Penn State Wrestling's PJ Duke defeats Easton Doster 19-4 in Penn State's dual meet against Rutgers (1/10/26). Credit - Lloyd McCully
Penn State Wrestling defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 32-3 Friday night in the Carver-Hawkeye arena in their second B1G dual of the 2025-2026 season.
And it was evident from the start that the Nittany Lions were there to do two things. Chew gum and kick butt.
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Unfortunately for Iowa, the Penn State Wrestling team apparently only brought a single stick of gum. Because from the get go the guys in the blue and white set the tone for the night.
Furthermore, the Nittany Lions won nine of the 10 matches in the dual meet. And they tacked on three bonus points wins in the hard fought dual.
But enough about that.
Onto the action!
Penn State Wrestling vs. Iowa| FULL RESULTS
Credit – Lloyd McCully
125-157
The dual started out at 125 where both Luke Lilledahl and Marcus Blaze got the scoring started for the Nittany Lions.
Lilledahl picked up an 11-5 decision and Blaze notched a 4-2 decision to give the Nittany Lions an early 6-0 lead.
Then at 141, Braeden Davis got his second straight start in the lineup. And while he wrestled a tough match, he ultimately dropped a close 3-2 decision.
One note here. I think Davis just needs some time on the mat. The Penn State Wrestling coaching staff is going with him at this spot because they believe he gives them the best shot going forward. And even though I originally thought Nate Desmond would be the guy, I’m all on board with Davis.
He’ll be just fine with some more reps.
Next up at 149, Shayne Van Ness picked up the first bonus point win for the Nittany Lions. After the score was knotted 4-4 going into the final period, Van Ness really picked up his pace rolling to the 13-4 major decision.
And to close out the first half of the dual, PJ Duke won a thrilling 4-2 decision. His third period takedown gave the Nittany Lions a 13-3 lead going into the intermission.
165-285
Coming out of the break, Mitchell Mesenbrink got to work early. Picking up a takedown in each of the periods, Mesenbrink powered through to the 11-2 major decision.
And next up at 174, most Penn State Wrestling fans were expecting a matchup between Levi Haines and Patrick Kennedy. However the Hawkeyes chose to go with Gabe Arnold.
But the match wasn’t any less exciting.
Haines controlled the majority of the match as he picked up the tough fought 4-2 decision. Thus giving the Nittany Lions a 20-3 lead over Iowa.
Perhaps the most intriguing matchup of the night came at 184. Moreover it was No. 1 ranked Angelo Ferrari who locked horns with No. 4 ranked Rocco Welsh.
And with the scored tied 1-1 following the third period, it was onto sudden victory.
But unfortunately neither guy could land the winning takedown. Although it is worth noting that Ferrari stalled his face off in the sudden victory. However the referee did not ding him with his second stall call, which would have ended the match.
In the first TB, Welsh rode Ferrari for the full 30 seconds. But, boy, was that not an easy task.
Rocco then broke free from bottom position midway the final TB. The two wrestlers were squared up on their feet as the final whistle blew. And it was Rocco Welsh who came away with the amazing 2-1 decision win.
Then in the final two matches of the evening, Josh Barr and Cole Mirasola won both of their respective bouts.
Barr pinned his opponent in the second period and Mirasola won a razor close 4-3 decision.
It’s also worth noting that Penn State Wrestling handed Iowa it’s worst ever home loss at Carver-Hawkeye arena.
You hate to see it.
Penn State 32 Iowa 3
125 – No. 2 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) dec. over No. 6 Dean Peterson (IOWA) 11-5, PSU 3 IOWA 0
133 – No. 4 Marcus Blaze (PSU) dec. over No. 8 Drake Ayala (IOWA) 4-2, PSU 6 IOWA 0
141 – No. 11 Nasir Bailey (IOWA) dec. over No. 7 Braeden Davis (PSU) 3-2, PSU 6 IOWA 3
149 – No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) major dec. over No. 17 Ryder Block (IOWA) 13-4, PSU 10 IOWA 3
157 – No. 3 PJ Duke (PSU) dec. over No. 12 Jordan Williams (IOWA) 4-2, PSU 13 IOWA 3
165 – No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) major dec. over No. 3 Mikey Caliendo (IOWA) 11-2, PSU 17 IOWA 3
174 – No. 1 Levi Haines (PSU) dec. over Gabe Arnold (IOWA) 4-2, PSU 20 IOWA 3
184 – No.4 Rocco Welsh (PSU) dec. over No. 1 Angelo Ferrari (IOWA) 2-1 TB, PSU 23 IOWA 3
197 – No. 1 Josh Barr (PSU) fall over Brody Sampson (IOWA) 3:42, PSU 29 IOWA 3
285 – No. 13 Cole Mirasola (PSU) dec. over No. 5 Ben Kueter (IOWA) 4-3, PSU 32 IOWA 3
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Nittany Lion Notes, What’s Next for Penn State Wrestling?
Credit – Lloyd McCully
Penn State Wrestling further extends their NCAA record dual meet winning streak to 79.
The team is now 8-0 on the year and 2-0 in B1G duals.
Cael Sanderson’s career record for the Nittany Lions now climbs to 226-16-2.
Penn State Wrestling continues their road trip in the Midwest as they travel from Iowa to Evanston on Sunday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions are set to square off against Northwestern at 3:00pm EST. The dual meet will be available on the B1G+ network. And for your audio pleasure, Iron Head Byers will broadcast via Lion Vision on the gopsusports.com website.
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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 vs. Iowa | FULL RESULTS - January 16, 2026
- Penn State Wrestling vs. Rutgers | FULL RESULTS - January 10, 2026
- Penn State Wrestling: Matchups, How to watch, and Prediction for Nittany Lions vs Rutgers dual meet - January 10, 2026
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