Penn State wrestling at the Big Ten Wrestling championships: Preview, predictions, more

The 2025 Big Ten Wrestling championships are here. The annual tournament that serves as a feeder event to NCAAs starts this morning at 11 a.m. ET at Northwestern. Penn State has all 10 starters on hand and seeks its third straight conference crown.

“We don’t really have a lot of say in who you’re going to face or not face, so you prepare and go do what you do,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said, per PennLive. “We try not to adapt or adjust or worry too much about our opponents. And that’s our philosophy throughout the year. It’s the philosophy in the offseason. We don’t change a whole lot when it comes to the way we approach competition.”

Get ready for the action below.

125 pounds: Penn State freshman Luke Lilledahl

Seed: No. 4

Expected opening opponent: No. 13 Caelan Riley, Illinois

Weight class breakdown: Undefeated Matt Ramos of Purdue is the top seed in this weight class. That means he’s on Lilledahl’s side of the bracket, and thus, he would have to beat him in the semifinals, if the seeds hold, to make the finals.

Ramos has not wrestled the Nittany Lion, Nebraska’s Caleb Smith, or Rutger’s Dean Peterson, who are the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds, respectively, and figure to meet in the semifinal on the other half of the bracket.

Joey Cruz of Iowa, the five seed, likely awaits Lilledahl in the quarters. The Penn State freshman beat him by technical fall, 22-6, during the regular season.

This bracket looks chalky, with the champion all but guaranteed to come out of the top four seeds.

Prediction: Can Lilledahl beat Ramos? It’s certainly not out of the question. But, we’ll give the nod to the Boilermaker senior for now and predict that the Penn State freshman ultimately finishes third.

133 pounds: Nittany Lion sophomore Braeden Davis

Seed: No. 4

Expected opening opponent: No. 13 Andrew Hampton of Michigan State

Weight class breakdown: If you feel like you’re having deja vu, we can’t blame you. Last year’s 133-pound Penn State starter, Aaron Nagao, also faced Hampton in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament last year after spending some time off the mat during the regular season. The Nittany Lion beat him by major decision, and we’d expect Davis, as long as he’s healthy, to have success as well, considering he already beat the Spartan by technical fall this year.

Iowa’s Drake Ayala is the No. 1 seed here and the potential semifinal opponent for Davis on the top-half of the bracket. Neither wrestler is going to have a cakewalk to get there, though. Davis figures to draw Rutgers’ Dylan Shawver, who he beat just by decision in January, in the quarters. And, the always pesky Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State should be waiting for Ayala.

The bottom half of this bracket is stacked. Lucas Byrd of Illinois is the two-seed and likely finalist. But, he’ll have to get through three-seed Braxton Brown of Maryland, but only if the Terp gets by likely quarterfinal opponent Jacob Van Dee of Nebraska, of course.

Prediction: Without knowing if Davis is fully healthy or not, it’s hard to make a strong call here. But, we don’t see him getting back Ayala, and think he’ll ultimately wrestle to his seed and finish fourth.

141 pounds: Penn State graduate senior Beau Bartlett

Seed: No. 1

Expected opening opponent: A round one bye will give him the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 bout, which features No. 8 Henry Porter of Indiana vs. No. 9 Greyson Clark of Purdue. Bartlett has never wrestled either.

Weight class outlook: Bartlett was the top seed in last year’s Big Ten tournament but lost in the final to Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez. We expect that final to happen again.

The Buckeye holds the all-time series lead between the two, 3-2, but the Penn State senior has the most recent win, which is why he’s the No. 1 seed and Mendez the No. 2. Both project to make the semifinals, where Bartlett would have to deal with No. 4 Vance Vombaur of Minnesota and Mendez No. 3 Brock Hardy of Nebraska, if the seeds hold as expected, to setup the latest rematch between the two.

Prediction: Bartlett and Mendez should meet in the final and it should be another classic between the two familiar foes. Like during the dual meet season, the Nittany Lion will come out on top and take the title.

149 pounds: Nittany Lions sophomore Shayne Van Ness

Seed: No. 1

Expected opening opponent: Thanks to a first round bye, he will draw the winner of No. 8 Kal Miller of Maryland vs. No. 9 Dylan Gilcher of Michigan in the quarterfinals.

Weight class breakdown: Some will quibble over the Big Ten coaches deciding to rank Van Ness No. 1, Kyle Parco of Iowa No. 2, and Ridge Lovett of Nebraska No. 3, after a round-robin of wins and losses against each other during the regular season. But, the top three seeds here could have gone in just about any direction and the decision would have been defensible.

As it currently stands, the Penn State sophomore got the best draw. Dylan D’Emillio of Ohio State, who he beat only by decision a few weeks ago, will be no easy out as the likely semifinal opponent on the top half. But, assuming the Nittany Lion gets the job done, he will almost certainly face one of Parco or Lovett, and whichever it is will have already been through a grueling match with the other one.

Prediction: As noted above, while any of the three could have been the top seed, Van Ness gets the benefit of the draw and easiest path to the finals. Once there, he’ll drop a tight one opposite Lovett to take second.

157 pounds: Penn State sophomore Tyler Kasak

Seed: No. 2

Expected opening opponent: A first-round bye means he will face the winner of No. 7 Trevor Chumley of Northwestern vs. No. 10 Conner Harer of Rutgers.

Weight class breakdown: Kasak’s lone loss in his first season as the 157-pound starter for Penn State came via injury default opposite Maryland’s Ethen Miller earlier this year. That helped the Terrapin to a perfect regular season record, which makes him the top seed at Big Tens.

Many are hoping Kasak and Miller meet again in the finals so they can wrestle a full seven minutes and decide who should earn a higher seed at nationals. For that to happen — assuming the seeds chalk out — Miller will need to beat Iowa’s Jacori Teemer in the semifinals while Kasak would have to stop Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor, who he already beat by decision, 9-3, earlier this year.

A Kasak-Miller final should be expected.

Prediction: Kasak doesn’t need any extra motivation. But, he’ll have it as part of his push to beat Miller, which he’ll do to take the title.

165 pounds: Redshirt sophomore Mitchell Mesenbrink

Seed: No. 1

Expected opening opponent: A first-round bye means Mesenbrink gets the winner of No. 9 Paddy Gallagher of Ohio State vs. No. 8 Maxx Mayfield, Northwestern

Weight class breakdown: Mesenbrink enters this tournament as the clear class of the field. He leads the country in technical falls and should only add to that total this weekend. He should cruise to the finals, where a rematch with No. 2 Mikey Caliendo of Iowa looks likely. The Penn State star is 4-0 against him in college with victories coming by decision, technical fall, major decision, and technical fall.

Prediction: No one is stopping Mesenbrink’s in his quest to win the Big Ten title. He takes it and racks up plenty of bonus points, too.

174 pounds: Penn State junior Levi Haines

Seed: No. 1

Expected opening opponent: After a first-round bye, Haines will face either No. 8 Brody Baumann of Purdue or No. 9 Lucas Condon of Wisconsin in the quarterfinals.

Weight class breakdown: Haines projects to face Iowa’s Patrick Kennedy in the semifinal on the top half of the bracket. He already beat him by decision, 10-3, earlier this year. On the bottom half of the bracket, the seeds project to hold, which would put Ohio State’s Carson Kharchla, who is the two seed, opposite Nebraska’s No. 3 Lenny Pinto in the semifinals. Haines has beaten both this year, though the Buckeye gave him the tougher match. A rematch in the finals between those two is likely.

Prediction: While there is no doubting the fact that Kharchla or Pinto could beat Haines in the finals, you pick against the Penn State junior at your own peril. We will not. He takes the title.

184 pounds: Graduate senior Carter Starocci

Seed: No. 1

Expected opening opponent: After a first-round bye, Starocci will face either No. 8 DJ Washington of Indiana or No. 9 Ryder Rogotzke of Ohio State in the quarterfinals.

Weight class breakdown: Things are, obviously, notably different for Starocci entering his final Big Ten tournament compared to this time a year ago. He is healthy, and not on the brink of injury defaulting twice to try and put himself in the best position possible for nationals. Washington is the only wrestler to ever beat Starocci at the college level, and that happened in his very first match. The Penn State star has got the best of him in both matches since, and he beat Rogotzke by technical fall this year. A semifinal date opposite Iowa’s Gabe Arnold, the four seed, likely awaits. The two have exchanged plenty of barbs, with the Hawkeye doing most of the talking despite Iowa going with Angelo Ferrari and not him during the team’s dual meet this season. So, those two finally meeting, in all likelihood, has many excited.

Max McEnelly of Minnesota is the two seed and thus has the bye on the bottom half. If the chalk holds, he’ll face No. 3 Silas Allred in the semifinals. Regardless, Starocci is expected to cruise to another conference crown.

Prediction: Like Mesenbrink, Starocci cruises to his latest Big Ten title in style.

197 pounds: Penn State redshirt freshman Josh Barr

Seed: No. 2

Expected opening opponent: After a first-round bye, he will face either No. 7 Camden McDaniel of Nebraska OR No. 10 Remy Cotton of Michigan State

Weight class breakdown: Barr heads to his first Big Ten tournament as the two seed behind only Iowa’s Stephen Buchanan, who is the top seed in the bracket after beating the Nittany Lion by decison, 4-1, earlier this year. A semifinal rematch with No. 3 Jacob Cardenas of Michigan is expected. Barr beat him in thriller, 3-2, earlier this year in a match decided in the tiebreaker portion of overtime. Another doozy is expected, assuming both clear their earlier opponents as expected.

On the top half, Buchanan will likely have to contend with No. 4 Isaiah Salazar of Minnesota. The Hawkeye beat the Golden Gopher 4-1 earlier this year, but it should be another close match if it happens.

This bracket’s winner comes out of the top four and probably the top two, but no outcome would be overly surprising.

Prediction: Barr will wrestle Buchanan tough in the final. But, the Hawkeye will get the better of him again by decision. Thus, we’re picking Barr to finish second.

285 pounds: Graduate enior Greg Kerkvliet

Seed: No. 2

Expected opening opponent: After a first-round bye, he will face the winner of No. 7 Ben Kueter of Iowa vs. No. 10 Hayden Filipovich of Purdue.

Weight class breakdown: Let’s just cut to the chase here: The top two heavyweights in the country are also the top two heavyweights in the Big Ten. Barring an absolutely shocking result, Kerkvliet will meet top-seed Gable Steveson of Minnesota in the finals. Earlier this year, the Penn State standout and reigning NCAA champ was No. 1. Then, Steveson returned for a final collegiate season. The Golden Gopher is 2-0 all-time against Kerkvliet but they haven’t wrestled since 2022, of course. A preview of the likely NCAA title bout awaits us at Big Tens.

Prediction: There’s no picking against Steveson until proven otherwise. Kerkvliet loses by decision, and then sets his sights on getting revenge at nationals after a second place finish at Big Tens.

Big Ten wrestling championships schedule

Saturday:

11 a.m. ET: First round, quarterfinals, and consolation action on Big Ten Network

6 p.m. ET: Consolation matches and wrestlebacks streaming on B1G+

8 p.m. ET: Semifinals on Big Ten Network

Sunday:

1 p.m. ET: Consolation semifinals and seventh place matches streaming on B1G+

5:30 p.m. ET: 1st, 3rd, and 5th place matches on Big Ten Network