Penn State Wrestling: 2025 NCAA Seeds and Storylines to Watch
Penn State Wrestling is less than a day out from the wrestling action in the 2025 NCAA Championships.
Now that the brackets have been out for a week, plenty of the talking heads in wrestling have had their say. So with that, let’s take a look at each of the Nittany Lions and give our two cents on the matter.
Additionally, we’ll highlight their first-round matchup and discuss any roadblocks they might run into.
Away we go!
2025 NCAA Championships Preview for Penn State Wrestling
125
Luke Lilledahl
Credit – Lloyd McCully
NCAA seed: 1
Did they get it right?: Yes??
Opening round matchup: No. 32 Marcello Milani (COR) or No. 33 Caleb Weiand (MSU)
Roadblock: Quarterfinals matchup against No. 9 Caleb Smith (NEB)
Luke Lilledahl is following a similar path that Braeden Davis had last season. Namely the fact they both took home B1G Championship titles as top-third tier seeds. Then they flipped that success into the overall No. 1 seed in the 125 bracket.
And similar to the bracket last year, this one is full of landmines all over the place. The 125 field the past two seasons has been a proverbial “Wild Wild West” with the amount of upsets and turmoil unfolding each week. Which then lends itself to a difficult bracket for the top seeds.
Lilledahl will potentially be graced with Caleb Smith’s presence in just the third round. This is the same guy who Luke faced in the B1G finals and he was an All-American (6th) last season.
And from that match on, it’s going to be a very steep climb to the finish.
133
Braeden Davis
NCAA seed: 8
Did they get it right?: Seems like it
Opening round matchup: No. 25 Kurt Phipps (BUCK)
Roadblock: Quarterfinals matchup against No. 1 Lucas Byrd (ILL)
I could make a fairly strong case that they seeded Braeden Davis a little high. But, I’m not going to complain too much.
That is until you see who he’s potentially going to face in the third round. Look, it’s the NCAA Championships. The further you go, the harder the competition. But unfortunately for Davis, I believe the quarterfinals is the farthest he will make it in the championship bracket.
Couple Davis’ injury with the level that Illinois’ Lucas Byrd is currently wrestling at? Yeah, it’s not a great combo.
But just like what Penn State Wrestling fans saw with Braeden in the consolation of the B1G’s, he can and will do some damage there. So much so that I believe Braeden will bring home his first All-American finish.
141
Beau Bartlett
Credit – Lloyd McCully
NCAA seed: 2
Did they get it right?: Yep
Opening round matchup: No. 31 Jordan Titus (WVU)
Roadblock: Semifinals matchup against No. 3 Jesse Mendez (OSU)
With how things looked by early February, it was hard to image we wouldn’t see a No. 1 Jesse Mendez/No. 2 Beau Bartlett in the NCAA brackets.
Mendez was the reigning NCAA champion, he hadn’t lost a match in over a year and he already dispatched Bartlett in the 2024 NWCA All-Star Classic.
Buy my oh my has a lot changed in the last 30 days.
Beau got his revenge against Mendez in Penn State’s dual against Ohio State in mid-February. Then Jesse lost a barnburner against Nebraska’s Brock Hardy in the semifinals of the 2025 B1G’s. Similarly, Bartlett also fell in the semis.
And when both guys met in the third place match, Beau came out on top once again.
If Bartlett and Mendez meet again in the semifinals, it would mark their seventh meeting in the past year. Yes, seventh.
At this point they might know each other better than some married couples. Which means the winner could just as easily come down to a flip of the coin.
149
Shayne Van Ness
NCAA seed: 3
Did they get it right?: No qualms here
Opening round matchup: No. 30 Gabe Willochell (WYO)
Roadblock: Semifinals matchups against No. 2 Ridge Lovett (NEB)
The top of the 149 field is absolutely loaded.
Just between Caleb Henson, Ridge Lovett, and Kyle Parco, you have eight All-American finishes, an individual title, and a runner-up finish. Then when you factor in Paniro Johnson and Shayne Van Ness, well it just turns this bracket into a meat grinder.
Prior to his semifinals loss to Illinois’ Kannon Webster in the B1G’s, Van Ness’ only other loss on the year came against Ridge Lovett.
Additionally, this was Shayne’s first ever non-decision loss in his Penn State career.
So yeah, the very definition of a “roadblock” for him is Ridge Lovett. But this time I think things will be much different.
Cue a grizzled Shayne Van Ness ripping a picture of Ridge Lovett off his bedroom mirror inside of a cabin in the Russian wilderness.
157
Tyler Kasak
NCAA seed: 1
Did they get it right?: You betch’ya!
Opening round matchup: No. 32 Landen Johnson (NIU) or No. 33 Richard Fedalen (COL)
Roadblock: Finals matchups against No. 2 Meyer Shapiro (COR)
Tyler Kasak has been nothing short of impressive this season.
And if there were any lingering doubts about his health following several blows to the head in consecutive matches, well those have been tossed out of the window completely. Just look at what he did to the competition 11 days ago.
Kasak blitzed his way through the 157 field in the B1G’s to secure his first conference title. And I don’t see anyone on his side of the bracket who will truly test him.
However, Meyer Shapiro could be the only guy in the field who can push Kasak to the limit.
165
Mitchell Mesenbrink
Credit – Lloyd McCully
NCAA seed: 1
Did they get it right?: Who else are they picking?
Opening round matchup: No. 32 Jared Keslar (PITT) or No. 33 Chandler Amaker (CMU)
Roadblock: Semifinals matchup against No. 4 Terrell Barraclough (UVU)
If Mitchell Mesenbrink and Terrell Barraclough end up meeting in the semifinals, then oh boy is that going to be an electric match!
Barraclough is probably the only guy in this bracket who even has a prayer against MM. Namely due to how familiar they are with each other. They were just teammates last season.
From watching Barraclough on the mat for the Nittany Lions the past handful of seasons, you could see the talent. However, he was never really able to get over the hump. But there were certainly some signs. Especially last year.
Barraclough filled in for Carter Starocci in last season’s dual meet against Michigan. And in doing so he bumped up a weight class to face four-time All-American Shane Griffith.
TB wrestled a super tough match. And even though he was on the wrong end of a 2-1 decision, I think something clicked for him after that. From there he won his remaining six matches (two at 174) while handing out a major decision, a tech fall, and two pins.
Barraclough built on that momentum and he’s had a fantastic season this year for Utah Valley. Compiling a career-best 26-2 record, he’s gunning for one thing and one thing only. And most likely the guy who’s standing in his way will be Mitchell Mesenbrink.
And while these two guys squared off in last season’s Black Knight Invite (Mesenbrink won 8-5), this matchup simply means more.
174
Levi Haines
NCAA seed: 2
Did they get it right?: Sí
Opening round matchup: No. 31 Avery Bassett (LH)
Roadblock: Semifinals matchup against No. 3 Dean Hamiti (OKST)
One of the best matches of the entire year last year was when Mitchell Mesenbrink and Dean Hamiti faced each other in the 2024 B1G finals.
Levi Haines and Hamiti have never faced each other in college. But one thing we know is that both of these guys are supremely talented. Both Levi and Dean are two-time All-Americans.
However, Haines knows what it’s like to hoist a championship trophy.
And that means a lot. Especially in tough matches under the bright lights of the NCAA Championships.
184
Carter Starocci
Credit – Lloyd McCully
NCAA seed: 1
Did they get it right?:
Opening round matchup: No. 32 Caden Rogers (LEH) or No. 33 TJ McDonnell (ORST)
Roadblock: Finals matchup agai … just kidding!
Look, I’m not saying it’s going to be a cake walk for Starocci. Far from it.
But the only thing standing in the way of Carter Starocci and five individual titles is himself. Plain and simple.
There’s not a single guy in that bracket who has the talent and drive that Carter has. And that’s including a 24-0 Parker Keckeisen (UNI).
Starocci knows what he has to do. Furthermore, he knows what it takes to reach the mountain top. And I don’t even think a grizzly bear could stand in his way at this point.
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197
Josh Barr
Credit – Lloyd McCully
NCAA seed: 4
Did they get it right?: Yes
Opening round matchup: No. 29 Tucker Hogan
Roadblock: Dealing with his injured leg
So we know that Josh Barr is going to compete in the NCAA’s. What we don’t know is the extent of his injury and how much it will impact him.
One thing we do know for sure is that there’s no chance he’s going to be 100%. Barring (pun intended) his injury, it’s likely he wouldn’t be at 100% anyway. Heck at this point in the season no one is at full strength.
That’s just the nature of wrestling.
The best case scenario I can see is for Barr to not severely aggravate his injury. And if he’s able to do that, then I believe he can still finish as an All-American on only one leg. Because that’s just how good Josh is.
285
Greg Kerkvliet
Credit – Scott Pilutik
NCAA seed: 3
Did they get it right?: I guess so
Opening round matchup: No. 30 Sam Mitchell (WYO)
Roadblock: Semifinals matchup against No. 2 Wyatt Hendrickson (OKST)
I’m betting you thought I would have listed Gable Steveson as Kerk’s biggest roadblock. And while I agree with that, I also think Wyatt Hendrickson could end Greg’s run in the championship bracket.
Now I’m not saying he will. I’m just saying he has a pretty good chance of doing it.
The reason is simple.
Greg Kerkvliet plowed his way through the 285 field last season and won both a B1G and NCAA title. But now that Steveson is back after his three year hiatus from college wrestling, I’m sure this has to mess with a lot of the guys from a mental standpoint.
If Greg and Wyatt do matchup in the semi’s, will Kerk be thinking ahead to his match against Gable? Or will he be laser focused on the task at hand?
The good news is that we will find out soon enough!
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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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