Penn State Wrestling's Shayne Van Ness defeated Owen Reinsel 19-5 in Penn State's dual meet against Lehigh on December 7, 2025. Credit - Lloyd McCully
Penn State Wrestling roars into action Saturday afternoon as they host No. 14 Rutgers in Rec Hall at 4:00pm EST.
The Nittany Lions are fresh off winning both duals in the 2025 Journeymen Collegiate Wrestling duals a mere 21 days ago. But now it’s time for the meat grinder that is the B1G regular season.
And the Scarlet Knights, while not a completely stacked lineup, will present some problems at several weight classes. However I have a pretty good feeling that Cael Sanderson and his coaching staff will be ready.
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Before we look at the possible starting lineup and predictions, let’s take a look at how you can tune into tonight’s action.
How to watch Penn State Wrestling
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Date: Saturday, January 10th
Time: 4:00 p.m. EST
Where: Rec Hall (University Park)
TV: B1G
Listen: Free via Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com
Now let’s turn to the potential matchups.
Potential matchups for Rutgers vs Penn State Wrestling
Credit – Lloyd McCully
No. 1 Penn State (6-0) vs. No. 14 Rutgers (6-2)
125 – No. 2 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) vs No. 29 Ayden Smith (RU)
133 – No. 5 Marcus Blaze (PSU) vs No. 24 Dylan Shawver (RU)
141 – Nate Desmond or Braeden Davis (PSU) vs No. 6 Joey Olivieri (RU)
149 – No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) vs No. 31 Andrew Clark (RU)
157 – No. 4 PJ Duke (PSU) vs No. 32 Tony White (RU)
165 – No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) vs No. 21 Andrew Barbosa (RU)
174 – No. 1 Levi Haines (PSU) vs No. 9 Lenny Pinto (RU)
184 – No.4 Rocco Welsh (PSU) vs No. 15 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (RU)
197 – No. 1 Josh Barr (PSU) vs No. 18 Remy Cotton (RU)
285 – No. 15 Cole Mirasola (PSU) vs No. 21 Hunter Catka (RU)
Prediction for Rutgers vs. Penn State Wrestling
Credit – Lloyd McCully
While it’s true that Rutgers’ entire starting lineup is currently ranked in InterMat’s most recent rankings. It’s also true that the Scarlet Knight’s don’t have a ton of top-end talent. Although Rutgers is a heavy senior-laden team.
Six of their starters are seniors, two are redshirt sophomores, and two are redshirt freshman.
Additionally, between Smith (125) and Barbosa (165), they only have 45 total matches under their belt. But the rest of the team has a plethora of experience.
However experience only means so much in wrestling. And I don’t think that will matter much when these two teams square off on Saturday afternoon.
125 – No. 2 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) major dec. over No. 29 Ayden Smith (RU)
133 – No. 5 Marcus Blaze (PSU) dec. over No. 24 Dylan Shawver (RU)
141 – No. 6 Joey Olivieri (RU) dec. over Nate Desmond (PSU)
149 – No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) tech. fall over No. 31 Andrew Clark (RU)
157 – No. 4 PJ Duke (PSU) fall over No. 32 Tony White (RU)
165 – No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) tech. fall over No. 21 Andrew Barbosa (RU)
174 – No. 1 Levi Haines (PSU) dec. over No. 9 Lenny Pinto (RU)
184 – No.4 Rocco Welsh (PSU) dec. over No. 15 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (RU)
197 – No. 1 Josh Barr (PSU) major dec. over No. 18 Remy Cotton (RU)
285 – No. 15 Cole Mirasola (PSU) dec. over No. 21 Hunter Catka (RU)
Penn State 36 Rutgers 3
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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: Matchups, How to watch, and Prediction for Nittany Lions vs Rutgers dual meet - January 10, 2026
- Cael Sanderson’s 141-Pound Gambit: Why Freshman Nate Desmond is the ‘99.9%’ Solution for Penn State Wrestling - January 7, 2026
- Penn State Wrestling vs. Stanford | FULL RESULTS - December 20, 2025
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