TAKEAWAYS: Penn State scores top 15 win ahead of massive showdown this week

Penn State wrestling cruised to a 35-3 win over No. 13 Rutgers last Friday night in Piscataway, New Jersey. The Nittany Lions flexed their muscles once again, taking home nine of ten matches. While it may not have been as dominant of an evening for several Penn State wrestlers individually, it was still a great showing as the team looks ahead to this weekend’s massive showdown with No. 2 Iowa.

Luke Lilledahl pays the “Cael Tax”

Whenever a star Nittany Lions freshman loses the first dual of their college career, the running joke about paying the “Cael Tax” to protect their coach’s perfect college record always reappears. Despite all the superstars who have come through the Penn State wrestling program over the years, none of them have exited without a blemish.

And the joke continues into 2025, as superstar freshman No. 6 Luke Lilledahl suffered his first loss of the season in an upset to No. 19 Dean Peterson by a 4-1 decision. Peterson wrestled a strong defensive match and never let Lilledahl get anything going. He wrestled like a veteran and scored when he needed to in the third period to get the win. In a way, it was reminiscent of some of the Beau Bartlett matches that Penn State wrestling fans have watched for years.

While the loss was surprising, it could be good for Lilledahl moving forward. The pressure should be off the young freshman now, and it is better to pick this loss up in the regular season than at the NCAA Championships. Most wrestlers that win a national title don’t even enter the tournament undefeated.

Lilledahl has no other top-10 wrestlers left on the regular season schedule, but there are a few in the top 30. As a result, we may get another opportunity to gauge his improvement until the Big Ten Championships in March.

Rutgers shows a blueprint

© Peter Ackerman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The score may not show it, but Rutgers may have given other teams a blueprint on how to slow down Penn State. Yes, the Nittany Lions picked up four technical falls in their nine wins. However, the Scarlet Knights prevented some of Penn State’s biggest stars from scoring bonus points.

At 157, No. 3 Tyler Kasak defeated No. 31 Conner Harer by only a 4-0 decision. At 174, No. 2 Levi Haines only defeated No. 22 Jackson Turley by a 5-2 decision. Braeden Davis, Beau Bartlett, and Greg Kerkvliet all won by four points or less.

The Scarlet Knights wrestled defensively and limited the high attack rate we usually see early in matches by the high-powered Nittany Lions. Dean Peterson was able to score late on a less experienced Luke Lilledahl for the win. But the narrow defeats for Conner Harer and Jackson Turley were impressive, considering how much Kasak and Haines have dominated ranked opponents this season.

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The question now becomes whether the slow-it-down defensive strategy is good enough to actually beat some of Penn State’s stars. Ultimately, that question may need to be deferred until after the Iowa matchup this weekend. The Hawkeyes have multiple wrestlers ranked inside the top 5 of their respective weight classes and will easily be the most talented lineup that Penn State wrestling will face all season.

If Cael Sanderson’s squad dominates on Friday night, then the Rutgers dual may become more of a fluke and a blip on the radar in another dominant NCAA Championship run. However, if we see a similar strategy from Iowa that leads to wins, there may be some merit to the defensive strategy blueprint moving forward.

Penn State wrestling teammates battle for Hodge Trophy

Right now, it is hard to pick against Carter Starocci to win this season’s Dan Hodge Trophy. He is off to an undefeated 12-0 start with a 100% bonus along the way. By far the highest bonus percentage of his career, the four-time NCAA Champion has averaged 59.73% bonus over the past four seasons.

In any other year, that would be good enough to bring home the “Heisman of college wrestling.” However, the only issue this season is that Mitchell Mesenbrink has looked even more dominant.

Mesenbrink is also off to an undefeated start, now 13-0  with a 100% bonus. Outside of two forfeits, he has won all his matches by technical fall. Further, Mesenbrink hasn’t given up a takedown and has allowed no more than five points in a match all season.

But Mesenbrink’s hot start will be tested this weekend against No. 2 Mikey Caliendo of Iowa, who is also 13-0. Last year, Mesenbrink went 3-0 against Caliendo, with a 12-6 decision in the regular season, a 23-7 tech fall (6:48) at the Big Ten Championships, and a 17-9 major decision in the NCAA Semifinals. A heavy favorite to win again on Friday, Mesenbrink may even be able to score bonus points in the highly anticipated matchup on Friday night.

There is a good chance that Starocci and Mesenbrink both finish the season as undefeated National Champions. If that happens, the Nittany Lion teammates could split the Hodge Trophy votes. While still far away, the small internal battle adds intrigue as Penn State wrestling barrels toward another dominant season.

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