Penn State wrestling Final X picks and predictions: Who will earn starting spots on Team USA?

Members of the Penn State wrestling team and NLWC head to Newark, N.J., this weekend for Final X. It sets the Team USA roster for the 2025 Wrestling World Championships. On Saturday, we’ll learn which grapplers will represent their country in Croatia this September.

Penn State and the NLWC have competitors in seven of the nine men’s freestyle matches that will be contested during the championship session and decide who starts for the senior national team. The 10th is delayed due to injury; Vito Arujau will wrestle Jax Forrest for the spot later this year if healthy enough to do so.

There are also a handful of true third place matches. Those set backup spots for and provide the resources of Team USA to the winners. Penn State has two competitors in those matches.

Find our picks below, and be sure to discuss them with us on The Lions Den message board.

How many Nittany Lions will win their true third place matches?

Five true third matches will be contested starting at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. FLO is streaming all of the action if you are not at the Prudential Center. Penn State will have competitors in the second and fifth and final match of this session.

Incoming freshman Marcus Blaze leads things off in the 65 kilogram (143.3 pounds) bout opposite Nebraska’s Brock Hardy. This is a tough one to call. Both have international medals, though Hardy’s is a U23 bronze and Blaze’s at the U20 level. But, Blaze made the senior U.S. Team last year by winning this same match over the aforementioned Forrest. In a coin flip, we’ll give it to Blaze, though we do wonder if his busy freestyle season to date might catch up with him here. With that said, he has an endless motor, and so it shouldn’t be a problem and why we side with him here.

The other Nittany Lion who will be in action during this session is Carter Starocci. The five-time NCAA champ has Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen for the third spot on Team USA at 86 kilograms. Starocci beat Keckeisen at the NWCA All-Star Classic and in last year’s national final, but, both were close. Neither has a ton of freestyle success on their resume. Based on past history, we’ll say Starocci wins a tight one, but this is a truly 50-50 proposition.

Which Penn State, NLWC wrestlers will start for Team USA?

Our picks for all seven matches involving Penn State connections are below:

74 kg – Mitchell Mesenbrink (Bellefonte, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. David Carr (Ames, Iowa/Cyclone RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Notes: Mesenbrink beat Carr at the US Open. Carr beat Mesenbrink at NCAAs in 2024 when the Nittany Lion didn’t realize the clock situation at the end of their match. So far, the M.O. between these two has seen Carr build leads and then Mesenbrink storms back. This should be a highly fascinating series with lots of points.

Prediction: Mesenbrink in two.

79 kg – Levi Haines (Arendtsville, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Evan Wick (San Gabriel, Calif./Askren Wrestling Academy/Titan Mercury WC)

Notes: Haines pinned Wick at the 2024 World Team Trials. But, Wick led late. This is no walkover for the Penn State senior.

Prediction: Haines wins 2-1, and all three matches are close.

92 kg – Joshua Barr (Davison, Mich./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Trent Hidlay (Raleigh, N.C./Wolfpack WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Notes: Fantastic match here between two impressive wrestlers who haven’t met yet. Hidlay has an age advantage, which is the only kind of guy Barr lost to in 2024-2025. So, that’s advantage Hidlay, and his International experience doesn’t hurt, either.

Prediction: Hiday wins in three, though a sweep wouldn’t be a shocking result.

97 kg – Kyle Snyder (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Hayden Zillmer (Deerwood, Minn./Gopher WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Notes: Snyder is a massive favorite and should sweep his way onto yet another Team USA at the senior level.

Prediction: Snyder in two.

70 kg – PJ Duke (Slate Hill, N.Y./KD Training Center/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Yianni Diakomihalis (Rochester, N.Y./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Notes: Duke runs into a very stiff test here. Diakomihalis probably wins 2-0. But Duke showed at the US Open that he can beat older, more accomplished wrestlers. So, don’t rule him out. But it’s a tall task here against the 2022 Senior World medalist. 

Prediction: Diakomihalis in two.

57 kg – Luke Lilledahl (Saint Charles, Mo./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Spencer Lee (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Notes: This should be a fun match. Lilledahl has rolled through the freestyle season but gets a different test here. He’s the kind of guy who can one day claim the spot Lee has in this weight class, but not this time. 

Prediction: Lee in three.

86 kg – Kyle Dake (Port Matilda, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Notes: This is a FANTASTIC final match. Dake is 2-1 against Valencia but the loss was in their most recent meeting at the U.S. Open in 2025. 

Prediction: Dake in three.