Penn State wrestling learns pre-seeds for Big Ten Championships

After capturing its fifth consecutive undefeated regular season, Penn State wrestling now turns its attention to the postseason. The Nittany Lions will enter both the Big Ten and NCAA Championships as heavy favorites to repeat their dominance from a year ago. On Wednesday afternoon, Cael Sanderson and the Nittany Lions learned the preliminary seeding for this weekend’s conference tournament in Evanston. The seeding will be finalized on Friday, with the action kicking off Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. on BTN.

Penn State wrestling Big Ten Championships pre-seeding

No. 4 Luke Lilledahl (125)

Luke Lilledahl has lived up to the hype so far in his true freshman year. The No. 1 overall recruit for the class of 2024 finished the regular season with a 16-2 record and a 61.11% bonus. The success has him ranked No. 8 in the country. However, a lack of top-end opponents still leaves questions as to whether the star freshman is a national title contender.

The 125-pound weight class doesn’t have much depth in the Big Ten this year, with only three wrestlers ranked inside the top 10. But the conference does have No. 1 Matt Ramos (Purdue), who currently sits at 23-0. If Lilledahl is going to win the Big Ten title, it will most likely go through Ramos. If the Nittany Lion newcomer is here to win a national championship, taking down the top-ranked wrestler in the weight class would certainly be a defining statement.

No. 4 Braeden Davis (133)

Braeden Davis enters the Big Ten Championships with plenty of potential to improve his NCAA seeding after missing several duals this season due to injury. It is hard to gain a clear picture of where Davis is at nationally, but InterMat currently ranks him No. 5 in the country. However, the 133-pound weight class is deep in the Big Ten, with top four wrestlers currently ranked in the top six.

Davis holds an 8-3 record with a 27.27% bonus. The sample size is smaller than normal heading into the postseason, but the sophomore has shown that he can put it together at the right time, evidenced by his Big Ten title run at 125 pounds last season. If the 133-pounder is able to repeat that performance, he will be another Nittany Lion who has the potential to win the national title in three weeks.

No. 1 Beau Bartlett (141)

Beau Bartlett has been on this stage plenty before. This year seems like déjà vu to 2024 when Bartlett beat Jesse Mendez in the regular season but fell to the Buckeye in the Big Ten and NCAA Finals. This year, the two are on a collision course to once again matchup in a championship dual.

Bartlett is 18-0 with a 50% bonus and is ranked No. 1 in the country entering this weekend. If he is able to win the Big Ten Championship, he will also lock up the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Championships.

No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (149)

Shayne Van Ness has excelled this year after his season ending injury in 2024. Penn State wrestling’s 149-pounder has mostly stayed steady as the No. 2 ranked wrestler in the country. He enters the Big Ten Championships with a 17-1 record and 77.78% bonus. His only loss on the season came as a 10-2 major decision to No. 4 Ridge Lovett of Nebraska. Since then, Van Ness has beaten No. 3 Kyle Parco of Iowa by 17-6 major decision.

The Big Ten Tournament will have massive implications on seeding for Nationals. Outside of an upset, it looks like Virginia Tech’s Caleb Henson will lock up the top seed at 149. After that, there is a trio of wrestlers positioning to be the other favorites to finish atop the podium in Philadelphia. The Big Ten’s 149-pounders have all beaten one of the other top wrestlers at some point this season. Lovett beat Van Ness, Van Ness beat Parco, and Parco beat Lovett. The winner of the conference will most likely secure the No. 2 seed, while the losers will either have a more difficult path to the NCAA Finals.

No. 2 Tyler Kasak (157)

Tyler Kasak has carried the momentum from his third place finish a year ago. Essentially undefeated and with a 50% bonus, his record officially sits at 15-1, but that lone loss came as an injury default to Ethen Miller (Maryland) after sustaining a head injury. InterMat clearly didn’t judge his one loss harshly, stilling ranking the Nittany Lion at No. 1 and Miller at No. 5 in the final rankings.

Kasak will be the favorite to win the Big Ten title this weekend, but he will have some stiff competition from a loaded field. The Big Ten has eight of the top 11 wrestlers, including four of the top five, heading into conference tournament weekend. As a result, Kasak will have to face a potential All-American for three straight rounds. The highly ranked wrestlers in this year’s field include No. 3 Jacori Teemer (Iowa), No. 4 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska), No. 5 Ethen Miller (Maryland), No. 7 Joey Blaze (Purdue), No. 8 Tommy Askey (Minnesota), No. 9 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern), and No. 11 Brandon Cannon (Ohio State). This will be the most entertaining weight class to watch in the entire tournament. The winner has an excellent chance to earn the No. 1 seed at the NCAAs.

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No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (165)

Mitchell Mesenbrink is the undisputed favorite to win the Big Ten and NCAA Championship at 165 pounds this season. Mesenbrink is 19-0 with a 100% bonus. Two of his victories have come by major decision, with the rest being technical falls. He has already defeated No. 2 Mikey Caliendo (Iowa) by a 19-4 tech fall. Not a single wrestler has taken the sophomore down this season. That streak will look to continue this weekend. The real question is how many bonus points he will pick up for Sanderson and Penn State wrestling.

No. 1 Levi Haines (174)

Although ranked No. 2 nationally, Levi Haines will be the favorite to take home the Big Ten title in Evanston. The junior is 17-1 with a 61.11% bonus. His only loss of the season came out of conference, a 4-1 sudden victory defeat to No. 1 Keegan O’Toole.

The top contender for Haines this weekend will be No. 4 Carson Kharchla of Ohio State, who held a third-period lead over the Nittany Lion wrestler when the two met in February. Haines will need to win this tournament in order to secure a top-three seed at the NCAA Championships. If O’Toole takes down Dean Hamiti in the Big 12 Championships, then Haines will likely be the No. 2 seed.

No. 1 Carter Starocci (184)

What is there left to say about four-time NCAA Champion Carter Starocci that hasn’t already been said? Starocci ranks No. 1 and holds an 18-0 record with a 94.44% bonus heading into the postseason. He has dominated just about everyone he has wrestled this season, including a 11-2 major decision over No. 7 Silas Allred (Nebraska), a 20-3 tech fall over No. 11 Jaxon Smith (Maryland), and a DQ win over No. 12 Edmond Ruth (Illinois).

Starocci’s biggest challenger in this tournament will be No. 4 Max McEnelly from Minnesota, who currently holds an 18-0 record.

No. 2 Josh Barr (197)

Josh Barr started this year ranked No. 23 in the preseason InterMat rankings. Heading into the Big Tens, he holds a 17-1 record with an 83.33% bonus. Not only is Barr a contender for the Big Ten title this weekend, he also a favorite to win national title in a few weeks.

However, the favorite at 197 this weekend will be Stephen Buchanan, who previously beaten Barr by 4-1 decision when Penn State wrestling and Iowa met in January. The other top contender is No. 3 Jacob Cardenas (Michigan), who Barr defeated 3-2 in tiebreaker in February. The winner of the conference tournament likely avoids having to face one of the other two wrestlers until the NCAA Final, increasing the already high stakes on this weekend.

No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet (285)

Despite being the defending national champion from a season ago, Greg Kerkvliet has found himself ranked No. 2 all year. As expected, the Penn State wrestling heavyweight has dominated, holding a 16-0 record with an 81.25% bonus. However, the presence of two-time NCAA Champion and Gold Medalist Gable Steveson (Minnesota) has kept him out of the top slot. Steveson currently has an 11-0 record with a 100% bonus. The two wrestlers will likely match up in the Big Ten Final and possibly again in the NCAA Final.

It looked like Kerkvliet was in a class of his own last year. Now, Steveson seems to have taken that level of dominance a step further. This tournament will be a great indication of how close Kerkvliet is to an Olympic standard. Even if he doesn’t win at the Big Ten Championships, if Kerkvliet at least keeps it competitive, it leaves the door open for a potential victory in two weeks.

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