No. 2 Ohio State (17-0, 6-0 Big Ten) begins its final road stretch on Friday at 7 p.m. against top-ranked Penn State (13-0, 7-0 Big Ten) at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa., in the Buckeyes’ penultimate dual of the season.
Though Ohio State has won its first 17 matches to begin the year, the best start in the program’s history, it will still be an uphill battle for the Buckeyes against the Nittany Lions, who, under head coach Cael Sanderson, have claimed 12 of the last 14 NCAA championships and nine of the last 14 Big Ten titles.
According to InterMat’s weekly rankings, Penn State boasts an absurd six wrestlers ranked No. 1 nationally at their respective weight classes — Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds, 15-0 overall record), Shayne Van Ness (149, 16-0), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165, 17-0), Levi Haines (174, 16-0), Rocco Welsh (184, 15-0) and Josh Barr (197, 14-0).
There will be a clash of the top two wrestlers in the nation at 125 pounds with No. 2 Nic Bouzakis (12-1) set to challenge No. 1 Lilledahl. Lilledahl, the 2025 All-American and Big Ten champion, remains unbeaten this season, while Bouzakis’ only loss was a narrow 5-4 decision to 125-pound teammate Brendan McCrone at the 2025 Clarion Open on Nov. 2, 2025. McCrone has not competed since NC State on Dec. 12, 2025, due to injury.
Despite a 17-0 record, Nittany Lions’ 133-pounder Marcus Blaze is ranked fourth nationally and will wrestle against Ohio State’s No. 2 Ben Davino, who holds the best record in the country (22-0) at the weight.
Penn State has only two wrestlers ranked outside the top 10: No. 12 Braeden Davis (8-2) at 141 pounds and No. 12 Cole Mirasola (12-4) at heavyweight. Ohio State’s No. 1 Jesse Mendez (17-0) will face off against Davis, while No. 3 Nick Feldman (18-3) is set to take on Mirasola. With Penn State holding a major advantage in the six weights from 149 to 197 pounds, it will be vital for Mendez and Feldman to earn bonus points in their respective classes.
Davis and Mirasola are responsible for six of Penn State’s seven dual losses among starters in 2025-26, with No. 4 PJ Duke (14-1) being the only other Nittany Lion starter to drop a dual bout this season. Collectively, Penn State’s 10 starters have compiled a 144-7 record.
At 149 pounds, Oregon State transfer Ethan Stiles (13-4) is set to meet Van Ness in a rematch from the 2025 NCAA Championships. In their previous meeting, Van Ness pinned Stiles in just 1:06, advancing to the third-place match where he secured a 15-4 major decision over former Buckeye Dylan D’Emilio to earn a third-place finish.
With No. 1 157-pounder Brandon Cannon out for Ohio State’s final two duals, Ohio State is prepared to go with one of two redshirt freshmen, Landon Desselle or Daxton Chase, to face off against fourth-ranked Duke.
Against the lightning-quick Mesenbrink at 165 pounds, a two-time Big Ten champion (2024-25) and the 2025 national champion, Ohio State can either opt to roll out the long and lanky redshirt freshman e’Than Birden (18-8), or the shorter, yet more experienced redshirt senior Paddy Gallagher (11-5), who has lost three of his last five bouts against ranked opponents.
Graduate 174-pounder Carson Kharchla (14-3), who is most recently coming off a tight 2-1 decision to Iowa’s No. 3 Patrick Kennedy, will face his biggest challenge of the year with Haines. Holding the last three Big Ten championships at 174, as well as the 2024 NCAA title, Haines defeated Kharchla by a 6-4 decision in their lone bout at the collegiate level in 2024-25. Kharchla also fell to Haines by a 10-5 decision at the 2025 Senior World Team Trials.
Penn State’s Welsh spent the previous two seasons at Ohio State, including a 28-6 freshman campaign where he finished as the national runner-up, and a 15-0 redshirt freshman campaign. NC State All-American Dylan Fishback (14-4), Welsh’s replacement at 184 pounds, will aim to knock off the redshirt sophomore and snap his unbeaten streak.
At 197 pounds, redshirt sophomore Luke Geog will look to extend his streak of three straight extra-point victories as he takes on Barr, the NCAA runner-up last season, who also earned All-American honors.
Penn State is most recently coming off a dominant 38-3 dual victory against Michigan, with Mirasola standing as the Nittany Lions only hiccup at heavyweight, falling to the Wolverines No. 5 Taye Ghadiali by a 4-1 decision.
Image courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
