By Pat Donghia gopsusports.com
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026 — Penn State (7-0, 1-0 B1G) hits the road for two Big Ten dual meets this weekend. The Nittany Lions are at Iowa (8-2, 1-0 B1G) on Friday, Jan. 16, for a 7 p.m. Eastern dual on the Big Ten Network. Two days later, Penn State visits Northwestern (3-1, 1-0) on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 3 p.m. Eastern. Northwestern battles Wisconsin while Penn State visits Iowa. All rankings are InterMat/InterMat TPI.
The Nittany Lions are coming off a 46-0 shutout win over visiting Rutgers last Saturday. Penn State picked up three pins, two techs and three majors in blanking the Scarlet Knights to improve to 7-0 on the year and win its Big Ten opener.
Penn State has ten wrestlers ranked by InterMat. Luke Lilledahl is 9-0 and No. 2 at 125. Marcus Blaze is 11-0 and No. 4 at 133. Braeden Davis is 5-0 and No. 7 at 141. Shayne Van Ness is 10-0 and No. 1 at 149. PJ Duke is 9-0 and No. 3 at 157. Mitchell Mesenbrink is 11-0 and No. 1 at 165. Levi Haines is 10-0 and No. 1 at 174. Rocco Welsh is 9-0 and No. 4 at 184. Josh Barr is 8-0 and No. 1 at 197. Cole Mirasola is 8-2 and No. 13 at 285.
A reminder that per NCAA rules, when two wrestlers from the same team meet in a tournament, the result is not official as THEY ARE NOT OFFICIAL MATCHES. It does not count as a win or a loss. Please see rule 9, section 6, article 4, found on page 79 of the official 2025-26 NCAA Wrestling rule book.
“Art. 4. Non-Allowable ISRF Matches. Matches between teammates, against opponents who are not listed on an institutional roster, a club-level wrestler, a prospective student-athlete or an armed services student-athlete shall not be counted.”
Iowa enters Friday’s dual with an 8-2 record, 1-0 in the conference. The Hawkeyes opened up the Big Ten season with a win over Wisconsin and have ten wrestlers ranked by InterMat. Dean Peterson is No. 6 at 125. Drake Ayala is No. 8 at 133. Nasir Bailey is No. 11 at 141. Ryder Block is No. 17 at 149. Jordan Williams is No. 12 at 157. Michael Caliendo is No. 3 at 165. Patrick Kennedy is No. 3 at 174. Angelo Ferrrari is No. 1 at 184. Massoma Endene is No. 4 at 197. Ben Kueter is No. 5 at 285. Iowa leads the all-time series with Penn State 28-14-2. Penn State has won the last four meetings, including last year’s 30-8 win on Jan. 31, 2025, in the BJC. Penn State won the last meeting in Iowa City 29-6 on Feb. 9, 2024.
Northwestern, which is at Wisconsin on Friday night while PSU is at Iowa, enters the weekend 3-1, 1-0 in the Big Ten NU opened the conference slate last weekend with a win over Maryland. The Wildcats have four ranked wrestlers. Dedrick Navarro is No. 26 at 125. Sean Spidle is No. 24 at 133. Billy Dekraker is No. 32 at 141. Eddie Enright is No. 32 at 174. Penn State leads the all-time series 18-1-0, including the last meeting, a 29-13 victory on Jan. 30, 2021, in Evanston.
Penn State continues conference action next weekend with two dual meets. The Nittany Lions are at Iowa on Friday, Jan. 16, for a 7 p.m. Eastern dual and then at Northwestern on Sunday, Jan. 18, for a 3 p.m. Eastern match-up. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via X/twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. The 2025-26 Penn State Wrestling Season is sponsored by The Family Clothesline. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.
#1 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (7-0, 1-0 B1G)
125 #2 Luke Lilledahl So. Weldon Spring, Mo./Wyoming Seminary 9-0
133 #4 Marcus Blaze Fr. Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg 11-0
141 #7 Braeden Davis Jr. Belleville, Mich./Dundee 5-0
Aaron Nagao Jr. La Habra, Calif./Esperanza 5-2
149 #1 Shayne Van Ness Jr. Somerville, N.J./Blair Academy 10-0
157 #3 PJ Duke Fr. State Hill, N.Y./Minisink Valley 9-0
165 #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink Jr. Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead 11-0
174 #1 Levi Haines Sr. Arendtsville, Pa./Biglerville 10-0
184 #4 Rocco Welsh So. Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central 9-0
197 #1 Josh Barr So. Davison, Mich./Davison 8-0
Connor Mirasola R-Fr. Jackson, Wis./West Bend 6-1
285 #13 Cole Mirasola R-Fr. Jackson, Wis./West Bend 8-2
#3 IOWA HAWKEYES (8-2, 1-0 B1G)
125 #6 Dean Peterson Sr. Barnegat, N.J./Saint John Vianney 7-1
Keyan Hernandez R-Fr. Billings, Mont./Billings West 5-3
133 #8 Drake Ayala Sr. Fort Doge, Iowa/Fort Doge 4-4
141 #11 Nasir Bailey Jr. Park Forest, Ill./Rich Township 9-3
Kale Petersen So. Rockwell, Iowa/Greene County 8-1
149 #17 Ryder Block So. Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock 6-2
157 #12 Jordan Williams Jr. Tulsa, Okla./Owasso 7-2
165 #3 Michael Caliendo Sr. Geneva, Illinois/Batavia 9-1
174 #3 Patrick Kennedy Sr. Kasson-Mantorville, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville 9-1
184 #1 Angelo Ferrari R-Fr. Melissa, Texas/Melissa 9-0
197 #4 Massoma Endene Gr. Dallas, Texas/James Bowie 6-1
Harvey Ludington Fr. Tinton Falls, N.J./Brick Memorial 5-3
285 #5 Ben Kueter So. Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa City 3-1
NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS (*3-1, 1-0 B1G)
125 #26 Dedrick Navarro So. Nampa, Idaho/Nampa 11-8
133 #24 Sean Spidle Sr. Lapeer, Mich./Powers Catholic 1-4
141 #32 Billy Dekraker Fr. Warrenton, Va./Blair Academy 9-4
149 Sam Cartella So. Hudson, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy 11-7
157 Gunnar Myers R-Fr. Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack 8-6
165 Jacob Bostelman So. Parker, Colo./Ponderosa 8-7
174 #32 Eddie Enright R-Fr. Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel 17-5
184 J.D. Perez Gr. Deming, N.M./Deming 4-7
197 Alex Smith Fr. Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep 6-7
285 Gabe Christenson Gr. Runnells, Iowa/Southeast Polk 5-5
