3 Penn State wrestling takeaways from Final X: PJ Duke shines and more

Penn State wrestling and the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club will have three starters on the senior Team USA at this year’s World Championships and multiple national team members following Final X. The annual event that sets the highest-level international team was held Saturday in Newark, N.J. Incoming freshman PJ Duke, senior Levi Haines, and NLWC member Kyle Syder all won their best of three series to take the first-team spots at 70, 79, and 97 kilograms, respectively. Luke Lilledahl, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Josh Barr, and Kyle Dake each lost their championship final and thus are the first alternates on the senior team and members of the national team. And, Marcus Blaze and Carter Starocci both won their third-place matches to earn a spot on Team USA, as well.

Here are our top takeaways from the event.

Penn State has a superstar coming in PJ Duke

You knew that already, of course. The New York native has won just about everything a high school athlete can win, but the fact that he pinned former Cornell star Yianni Diakomihalis in the third and final match of their series raises his profile even more. It looked like the new Nittany Lion would not make his first senior team after losing his first match by technical fall, 10-0, in just 3:26. But, he rallied back to win round two 17-10 before decking his former training partner at the 4:07 mark. It was as impressive as anything we saw last night.

The question now, of course, is where Duke could fit into the Penn State lineup? It seems absurd to suggest that a sitting senior team member would not have a starting lineup spot. But, Tyler Kasak returns at 157 pounds and is coming off of an All-American season. It will be fascinating to see how that wrestle-off shakes out.

Haines rolls to a win

Levi Haines, who finished third at NCAAs in his first year at 174 pounds following a national title at 157 pounds in 2024, is back on the top podium. He beat Evan Wick by technical fall, 10-0, in round one in 2:31 before using a takedown and exposure in the second period to sweep the series by winning 6-1. That, of course, gives him the 79 kilogram (174.1 pounds) senior Team USA spot. He enters 2025-2026 as one of the favorites to win his weight class, and his effort at Final X does nothing to change that outlook. It was a very workmanlike, impressive set of wins for the Nittany Lion.

Odds and ends

–There was never any doubt that David Carr could beat Mitchell Mesenbrink. But, we didn’t see it happening in a sweep. But, that’s exactly what happened. The former Iowa State star beat the Penn State defending NCAA champ 4-3 in round one and then on criteria 4-4 to take the series at 74 kilograms.

–When it comes to predictions we did get right, we wrote last week that Trent Hidlay’s advantage in strength and experience would be the difference against Josh Barr, and that ended up being the case. The former N.C. State All-American beat the Nittany Lion 6-1 and 3-2 to take the 92 kilogram world team spot.

–While it was just for a backup role, Marcus Blaze continues to impress. He took out All-American and 2025 NCAA runner-up Brock Hardy 8-2 in the third place match at 65 kilograms. He now has the option to take the U23 World team spot at that weight class, as well.