Down The Roster Dominance by Penn State Wrestling Grapplers at US Open
Penn State Wrestling didn’t just obliterate the competition at the top of the roster, but the Nittany Lions made a statement throughout the US Open tournament.
In addition to the highlighted wrestlers, Penn State had more than 10 other athletes competing in the U20 and U17 Freestyle divisions, with FIVE taking home championships.
First, the brothers Mirasola, Connor and Cole, both won gold at 97kg and 125kg respectively in the U20 division. These brothers made the family name proud by each securing 3 tech fall finishes on their championship runs.
Some highly ranked recruits also landed at the top of the podium in William Henckel at 79kg and PJ Duke at 70kg. Henckel finished his first 5 bouts by fall or tech fall. He faced Brock Mantanona, a talented Michigan wrestler, and won a back-and-forth match, securing the win late in the second period.
Meanwhile, PJ Duke was also impressive with 4 straight fall or tech fall victories to start his tournament. He went on to win the championship against uber talented Melvin Miller who is finishing up his sophomore year of high school. I’m sure we will see Miller again at the next level, hopefully not as an opponent.
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Penn State Wrestling Takes Down Competition at US Open
In the U17 division, Jayden James won first place at 71kg. What I find so impressive about this performance is not only did James win by tech fall in all 4 matches leading up to the final, but the final is best 2 out of 3 and he won the first by tech fall before taking the second bout for the championship via 3-1 decision. I’m sure he was tired so he can catch a break for not dominating the same opponent twice in a row.
Other competitors still fared very well, with many reaching the podium. We can’t expect the same level of dominance all year round, there were still 7 champions from Penn State or committed to Penn State.
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Both Sam Herring and Nathan Desmond competed at 61kg and took home 2nd and 6th respectively.
Marcus Blaze took third at 61kg in the senior division after a loss in the quarterfinals, he came back to win his next two matches for his bronze finish.
Beau Bartlett had a rare losing streak of 2 matches and ended up taking fifth place in the 65kg senior division. Dalton Perry and Brock Weiss also competed very well while not finishing, each had multiple wins in the tournament.
The path to making team USA is kind of complicated and I don’t fully get it yet but many of these guys will compete again at least once more this spring/summer in search of their spot.
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Penn State Wrestling 2025-26 Lineup Projection, Part 1: Luke Lilledahl Leads Deep Group of Returners
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New to sportswriting, Hurlbut Launched his personal blog, The Casual Fan in the past year.
He has a passion for sports, growing up in the midwest watching AFC North and Big Ten Football.
Kolin Attended THE Ohio State University and Purdue University earning a BS in Communication and MS in IT Project Management. Kolin also enjoys writing short stories based on his 12 year career in the US Army.