Much like last year, the Penn State Nittany Lions claimed the Big Ten championship team title, headlined by winning performances from Levi Haines, Mitchell Mesenbrink and a true freshman 125 pounds (this year, Luke Lilledahl; last year, Braeden Davis). Tyler Kasak also won a Big Ten title, his first, for the Nittany Lions at 157 pounds while Carter Starocci reclaimed his crown as well after injury defaulting out of last year’s conference championship.
Lilledahl kicked off the championship action for the Nittany Lions on Sunday night with a gritty 4-3 win over Nebraska’s No. 2 Caleb Smith, one night after the freshman Penn State lightweight knocked off No. 1 Matt Ramos of Purdue in major decision fashion.
Penn State then rattled off four wins in a row from 157-184 pounds with Kasak, Mesenbrink, Haines and Starocci.
Kasak and Haines won their finals matches by major, 12-2 and 12-1 respectively, because of their elite top game. Kasak competed tough against a gritty No. 8 Brandon Cannon of Ohio State and was leading by just two going into the third period before picking up a takedown and back points in the last two minutes. Haines, similarly, scored a takedown against his finals foe, No. 3 Lenny Pinto of Nebraska, in the first period but separated himself with a takedown and a tilt later in the second period that opened up the match.
Mesenbrink and Starocci’s matches were far closer, with Mesenbrink winning by one takedown, 4-1, against Michael Caliendo and Starocci needing overtime for his 8-5 win over No. 2 Minnesota freshman Max McEnelly. Both athletes remain undefeated on the year with those respective victories and keep themselves in the conversation for the Hodge Trophy, wrestling’s highest honor in the NCAA, even as their opponents narrowed the gap.
Penn State’s team win was about the only predictable part of this year’s tournament though.
Upsets defined the last two days of action in Evanston with No. 1 Gable Steveson of Minnesota at 285 pounds finishing as the only non-Penn State affiliated No. 1 seed in the tournament to win his weight. Steveson took down 2024 NCAA champion Greg Kerkvliet of Penn State for his fourth Big Ten title.
Nebraska’s No. 3 Brock Hardy and No. 3 Ridge Lovett were the lowest seeds to win conference titles as they took home championships at 141 and 149 pounds respectively. Hardy had to top returning champ Jesse Mendez of Ohio State in the semifinals to earn his shot at All-American Vance Vombaur in the finals. He then pinned the Gopher with confidence to take over the weight. Lovett, meanwhile, showcased his poise and wresting IQ against a scrappy No. 5 Kannon Webster of Illinois with a 1-0 win in the finals.
No. 2 Lucas Byrd of Illinois and No. 2 Jacob Cardenas both won their first Big Ten titles by taking down top-ranked Hawkeyes, with Byrd pinning No. 1 Drake Ayala at 133 pounds and Cardenas outwrestling No. 1 Stephen Buchanan 4-3 at 197 pounds.
Four NCAA finalists — No. 1 Matt Ramos at 125 pounds, No. 1 Beau Bartlett at 141 pounds, No. 2 Jesse Mendez at 141 pounds and No. 4 Jacori Teemer at 157 pounds — fell before the conference finals, with other former conference champions like Rutgers’ Dylan Shawver at 133 pounds and Braeden Davis at 125 pounds also losing before Sunday night’s final. Ramos and Bartlett would go on to finish third, while Mendez took fourth and Teemer finished seventh. Davis also wrestled to a fouth-place finish at 133 pounds — Shawver finished sixth at the same weight.
All of these placewinners will now look to build on their success in Philadelphia at NCAAs in two weeks.
Complete results:
| WEIGHT | WINNER | CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT | ADDITIONAL PLACEWINNERS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | No. 4 Luke Lilledahl | No. 4 Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) over No. 2 Caleb Smith (Nebraka), 4-3 | 3.) Matt Ramos, Purdue 4.) Nicolar Rivera, Wisconsin 5.) Jacob Moran, Indiana 6.) Dean Peterson, Rutgers 7.) Cooper Flynn, Minnesota 8.) Caleb Weiland, Michigan State |
|
| 133 | No. 2 Lucas Byrd | No. 2 Lucas Byrd (Illinois) over No. 1 Drake Ayala by FALL | 3.) Nic Bouzakis, Ohio State 4.) Braeden Davis, Penn State 5.) Braxton Brown, Maryland 6.) Dylan Shawver, Rutgers 7.) Angelo Rini, Indiana 8.) Jacob Van Dee, Nebraska |
|
| 141 | No. 3 Brock Hardy | No. 3 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) over No. 4 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) by FALL | 3.) Beau Bartlett, Penn State 4.) Jesse Mendez, Ohio State 5.) Sergio Lemley, Michigan 6.) Joseph Oliveri, Rutgers 7.) Greyson Clark, Purdue 8.) Henry Porter, Indiana |
|
| 149 | No. 3 Ridge Lovett | No. 3 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) over No. 5 Kannon Webster (Illinois), 1-0 | 3.) Shayne Van Ness, Penn State 4.) Kyle Parco, Iowa 5.) Dylan D’Emilio, Ohio State 6.) Andrew Clark, Rutgers 7.) Kal Miller, Maryland 8.) Dylan Gilcher, Michigan |
|
| 157 | No. 2 Tyler Kasak | No. 2 Tyler Kasak (Penn State) over No. 8 Brandon Cannon (Ohio State), 12-2 | 3.) Joey Blaze, Purdue 4.) Antrell Taylor, Nebraska 5.) Tommy Askey, Minnesota 6.) Ethen Miller, Maryland 7.) Jacori Teemer, Iowa 8.) Chase Saldate, Michigan |
|
| 165 | No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink | No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Michael Caliendo (Iowa), 4-1 | 3.) Beau Mantanona, Michigan 4.) Andrew Sparks, Minnesota 5.) Braeden Scoles, Minnesota 6.) Maxx Mayfield, Northwestern 7.) Paddy Gallagher, Ohio State 8.) Chris Minto, Nebraska |
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| 174 | No. 1 Levi Haines | No. 1 Levi Haines (Penn State) over No. 3 Lenny Pinto (Nebraka), 12-1 | 3.) Dan Braunagel, Illinois 4.) Carson Kharchla, Ohio State 5.) Patrick Kennedy, Iowa 6.) Branson John, Maryland 7.) Clayton Whiting, Minnesota 8.) Brody Baumman, Purdue |
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| 184 | No. 1 Carter Starocci | No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) over No. 2 Max McEnelly (Minnesota), 8-5 | 3.) Edmond Ruth, Illinois 4.) Jaxon Smith, Maryland 5.) Gabe Arnold, Iowa 6.) Silas Allred, Nebraska 7.) DJ Washington, Indiana 8.) Shane Cartagena-Walsh, Rutgers |
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| 197 | No. 2 Jacob Cardenas | No. 2 Jacob Cardenas (Michigan) over No. 1 Stephen Buchanan, 4-2 | 3.) Zac Braunagel, Illinois 4.) Isaiah Salazar, Minnesota 5.) Camden McDanel, Nebraska 6.) Josh Barr, Penn State 7.) Evan Bates, Northwestern 8.) Seth Shumate, Ohio State |
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| 285 | No. 1 Gable Steveson | No. 1 Gable Steveson over No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet, 10-3 | 3.) Ben Kueter, Iowa 4.) Josh Heindselman, Michigan 5.) Nick Feldman, Ohio State 6.) Luke Luffman, Illinois 7.) Seth Nevills, Maryland 8.) Max Vanadia, Michigan State |