Young Penn State wrestlers set to return to international competition at U20 Pan Am Championships

Although the action won’t be back in Happy Valley for another four months, Penn State wrestling is set to return to the mats with multiple Nittany Lions competing overseas in the coming weeks.

The international competition will kick off on Thursday with the 2025 U20 Pan American Championships in Lima, Peru. A trio of young Nittany Lion wrestlers and Penn State commits will suit up for Team USA in the hopes of bringing medals back to State College.

At 92 kg, redshirt freshman Connor Mirasola will look to repeat his headline-grabbing performance from last year’s U20 Pan Am Championships. Mirasola went undefeated last July, beating his competition by a combined score of 51-0 en route to being named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler.

The other half of the Mirasola tandem, Cole, will represent the United States at 125 kg. Incoming true freshman William Henckel is set to compete at 79 kg.

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After this weekend, Penn State wrestling sets its sights on the World Championships next. The series of tournaments will begin at the end of July when 2026 commit Jayden James hits the mats at the U17 World Championships in Athens, Greece. Henckel and the Mirasola twins will then travel to Samokov, Bulgaria, for the U20 World Championships beginning on August 17.

In September, two Nittany Lion wrestlers – Levi Haines and incoming freshman PJ Duke – as well as NLWC member Kyle Snyder will compete at the Senior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. Penn State wrestling will then have seven team members featured on Team USA for the U23 World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia in October. In addition to Haines and Duke, Luke Lilledahl, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Rocco Welsh, Josh Barr, and incoming freshman Marcus Blaze are expected to participate.

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