Penn State Wrestling's Levi Haines pins Joseph Walker (2:37) in Penn State's dual meet against Michigan (2/7/2025). Credit - Lloyd McCully
Penn State Wrestling is only one day away from hosting the 2026 Big Ten Wrestling Championships in the Bryce Jordan Center.
In our first installment of “Projecting the Path”, we took a look at what potentially lays ahead for Luke Lilledahl (125), Marcus Blaze (133), Braeden Davis (141), Shayne Van Ness (149), and PJ Duke (157). And if you are guessing this edition is going to wrap up the 165 to 285 groups, then you would be correct!
Because that’s what we’re going to do.
Credit – Lloyd McCully
But before we do that, there have been some rumors swirling about some potential seed changes. Namely that Davis might be moved up to No. 6 and Blaze might be bumped down to No. 2. Additionally, Haines is supposedly going to be the No. 1 seed.
I could have asked both my cat and Christopher Minto who the No. 1 seed should have been at 174. And I’m pretty confident both would have said “Levi”.
Logic. Am I right?
Anyway, onto the article.
So with that, let’s take a look at the back end of the Nittany Lion starting lineup and their projected path to winning some Big Ten hardware.
And away we go!
165
Mitchell Mesenbrink (19-0)
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Intermat rank: 1
Big Ten Pre-seed: 1
1st Matchup: No. 8 Paddy Gallagher (OSU) or No. 9 Tyler Lillard (IND) – 2nd round
Takeaway
With how Mitchell Mesenbrink has wrestled this season, I don’t think there’s much anyone can do to stand in his path to a second B1G title.
However, Joey Blaze has turned some heads this season. And a potential finals matchup between Mesenbrink and Blaze could be very interesting.
But that doesn’t mean I’m not picking Mitchell. I’ll take him everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.
174
Levi Haines (18-0)
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Intermat rank: 1
Big Ten Pre-seed: 2 (might be changed to 1)
1st Matchup (if No. 2 seed): No. 7 Ethan Riddle (MINN) or No. 10 Lenny Pinto (RU) – 2nd round
1st Matchup (if No. 1 seed): No. 8 Brody Baumann (PUR) or No. 9 Colin Kelly (ILL) – 2nd round
Takeaway
Regardless of whether Levi Haines is the No. 1 seed or the No. 2 seed, his second round matchup won’t matter much.
However the semifinals could be more intriguing. Because if Levi is the No. 2 seed then he could potentially get matched up with Iowa’s Patrick Kennedy. Haines is 3-0 in his career against Kennedy, but Penn State Wrestling fans did not get to see a fourth matchup in the Nittany Lions’s dual against Iowa as the coaching staff decided to sit him.
Kennedy is wrestling at a high level this year. Furthermore, I do think he can push Levi. Can he beat him though?
Moreover, if Levi is the No. 1 seed, then his semifinals matchup would most likely be against Beau Mantanona. And we already saw how that one went.
Either way, I don’t believe anyone is beating Levi Haines this year. Not in the B1G Championships and not in the NCAA Championships.
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184
Rocco Welsh (17-0)
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Intermat rank: 1
Big Ten Pre-seed: 1
1st Matchup: No. 8 Angelo Ferrari (IOWA) or No. 9 Sam Goin (IND) – 2nd round
Takeaway
Can someone please explain to me how Angelo Ferrari is the No. 8 seed? I mean I understand how numbers and stats can say that. But seriously, after the numbers were crunched and thrown out, did an actual human being look at the seedings before throwing them out into the world?
There’s a possibility Ferrari’s seed will also change. But as it stands Rocco Welsh’s first match in the 2025 B1G Championships will most likely be a matchup between the No. 1 ranked and No. 2 ranked guys in Intermat’s most recent rankings.
Now look, do I think Rocco can take the match down to the wire and win again? Absolutely.
But my goodness is that going to be a tough match right out of the gates.
Another matchup that would be tough is a potential finals match between Welsh and Max McEnelly.
McEnelly is 17-1 on the year following a third place finish in the 2025 NCAA’s. His only loss was a thrilling 6-3 decision at the hands of No. 3 ranked Aeoden Sinclair (Mizzou).
If that’s the finals, then you better batten down the hatches and get ready for a thriller.
197
Josh Barr (16-0)
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Intermat rank: 1
Big Ten Pre-seed: 1
1st Matchup: No. 8 Gabe Sollars (IND) or No. 9 Ben Vanadia (PUR) – 2nd round
Takeaway
Much like Mitchell Mesenbrink, few people in the country are wrestling at the level of Josh Barr.
Here’s what Barr did to the guys seeded second through fourth in the pre-seeds:
No. 2 Camden McDanel (NEB) – Barr 21-9 major dec.
No. 3 Remy Cotton (RU) – Barr 18-3 tech. fall
No. 4 Branson John (MD) – Barr 19-4 tech. fall
So yeah, I don’t see anyone pushing Josh to the brink in the B1G. However, when the NCAA’s come around in a couple of weeks, Penn State Wrestling fans might see some incredible matchups.
285
Cole Mirasola (14-4)
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Intermat rank: 5
Big Ten Pre-seed: 4
1st Matchup: No. 13 Gabe Christenson (NU) – 1st round
Takeaway
Cole Mirasola has really turned the corner this season.
In all four of his decision losses, Mirasola was absolutely in the matches. Moreover, if one thing went his way here or another went his way there, any of those could have been wins.
But as the old adage goes, “steel sharpens steel”. And with the experience Cole has gained this season on the mat, it’s no wonder that he got over the hump and toppled one of the best heavyweight wrestlers in the country back in mid February.
Mirasola is peaking at just the right time of the season.
And if he gets by Christenson in the opening round and then possibly Braxton Amos (WIS) in the quarterfinals, it could set up a semifinals rematch against Taye Ghadiali.
Mirasola dropped a tough 5-1 decision to Taye a month ago. However confidence can do some funny things.
Can Cole blow the roof off the Bryce Jordan Center with several upsets this weekend?
Hell yeah he can!
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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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