Wrestling: No. 1 Penn State Dominates No. 2 Ohio State 35-6, Clinches Big Ten Regular Season Title

In a clash of the country’s final two unbeaten teams, No. 1 Penn State (14-0, 8-0 Big Ten) defeated No. 2 Ohio State (17-1, 6-1 Big Ten) 36-5, leaving no doubt as the Nittany Lions claimed the Big Ten regular season crown Friday night at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa.

Penn State’s win marked its sixth-straight Big Ten regular-season title and the 12th regular-season championship in head coach Cael Sanderson’s tenure with the Nittany Lions.

Penn State has now won 85 consecutive dual meets dating back to Jan. 31, 2020, when the No. 2 Nittany Lions fell to No. 1 Iowa, 19-17.

Following a scoreless opening period at 125 pounds, Ohio State’s No. 2 Nic Bouzakis escaped No. 1 Luke Lilledahl to begin the second period, before the 2025 Big Ten champion, Lilledahl, battled back with an escape to start the third frame. Once the bout moved into sudden victory, Lilledahl secured the decisive takedown on Bouzakis to earn a 4-1 decision, marking the Buckeye’s first loss of the season to a non-Ohio State wrestler.

It was another tight battle at 133 pounds. Scoreless after one period, Ohio State’s No. 2 Ben Davino took a 1-0 lead with a second-period escape before No. 4 Marcus Blaze evened it with an escape in the third period. After a scoreless sudden victory, Blaze used a tiebreaker reversal to secure a 3-2 win and extend Penn State’s lead to six.

The Buckeyes’ No. 1 Jesse Mendez kept Ohio State’s hopes alive with an 18-2 technical fall victory over No. 12 Braeden Davis of Penn State, cutting Penn State’s advantage to one.

Despite the Buckeyes’ best efforts, it was all Nittany Lions from there. Penn State claimed victories in each of the next seven bouts, including four-straight wins by extra points from 149-174.

At 149, Penn State’s No. 1 Shayne Van Ness earned a 20-5 technical fall over Brogan Fielding before No. 4 PJ Duke pinned Daxton Chase at 3:28 to balloon the lead to 17-5.

Top-ranked 165-pounder Mitchell Mesenbrink then rolled to a 12-2 major decision against Ohio State’s No. 16 Paddy Gallagher and Penn State’s No. 1 Levi Haines secured a 16-1 technical fall over T.J. Schierl in the 174-pound weight class to push the score to 26-5.  

Former Buckeyes and No. 1 Nittany Lion Rocco Welsh rallied to edge No. 8 Dylan Fishback at 184 pounds, 7-6. Fishback led both 4-0 and 5-4, though a late Welsh takedown secured another tight win by decision for Penn State.

Penn State continued its thrashing of the Buckeyes at 197 pounds as No. 1 Josh Barr defeated No. 10 Luke Geog by an 11-2 major decision and extended the match lead to 28.

In the heavyweight class, Penn State capped off its dominant victory as No. 12 Cole Mirasola (PSU) upset Ohio State’s No. 3 Nick Feldman via a 4-1 sudden victory, clinching the Nittany Lions 36-5 win.

The Nittany Lions’ win packed the Bryce Jordan Center with a record-setting crowd, as Penn State drew 16,006 fans for the top-ranked showdown, surpassing the previous NCAA and program high of 15,998.

Ohio State will look to get back on track in its regular season finale when it travels to College Park, Md., to take on Maryland (4-8, 0-7 Big Ten) at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Stephen M. Schanwald Pavilion at XFINITY Center.

_{Image courtesy of Ohio State Athletics}