Penn State Wrestling: Why Cael Sanderson’s 2025-2026 Team Might Be His Deepest Yet
Penn State Wrestling begins their 2025-2026 season less than one week from today when the Nittany Lions host No. 15 Oklahoma at the Bryce Jordan Center.
And if there’s one thing about college wrestling that I know, it’s the fact that countless storylines will unfold during the year. However, one storyline everyone and their brother already knows is that the Nittany Lions have a completely loaded roster.
One could even make the argument Cael Sanderson has assembled his deepest roster from top to bottom since setting foot in Happy Valley 16 years ago.
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Which is certainly saying something.
Especially when you consider Penn State Wrestling is in the midst of an NCAA Championship four-peat.
And don’t forget the Nittany Lions have also won 12 of the past 14 NCAA Championships.
Additionally, they’ve set the all-time scoring record in each of the past two NCAA’s.
Oh, and just one more tidbit. Last year’s Penn State Wrestling team became only the second team in NCAA history to have 10 All-Americans.
Furthermore, I made a pretty compelling argument that the 2024-2025 Nittany Lions were the greatest collegiate wrestling team ever assembled.
“So wait a second, Chris. You’re saying this year’s team could potentially be better than last season? How is that even possible?”
Excellent question “figment of my imagination”. But my argument isn’t that they are going to be better. It’s possible they could be, however that’s a high bar to reach.
Rather my argument is this could be Penn State Wrestling’s deepest team under Cael Sanderson. Heck, it could be the deepest team of all time.
Without further ado …
Making the argument that the 2025-2026 Penn State Wrestling team is Cael Sanderson’s deepest team ever
Returning Starters for Penn State Wrestling
Below are the returning starters for the Nittany Lions. Additionally I’ll show their 2025 records, their finish in last year’s NCAA Tournament, and Intermat’s preseason rankings.
125 – Luke Lilledahl (So.)
2025 Record: 26-3
2025 NCAA Finish: 3rd
Pre-Season Rank: 3
141 – Braeden Davis (Jr.)
2025 Record: 17-7
2025 NCAA Finish: 5th
Pre-Season Rank: 9
149 – Shayne Van Ness (Jr.)
2025 Record: 25-3
2025 NCAA Finish: 3rd
Pre-Season Rank: 1
157 – Tyler Kasak (Jr.)
2025 Record: 24-2
2025 NCAA Finish: 3rd
Pre-Season Rank: 2
165 – Mitchell Mesenbrink (Jr.)
2025 Record: 27-0
2025 NCAA Finish: 1st
Pre-Season Rank: 1
174 – Levi Haines (Sr.)
2025 Record: 25-2
2025 NCAA Finish: 3rd
Pre-Season Rank: 1
197 – Josh Barr (So.)
2025 Record: 22-4
2025 NCAA Finish: 2nd
Pre-Season Rank: 1
Some would say that is a strong, to quite strong returning lineup. Especially if your last name is Focker.
But look, it’s possible the above guys could win a team title with an empty keg of beer at 133, a 1984 Filco Color TV cabinet at 184, and me at 285.
On a side note, the 1984 Filco Color TV would maybe have to cut some weight to make 184. But I digress.
The bottom line is that these guys are good.
Filling in the gaps for Penn State Wrestling
Credit – Lloyd McCully
So now let’s jot down who’s going to possibly be going for Penn State Wrestling at 133, 184, and 285.
And I’ll start at 184. Because this is going to be pretty clear cut.
184
The Nittany Lions brought in Rocco Welsh this past spring to help bolster the room at 184. But then with the sudden transfer of the No. 5 overall recruit in the 2024 class (Zack Ryder), the spot is almost guaranteed to be Welsh’s.
Which is a good thing. Especially when you consider the fact that the last time Penn State Wrestling fans saw Welsh was when he finished runner-up to Carter Starocci in the finals of the 2024 NCAA’s.
And even though Rocco took a redshirt last year, he still put together an impressive resume by going a combined 11-0. This included winning titles at the Clarion Open, Cleveland State Open, and Franklin & Marshall Open.
285
The starting heavyweight for the Nittany Lions could be a toss-up. Here are the two guys vying for the spot.
Lucas Cochran (Sr.)
Career Record: 30-8
Pre-Season Rank: N/A
Accolades:
2022 Mat Town Open II Champion
2024 Mat Town Open II Champion
2024 Edinboro Open Champion
Went 2-0 against heavyweights in dual meets last season – including a win over All-American Yaraslau Slavikouski
Cole Mirasola (Fr.)
Career Record: 6-2
Pre-Season Rank: 11
Accolades:
2024 Black Knight Invite Co-Champion
2025 Southern Scuffle Champion
Bronze medalist in the 2025 U20 World Championships
On paper this appears to be Cole’s spot. However I wouldn’t rule out Cochran wrangling the starting spot away for his final year on the mat.
Either way Penn State Wrestling will have two super competitive guys who could go at 285.
133
Here is where the Nittany Lion fans could see some fireworks as this season plays out.
Let’s check out the tale of the tape for the two guys trying to lock down this spot.
Marcus Blaze (Fr.)
Career Record: 0-0
Pre-Season Rank: N/A (true freshman)
Accolades:
Four-time OHSAA state champion
Gold medalist in the 2023 U17 World Championships
Bronze medalist in the 2024 U20 World Championships
3rd place in the 2024 Olympic Trials (57 kg)
2nd place in the 2024 World Team Trials (61 kg)
2024 Ironman Champion
2024 Clarion Open runner-up
2025 Findlay Open Champion
3rd place – 2025 US Open
3rd place – 2025 World Team Trials
Gold medalist – 2025 U20 World Championships
Overall No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class
Masanosuke Ono (Jr.??)
Career Record: 0-0
Pre-Season Rank: N/A
Accolades:
Silver medalist – 2023 Japan National Championships
Gold medalist – 2024 Japan National Championships
Bronze medalist – 2024 Grand Prix
Bronze medalist – 2024 Asian Championships
Gold Medalist – 2024 U20 World Championships
Gold Medalist – 2024 World Championships
Did you get all of that?
On one hand you have perhaps the most highly decorated Penn State Wrestling recruit in program history. And on the other hand you have a senior division World Champion.
And whoever wins the starting job will most likely be an immediate contender for both a B1G and an NCAA title. Because, yes, Lucas Byrd and Drake Ayala certainly have the talent and the experience, however I believe Blaze and Ono are on a totally different level. Especially once they get some much needed time on the mat during the year.
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Possible redshirt for Penn State Wrestling?
Credit – Lloyd McCully
As I mentioned above, Tyler Kasak is a returning starter for the Nittany Lions. Furthermore he’s finish in third place in back-to-back NCAA Championships.
But there’s a really good possibility that he takes a redshirt this year. And that’s because this guy is now in the room …
PJ Duke (Fr.)
Career Record: 0-0
Pre-Season Rank: N/A (true freshman)
Accolades:
Won his first New York State PHSAA championship with a record of 45-0 at 99 pounds … while only being in seventh grade
Four-time New York State champ
Most recently won the state championship at 170 and received the MOW of the tournament
Finished with a career record of 107-1
Two-time Super 32 champion
2022 Fargo Nationals Champion
2022 Ironman Champion
2024 Bill Farrell International Champion
3rd place – 2024 Senior World Team Trials
Gold medalist – 2024 U20 Pan Am Championships
Bronze medalist – 2024 U20 World Championships
Gold medalist – 2024 Grand Prix
Gold medalist – 2025 U20 World Championships
Bronze medalist – 2025 U23 World Championships
Overall No. 2 recruit in the 2025 class
PJ Duke is the real deal.
And even though the returning NCAA Champion at 157 (Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor) is back on the mat, Taylor and the rest of the country need to watch their back when March rolls around.
Other notables inside the Penn State Wrestling room
Credit – Lloyd McCully
One thing to also note is that Cael Sanderson and his staff trimmed the roster down this offseason. This was in anticipation of the NCAA restricting wrestling rosters to a max of 30.
But even though several talented Penn State Wrestlers have transferred out, there’s still a metric ton of talent in the room.
125
Nathan Desmond (Fr.)
Career Record: 0-0
Recruiting Rank: 31 (2025)
141
Aaron Nagao (Jr.)
Career Record: 46-16
2023 All-American (5th)
Cael Nasdeo (Fr.)
Career Record: 6-6
Recruiting Rank: 91 (2023)
Dalton Perry (Fr.)
Career Record: 0-0
Recruiting Rank: 46 (2025)
149
Brock Weiss (Fr.)
Career Record: 1-2
Recruiting Rank: 75 (2024)
157
Joe Sealey (Fr.)
Career Record: 0-2
Recruiting Rank: 6 (2024)
Gold medalist – 2022 U17 World Championships
174
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Asher Cunningham (Fr.)
Career Record: 0-0
Recruiting Rank: 18 (2025)
William Henckel (Fr.)
Career Record: 0-0
Recruiting Rank: 13 (2025)
Silver medalist – 2025 U20 World Championships
197
Connor Mirasola (Fr.)
Career Record: 8-1
Recruiting Rank: 7 (2024)
2025 Southern Scuffle Champion
5th place – 2024 U20 World Championships
Bronze medalist – 2025 U20 World Championships
I don’t even think the word “stacked” does any justice to how much talent is assembled inside of Penn State’s Wrestling room.
Now, as to whether or not this is Cael Sanderson’s deepest team in program history?
I’ll let you be the judge of that.
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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.
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