Star true freshman jumps into All-American contention with newest rankings

Luke Lilledahl continues to shine for Penn State wrestling. The true freshman sensation lived up to the hype again this past Friday during the Nittany Lions’ 31-7 rout of No. 6 Nebraska. Lilledahl upset No. 6 Caleb Smith 4-1 to improve to 11-0 on the season.

The victory resulted in a massive jump in the latest InterMat rankings for the Nittany Lion newcomer, from No. 12 to No. 6 in the 125-pound weight class. With Friday’s win, the true freshman officially established himself as a national title contender and is currently projected to be an All-American with his current ranking.

Emerging Penn State wrestling star has favorable path to an undefeated regular season

© Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Lilledahl had lofty expectations to meet when he committed to Penn State wrestling as the No. 1 overall recruit for the 2024 class. But through the first two months of his college career, Lilledahl has delivered. With a perfect 11-0 record, the true freshman now touts a pair of big-time road wins over No. 11 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) and No. 7 Caleb Smith (Nebraska).

Those victories were also the most formidable opponents that Lilledahl will face for the remainder of the dual season based on the latest InterMat rankings. He will not see No. 1 Matt Ramos (Purdue) or No. 8 Cooper Flynn (Minnesota) until at least the Big Ten Championships. Lilledahl’s three remaining ranked opponents include No. 16 Brendan McCrone (Ohio State), No. 19 Dean Peterson (Rutgers), and No. 28 Joey Cruz (Iowa).

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Lilledahl will first battle Peterson on Friday night when Penn State wrestling travels to Piscataway. Downing the junior Scarlet Knight with relative ease should help boost Lilledahl’s confidence to defeat the other two ranked opponents.

As evidenced by then-No. 5 Braden Davis’s upset by No. 16 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) this past weekend, it’s entirely possible for Lilledahl to get taken down by someone ranked behind him. However, we could very well see the true freshman be 18-0 heading into March’s Big Ten Championships. While Ramos sits at 20-0 this season, the 125-pound weight class always seems to produce chaos, as evidenced by Davis’s title run as a freshman last spring.

We likely need a few more high-caliber data points to determine just how much of a national title contender Luke Lilledahl is this season. But match-by-match, the true freshman Nittany Lion has been removing any doubt that he can make a deep postseason run during his first season in Happy Valley.

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