Penn State wrestling: No. 1 Lions overwhelm shorthanded No. 2 Ohio State 36-5

STATE COLLEGE – This one never felt like No. 1 vs. No. 2.

It wasn’t close.

Cael Sanderson’s top-ranked Penn State team is that good.

And the talented second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes were missing a few key regulars on Friday night in front of a record crowd of 16,006 at Bryce Jordan Center.

Ohio State was without sixth-ranked Ethan Stiles at 149, top-ranked Brandon Cannon at 157 and fifth-ranked Carson Karchla at 174.

The Buckeyes’ replacements had to face a trio of of Nittany Lions that were a combined 46-1 coming in – junior Shayne Van Ness, true freshman PJ Duke and senior Levi Haines.

Not ideal.

The Lions won nine of 10 bouts, three of them in overtime.

The result? Penn State 36, Ohio State 5.

The Nittany Lions’ winning streak now stands at 85 consecutive matches. Penn State (14-0, 8-0) is the 2025-26 Big Ten dual meet champion.

The Lions close out their regular season with a home matchup against Princeton on Feb. 20 at Rec Hall.

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“It’s just a close group; a lot of, obviously, tough battles tonight and our guys fought hard and we were able to go find those points at the end in really good matches,” Sanderson said of his wrestlers afterward.

“It’s just something we need to keep doing as we prepare for the postseason now.”

The Buckeyes (17-1, 6-1) needed to create plenty of magic early to have any chance, but PSU’s Luke Lilledahl and Marcus Blaze had other ideas.

The top-ranked Lilledahl, a sophomore 125-pounder, stayed unbeaten with a 4-1 win over previously unbeaten Nic Bouzakis in sudden victory. Lilledahl’s winning takedown occurred 39 seconds into the overtime neutral period.

Both wrestlers had escapes in regulation and Lilledahl just missed converting a takedown shot before the third-period buzzer.

Blaze, an unbeaten true freshman, improved to 18-0 with a 3-2 win in overtime over previously unbeaten Ben Davino at 133.

The two were tied 1-1 after regulation. No points in sudden victory, then Davino escaped in the second OT period.

Blaze, working from underneath and down 2-1, followed with the winning reversal with 15 seconds left overtime and rode out Davino for the win.

Blaze was No. 4 coming in, Davino was ranked No. 2.

Returning national champ Jesse Mendez put the Buckeyes on the board with a dominant win over PSU junior Braeden Davis, winning by 18-2 technical fall in 5:49 to cut Ohio State’s deficit to 6-5, but the issue was pretty much decided after 133.

Mendez now 18-0, is clearly the man to beat at 141.

Van Ness, a heavy favorite, worked Ohio State freshman Brogan Fielding for a 20-5 technical fall at 149 in 6:17.

Duke needed just 3:28 to pin Ohio State freshman Daxton Chase at 157.

Haines also won via tech. fall, 16-1, in 4:16 over Ohio State sophomore T.J. Shierl at 174.

PSU also received bonus point victories from junior Mitchell Mesenbrink at 165 (major decision), sophomore Rocco Welsh at 184 (decison), sophomore Josh Barr at 197 (major decision) and yes, freshman Cole Mirasola (overtime decision) at 285.

Welsh stayed unbeaten by rallying for a 7-6 win over Buckeyes junior Dylan Fishback, scoring two takedowns in the final period, the last one with 14 secods left.

Mirasola, facing Ohio State’s third-ranked Nick Feldman, scored a takedown 14 seconds into sudden victory to upset the Buckeye 4-1.

PENN STATE 36, OHIO STATE 5

125 pounds: Penn State So. Luke Lilledahl (16-0) dec. Ohio State Jr. Nic Bouzakis (12-1) by 4-1 (SV)

133: Penn State Fr. Marcus Blaze (18-0) dec. Ohio State Fr. Ben Davino (20-1) by 3-2 (TB2)

141: Ohio State Sr. Jesse Mendez (18-0) won by tech. fall over Penn State Jr. Braeden Davis (8-3) in 5:49 (18-2).

149: Penn State Jr. Shayne Van Ness (17-0) tech. fall over Ohio State Fr. Brogan Fielding (7-7) in 6:17 (20-5).

157: Penn State Fr. PJ Duke (15-1) pinned Ohio State Fr. Daxton Chase (7-7) in 3:28.

165: Penn State Jr. Mitchell Mesenbrink (18-0) major dec. Ohio State Sr. Paddy Gallagher (9-6) by 12-2.

174: Penn State Sr. Levi Haines (17-0) won by tech. fall over So. T.J. Shierl (12-7) in 4:15 (16-1).

184: Penn State So. Rocco Welsh (16-0) dec. Ohio State Jr. Dylan Fishback (12-6) by 7-6.

197: Penn State So. Josh Barr (15-0) major dec. Ohio State Jr. Luke Geog (12-5) by 11-2.

285: Penn State Fr. Cole Mirasola (13-4) dec. Ohio State Jr. Nick Feldman (17-4) by 4-1 (SV).