Penn State wrestling roster: New weights confirmed, full freshmen list, starting lineup projection

Penn State wrestling is three weeks away from its first dual meet of the 2042-2025 season. The defending Big Ten and NCAA champs host Drexel on Sun., Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. ET. Ahead of it and the team’s annual local media day event in State College, the Nittany Lions released their updated roster on Wednesday. What does it tell us about the year ahead? We have a full breakdown below.

New Penn State roster confirms long-expected weight changes

Penn State lists numerous familiar faces in different places on its 2024-2025 roster, as Blue-White Illustrated has previously reported. The list is as follows:

Sophomore Braeden Davis is bumping up to 133 pounds. He will battle incumbent Aaron Nagao for that job after competing at 125 pounds a year ago.

Senior David Evans is now at 149 pounds. The backup was listed at 141 a year ago.

Sophomore Tyler Kasak is listed at 149/157 pounds. After bumping up from 141 pounds to fill in for an injured Shayne Van Ness at 149 pounds a year ago, he is expected to compete at 157 this season, but if ‘SVN’ needs time to get back into the swing of things early in the year, he could wrestle at either weight.

Sophomore Alex Facundo is moving down. Following an Olympic redshirt season, Penn State now lists former 165-pounder Facundo at 157 pounds. He’ll battle Kasak for that job.

Junior Levi Haines’ bump to 174 pounds is official. The defending NCAA champ at 157 moves up two weight classes this year to take Carter Starocci’s old spot in the lineup.

Starocci is going at 184. This was confirmed by both the NWCA All-Star Classic and also various media preseason rankings. But, it’s now official on the Lions’ website, too.

Sophomore Lucas Cochran and redshirt freshman Josh Barr are at 197 pounds. One of them is expected to win the right to replace Aaron Brooks.

Meet the Nittany Lions Class of 2024

Penn State lists 10 Class of 2024 signees on their updated roster.

St. Charles, Mo., native and Wyoming Seminary product Luke Lilledahl: He is likely to win the 125-pound job.

Williamsport, Pa., native Cael Nasdeo: The PIAA Class 3A champ at 121 pounds in 2023-2024 is at 133 pounds for his first season as a Nittany Lion.

State College, Pa., native Hayden Cunningham: The son of Lions assistant Casey Cunningham placed at states at 127 pounds as a senior and is now at 141 pounds as a college freshman.

Jersey Shore, Pa., native Brock Weiss: He is a two-time district champ and one-time PIAA placer. He wrestled at 139 pounds as a senior and is now in the 141-pound weight class at Penn State.

Centre Hall, Pa., native Ty Watson: A multi-time district champ and three-time state placer at Penns Valley at 152 pounds, Watson is now at 157 pounds.

Bear Creek Twp., Pa., native Joe Sealey: Won two National Prep Titles at Wyoming Seminary, most recently at 165 pounds, which is where he is listed now with the Nittany Lions.

Westtown, N.Y., native Zack Ryder: Won four state titles, starting as an eighth grader, at Minisink Valley. Did not compete his senior year, opting instead to train in State College. The 2024 U20 silver medalist is at 184 pounds.

Jackson, Wisc., native Connor Mirasola: A four-time state champ for West Bend High School, most recently at 195 pounds, he is at 197 pounds to start his PSU career.

Jackson, Wisc., native Cole Mirasola: A four-time Wisconsin state placer and three-time champ at heavyweight, Cole Mirasola will start his career at 285 pounds.

St. George, Utah native Dawson Bundy: The three-time Utah state placer and two-time champ at Desert Hill High beings his career in State College at heavyweight.

Comings and goings

Penn State lost just one wrestler to the transfer portal this offseason. Terrell Barraclough is now at Utah Valley. The senior is No. 6 in InterMat’s 165-pound rankings.

The list of wrestlers who graduated after last season include Donovan Ball, Marco Vespa, Aaron Brooks, Bernie Truax, Joe Lee, Baylor Shunk, and Imran Heard.

Former Michigan wrestler Kurt McHenry came to the Lions last season. He is using his COVID year and thus listed on the roster again this year at 125 pounds.

On the coaching front, Penn State great Nick Lee is in as the team’s new assistant coach. He replaces Jimmy Kennedy. He is now at Oklahoma State on David Taylor’s staff, of course. The Lions also added program alum Clay Steadman as their general manager this offseason.

Expected 2024-2025 Nittany Lions lineup

Here is where things stand in late October. Rankings are courtesy of FLO:

125 pounds: Luke Lilledahl.

133 pounds: No. 10 Braeden Davis OR Aaron Nagao. Davis is the leader in the clubhouse.

141 pounds: No. 3 Beau Bartlett

149 pounds: No. 2 Shayne Van Ness

157 pounds: No. 4 Tyler Kasak OR Alex Facundo. Kasak is the leader in the clubhouse.

165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink

174 pounds: No. 2 Levi Haines

184 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci

197 pounds: No. 20 Lucas Cochran OR Joshua Barr. This is a true toss-up

285 pounds: No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet