Penn State Wrestling’s Recruiting Pipeline: States That Matter Most
Recruiting is the lifeblood for all collegiate sports, and it’s no different for the dynasty that Penn State Wrestling has assembled in Happy Valley over the past 15 years.
When you think about all-time great wrestling programs, what comes to mind?
Surely the first names that rattle off your tongue are Oklahoma State, Iowa, and Minnesota. And of course in more recent history, Penn State.
But how do these dominant wrestling juggernauts continue to churn out champions? Additionally, where do they find these guys before they slap on their school’s singlet?
Well, the answer to the first question is complicated, and it’s something I have no experience in. Because the last time I checked the only D1 championship I ever won while running a team was in EA Sports NCAA Football 14.
As for the second question, that’s a little more straightforward. And I’ll get to that shortly.
Besides, all of this recruiting talk got me thinking about another question. A super important one too.
“Which states matter the most to the Nittany Lions?”
I’ll get to that one … eventually. So for now, buckle up and enjoy the ride!
Where do Wrestling Champions come from?
College wrestling has changed quite a bit over the past 30 years. From weight class changes to point changes to rule changes.
But, one thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that wrestling is becoming more and more popular across the country, which means that every major wrestling program has had to expand their recruiting footprint to find talent. And this includes small pockets of the country that were previously overlooked.
To keep things in a more recent era, I’ve researched the last 10 years’ worth of NCAA Champions to answer a simple question: Where did these guys come from?
On a side note, this spans the 2015 to 2025 NCAA Championships as the 2020 NCAA’s did not take place.
2015-2025 NCAA Champions by state
Pennsylvania: 20
Maryland: 8
New Jersey: 8
New York: 7
Wisconsin: 7
California: 6
Indiana: 5
Minnesota: 5
Ohio: 5
Illinois: 4
Missouri: 4
Iowa: 3
Michigan: 3
Texas: 3
Arizona: 2
Colorado: 2
Kentucky: 2
Georgia: 1
Idaho: 1
Kansas: 1
Nebraska: 1
North Carolina: 1
Utah: 1
Not exactly a shock that Pennsylvania leads the pack over the past 10 years.
However, I bet most of you would be surprised that Maryland is in a tie for second place with New Jersey. But that can easily be explained when Aaron Brooks has four of those himself.
Then there’s New York and Wisconsin nipping on their heels in a tie for fourth.
Rounding out the top nine are California, Indiana, Minnesota, and Ohio.
What’s interesting to me is that blue-blood programs like Oklahoma State and Iowa haven’t seen a ton of in-state talent. At least not in the past 10 years.
One huge factor that may explain this is the fact that high school wrestling is almost as cutthroat in terms of recruiting as college is. Below is a list of some of the perennial powers of high school wrestling:
Pennsylvania
Wyoming Seminar
Bishop McCort
Faith Christian Academy
Bethlehem Catholic
New Jersey
Blair Academy
Bergen Catholic
Delbarton
New York
Minisink Valley
Minnesota
Apple Valley
California
Buchanan
The bottom line is this: if you’re one of the best wrestlers in the country going into high school, then there’s a pretty good chance you may compete for one of the above programs before you matriculate to a college campus.
And with the proximity of these nation powers to Penn State Wrestling, it’s no surprise that Cael Sanderson and his staff are able to build pipelines.
In just the last three recruiting classes (2024-2026), the Nittany Lions have landed the following guys from these prestigious schools:
Wyoming Seminary
Luke Lilledahl
Joe Sealey
Nathan Desmond
Minisink Valley
Jack Ryder (transferred to Oklahoma State)
PJ Duke
Bishop McCort
Sam Herring
Delbarton
Jayden James
Blair Academy
William Henckel
Where are recent Penn State Wrestling individual champions from?
Below is a listing of all of the NCAA individual champions for Penn State Wrestling and which state they are from (since 2010).
Pennsylvania
Quentin Wright (2011 & 2013)
Ed Ruth (2012-2014)
Nico Megaludis (2016)
Zain Retherford (2016-2018)
Jason Nolf (2017-2019)
Vincenzo Joseph (2017 & 2018)
Carter Starocci (2021-2025)
Levi Haines (2024)
New Jersey
Frank Molinaro (2012)
Anthony Cassar (2019)
Minnesota
Mark Hall (2017)
Greg Kerkvliet (2024)
Arizona
Roman Bravo-Young (2021 & 2022)
Indiana
Nick Lee (2021 & 2022)
Maryland
Aaron Brooks (2021-2024)
Michigan
Max Dean (2022)
Ohio
David Taylor (2012 & 2014)
Texas
Bo Nickal (2017-2019)
Utah
Matt Brown (2015)
Wisconsin
Mitchell Mesenbrink (2025)
And on a side note, these 20 guys represent a staggering 40 individual NCAA titles for Penn State Wrestling over the past 15 years.
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Where is the Penn State Wrestling starting lineup from?
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Just for the fun of it, below is last year’s starting lineup and the state they were recruited from.
2024-2025 Penn State Wrestling Starting Lineup
125 – Luke Lilledahl (PA)
133 – Braeden Davis (MICH)
141 – Beau Bartlett (PA)
149 – Shayne Van Ness (NJ)
157 – Tyler Kasak (PA)
165 – Mitchell Mesenbrink (WISC)
174 – Levi Haines (PA)
184 – Carter Starocci (PA)
197 – Josh Barr (MICH)
285 – Greg Kerkvelit (MINN)
And now here is my projected lineup for the coming season and where these guys are from.
Projected 2025-2026 Penn State Wrestling Starting Lineup
125 – Luke Lilledahl (PA)
133 – Masanosuke Ono (JAPAN)
141 – Marcus Blaze (OH)
149 – Shayne Van Ness (NJ)
157 – Tyler Kasak (PA) or PJ Duke (NY)
165 – Mitchell Mesenbrink (WISC)
174 – Levi Haines (PA)
184 – Rocco Welsch (PA)
197 – Josh Barr (MICH)
285 – Cole Mirasola (WISC)
Spot any trends?
Additionally, here are the last two recruiting classes and where they came from.
Top-Rated Recruits for Penn State Wrestling
Class of 2024
No. 1 Luke Lilledahl (PA)
No. 6 Joseph Sealey (PA)
No. 7 Connor Mirasola (WISC)
No. 15 Cole Mirasola (WISC)
No. 75 Brock Weiss (PA)
Class of 2025
No. 1 Marcus Blaze (OH)
No. 2 PJ Duke (NY)
No. 13 William Henckel (NJ)
No. 18 Asher Cunningham (PA)
No. 31 Nathan Desmond (PA)
No. 46 Dalton Perry (PA)
Class of 2026
No. 3 Jayden James (NJ)
No. 27 Sam Herring (PA)
As you can see, Pennsylvania runs heavy up and down the Nittany Lion lineup. Which makes perfect sense.
Furthermore, you can see how much of a presence the surrounding states such as New Jersey, New York, and Ohio have.
Which then brings us to the last question …
What states matter the most to Penn State Wrestling?
First and foremost, Pennsylvania matters A LOT.
However, it’s not the end of the world if Cael Sanderson doesn’t land every single top prospect from the state.
Case in point is that the top two guys in the 2026 class (Bo Bassett and Jax Forrest) both wrestled in Penn State’s back yard at Bishop McCort. However the Nittany Lions didn’t land either one of them.
Which isn’t a big deal in the short term due to the massive amount of talent which has hit campus the last couple of recruiting cycles.
Now, back to which states are important.
Following Pennsylvania, I would say it’s a tie for second between New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Maryland.
Even though some of these states don’t have the massive powers of high school wrestling, they still have some darn good schools that churn out a lot of talent each year.
And as I stated before, the talent pool for wrestling has grown quite a bit over the years. Which means that states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Minnesota are also important.
But look, when you’ve put together quite possibly the most dominant and well-oiled wrestling machine in college history, you know exactly what you’re doing. And if Cael Sanderson thinks there’s a guy who can make Penn State Wrestling better, then he’s going to go to that state and try to bring them to Happy Valley.
That much I know for sure.
MORE Penn State Wrestling News from NittanyCentral:
Penn State Wrestling vs. Iowa: The Historic Rivalry That’s Shaping the Future of College Wrestling
Carter Starocci’s Iconic Penn State Wrestling Journey: Unmatched, Unbroken, Unforgettable
How Beau Bartlett Became a Penn State Wrestling Star, One Match at a Time
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Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.
- Penn State Wrestling’s Recruiting Pipeline: States That Matter Most - June 16, 2025
- Penn State Football: Is 2025 College Football Season “Natty or Bust?” for James Franklin’s Nittany Lions? - June 1, 2025
- All-Time Penn State Wrestling NCAA Champions Lineup: The 10 Greatest Nittany Lions Ever Assembled - May 22, 2025