Penn State Wrestling Standouts Dominate U.S. Open: Full Results and Analysis
Wrestling season doesn’t end at the NCAA Championships. Alongside the Penn State Wrestling camp is the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club where wrestlers compete for a chance to represent Team USA internationally in freestyle or Greco-Roman wrestling.
Freestyle is a bit different from college wrestling, which is folk style. Simply exposing the opponent’s back to the mat secures near-fall points and can lead to matches ending very quickly, with tech falls coming at 10 points in freestyle as opposed to 15 points in folk style.
You can read more about the differences between freestyle, folk style, and Greco-Roman here
Anyway, the guys have to stay sharp all year round, right? I’m tired just thinking about it.
From a team that was only the second ever with 10 All-Americans, of course, a few are competing at the next level, and some with great chances at representing Team USA with their performances this weekend.
The US Open has many divisions, and Penn State is represented very well in most of them. Look for a follow-up article about some of the other divisions.
But, for now, we’re focusing on the guys in the Senior Circuit.
Believe it or not, quite a few other high-profile wrestlers from the NCAA are also competing out of their local wrestling clubs, so there may be familiar names and matchups.
Luke Lilledahl and Mitch Mesenbrink took home the gold, future Nittany Lion Rocco Welsh took fifth place, and Sam Beckett had an impressive 3-2 record on the weekend. Below is a closer look at each wrestler’s tournament.
Luke Lilledahl – 57KG
As a freshman, Luke scored a huge upset to win the Big Ten Championship, followed by a run to third at the NCAAs.
Lilledahl is wrestling in the offseason and made a run to the Championship Final of the US Open where he further cemented his “Lightning Luke” nickname with a 28 second tech fall and followed it up with 2 more big wins to put him in the Champion Final where he faced off against former Nebraska Cornhusker Liam Cronin.
A steady Diet of takedowns gave Lightning Luke the Gold over Cronin, giving him a claim to represent Team USA.
Mitchell Mesenbrink – 74KG
Mitch went undefeated during the collegiate season, winning a Big Ten and NCAA Championship in his Sophomore campaign.
Not only that he cruised to the US Open Final with the same consistency, winning his first three bouts via 10-0 tech fall in under two minutes. In the final, Mesenbrink faced off a familiar foe in David Carr of Iowa State whom he lost to in the 2024 NCAA Finals.
In the final, Carr scored some early points but Mitch was able to comeback and tie the score 4-4 after the first period and took the lead early in the second and didn’t look back finishing with a 16-6 Tech fall for 1st place.
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Sam Beckett – 79kg
Wrestling at 174lbs at Penn State Beckett wrestled unattached throughout the season and amassed a 12-5 collegiate record.
Being in the same weight class as Levi Haines, Beckett didn’t get much of a chance to show off his talents, but allowed him to have an overall successful US Open.
Sam won his first match by 7-0 decision, and his next bout had a similar score of 7-1, but the decision went to the opponent. He came back to win his next 2 matches in the consolation bracket before losing to the eventual fourth-place finisher.
He finished with a record of 3-2, even though there isn’t a place attached to his finish, he had a winning record on the weekend, which sounds successful to me.
86 kg – Rocco Welsh
Even though Welsh is a new transfer and wasn’t representing the Nittany Lion Club at this tournament, he will join the team next season, so why not take a look at his performance?
Overall, Welsh went 5-2 for a fifth-place finish, but he earned every bit of it, and I’ll explain, but you have to follow closely … Welsh lost to Parker Keckeisen in the quarterfinals and then to Chance Marstellar in the Consolation Semi-finals.
But, Marstellar beat Keckeisen in the 3rd place match and Keckeisen took 4th after beating Marcus Coleman in previous round, and Welsh beat Coleman in the 5th place match.
I know that was a lot, and it’s the normal flow of a wrestling tournament, but that felt different when I was analyzing this bracket.
MORE Penn State Wrestling News from NittanyCentral:
- “Steal”water or Happy Valley West: How Oklahoma State is Copying Penn State’s Blueprint
-
Penn State Wrestling Lineup Projection: Mesenbrink, Haines, Welsh Lead the Charge in 2025-26
-
Penn State Wrestling Recruiting: No. 1 Overall Prospect Marcus Blaze Set to Make Instant Impact
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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.
- Penn State Wrestling Standouts Dominate U.S. Open: Full Results and Analysis - April 29, 2025
- “Steal”water or Happy Valley West: How Oklahoma State is Copying Penn State’s Blueprint - April 18, 2025
- Penn State Wrestling 2025-26 Lineup Projection, Part 1: Luke Lilledahl Leads Deep Group of Returners - April 8, 2025