0.2IP 0H 2ER 0K 2BB

Sabrowski: 0.0IP 0H 0ER 0K 3BB

Gaddis: 0.2IP 2H 0ER 0K 0BB

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Cade: 1.0IP 0H 0ER 2K 1BB

Festa: 0.2IP 3H 1ER 1K 1BB

Cade, DeLauter, Rocchio (1/4, HR, 3 RBI), Hedges (2/4), and Holderman are the only Guardians that I’m not presently pissed at. Everyone else should try meditating, or yoga, or solidcore, or literally anything to prevent this game from ever happening again.

Hope you enjoyed this recap. Goodnight and good riddance to this awful game. See you Friday!



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Cleveland, OH

Ohio ICAC Task Force’s “Operation Guardians’ Watch” Results in 25 Individuals Arrested and Charged for Attempting to Meet with an Underage Child to Engage in Sexual Activity

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14 hours ago

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July 8, 2026

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Ohio ICAC Task Force’s “Operation Guardians’ Watch” Results in 25 Individuals Arrested and Charged for Attempting to Meet with an Underage Child to Engage in Sexual Activity


The defendants, ages 20 – 63, engaged in sexually explicit online conversations with undercover officers posing as children. Contact was initiated through popular social media applications. The defendants expressed an interest in engaging in sexual activity with the purported children. Some of the defendants disseminated images of their genitals and others offered to pay for sexual activity during the online conversations.

Initial charges – ranging from third-degree to fifth-degree felonies – were filed against the defendants, which include:

  • Compelling Prostitution
  • Attempted Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor
  • Disseminating Matter Harmful To Juveniles
  • Importuning
  • Possessing Criminal Tools

The arrested individuals include:

  • Brian Ferguson, 38, Cleveland
  • Andre Johnson, 37, Maple Heights
  • Luca Ascione, 31, Strongsville
  • Doug Matheson, 51, Berne, New York
  • Timothy Rankin, 37, Elyria
  • Glen Martin, 52, Eastlake
  • Christopher Docy, 28, North Ridgeville
  • Dominick Craig, 37, Logan
  • Gerald Rhome, 51, East Cleveland
  • Deandre Anderson, 24, Warrensville Heights
  • Tai’rez Jackson, 24, Cleveland
  • Esteban Baltazar, 63, Springfield, Tennessee
  • Oscar Aparicio, 24, Houston, Texas
  • Mohammad Mabrouk, 29, Cleveland
  • Michael Sullivan, 20, Cleveland
  • Brett Musselman, 33, Kent
  • David Whitfield, 35, Geneva,
  • Delwin Ortiz, 29, Cleveland
  • Samuel Kanyaruginga, 35, Cleveland
  • Domonic Delvalle, 35, Cleveland
  • Clyde Sweeney, 46, Fairlawn
  • Jason Kopco, 27, Westlake
  • Zachary Brodeur, 37, Flynn, Massachusetts
  • Vishwatej Nath, 45, Berea (charges will be filed in Lake County)
  • Klajdi Vrapi, 27, Fairview Park

“Operation Guardians’ Watch was coordinated by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and the Ohio ICAC Task Force with the assistance of the Newburgh Heights Police Department, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, Parma Police Department, Sheffield Village Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations Cleveland, U.S Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation Cleveland, Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office, Kirtland Police Department, Lyndhurst Police Department, Amherst Police Department, Warren Police Department, Perrysburg Police Department, Kelleys Island Police Department, Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department, and Portage County Sheriff’s Department.

This is the seventh undercover operation the Task Force has led since 2018. The total number of arrests from the Task Force’s operations stands at 160 offenders arrested.

*Ohio ICAC Task Force:

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The Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is run under the direction of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and funded in part by a grant from the Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The task force conducts proactive and reactive investigations dealing with the online exploitation of children and provides training and technical assistance to more than 385 local, state, and federal criminal justice-affiliated agencies throughout the state of Ohio.



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Cleveland, OH

Cade Smith Deserves More Praise | Just Baseball

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1 day ago

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July 8, 2026

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Cade Smith Deserves More Praise | Just Baseball


Smith leads all of Major League Baseball with 26 saves while posting a 2.90 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 57 strikeouts across 38 appearances. He’ll represent Cleveland in Philadelphia alongside rookie teammates Parker Messick and Travis Bazzana.

For a pitcher leading the majors in saves, he’s received remarkably little national attention.

Stats were taken prior to play on July 7.

Ready When the Opportunity Arrived

As a rookie in 2024, Smith emerged as one of baseball’s best setup men, appearing in 74 games while posting a 1.91 ERA, a 0.90 WHIP, and 103 strikeouts in 75.1 innings. His 28 holds illustrated exactly how much trust Cleveland already had in him.

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He followed that with another outstanding campaign in 2025, throwing 73.2 innings with a 2.93 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, 104 strikeouts, 16 saves, and 19 holds.

When Clase was removed from the closer’s role following his suspension and eventual leave, Smith inherited one of the highest-pressure jobs in baseball. After blowing his first two save chances, he settled in quickly, converting 13 of his final 16 opportunities over August and September while pitching to an ERA in the mid-2.00s.

He carried that momentum into October, tossing 3.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts during Cleveland’s Wild Card Series against Detroit.

So, this season hasn’t been a breakout nearly as much as it has been a continuation.

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