Where are Penn State wrestlers in this week's rankings?
Penn State wrestling is amid its first off week of the 2024-2025 regular season. The Nittany Lions crushed Drexel to kick off the dual meet portion of the year two Sundays ago before having finalists in nine of 10 weight classes at the Army Black Knight Invitational last weekend. Head coach Cael Sanderson’s team will take some time to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday this week before turning its full attention to Lehigh next week. The Nittany Lions meet the Mountain Hawks on Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. ET inside the PPL Center in Allentown.
To pass the time, we review the latest rankings from FLO and InterMat below.
Penn State wrestlers in the rankings: 125-157 pounds
After winning the Black Knight Invite 125-pound bracket, standout freshman Luke Lilledahl is officially in the top 33. FLO put him into its rundown for the first time at No. 24, while InterMat bumped the freshman up from No. 33 to No. 16.
“Luke Lilledahl enters the rankings at #24 after winning the Black Knight Invite with a victory over Army’s Charlie Farmer in the finals,” Jon Kozak writes for FLO. “While everyone expects Lilledahl to climb the rankings, he doesn’t have the ranked wins to support him being ranked higher at this time.”
InterMat dropped sophomore Braeden Davis from No. 7 to No. 10 after he missed the tournament following a knee injury against Drexel. He still won his season-opening dual despite needing medical time in the first period 7-5. FLO kept him at No. 8.
Moving on to 141 pounds, Beau Bartlett, who won his bracket at the Black Knight Invite, continues to sit at No. 3 in both outlet’s rankings. Shayne Van Ness, then, is the unanimous No. 2 at 149 pounds behind only Virginia Tech’s Shayne Van Ness. And, sophomore Tyler Kasak holds the No. 4 spot at 157 pounds in both outlet’s list.
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Nittany Lion wrestlers in the rankings: 165-285 pounds
Both FLO and InterMat continue to call Mitchell Mesenbrink the No. 1 wrestler at 165 pounds. He was the most outstanding wrestler at the Black Knight Invitational. Sophomore Levi Haines is the unanimous No. 2 at 174 pounds behind only Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole. Senior Carter Starocci is No. 1 at 184 pounds. At 197 pounds, both outlets now rank Joshua Barr after he was a 10-1 major decision winner over teammate Lucas Cochran in the Black Knight Invite finals. InterMat has him at No. 23, which is where he was last week, while FLO moved Cochran out and Barr in at No. 21.
“Josh Barr notably defeated his teammate Lucas Cochran in the finals of the Black Knight Invite,” Kozak writes for FLO. “With that win, Barr has put himself in a great position to take over the starting spot at 197 pounds. Barr is currently undefeated in his college career between his redshirt year and this season. However, most of Barr’s results are at 184 so Barr comes into the rankings in the same spot his teammate was – at #21.”
Last but not least, senior Greg Kerkvliet continues to hold the unanimous No. 2 spot at 285 pounds behind only Minnesota’s Gable Steveson.
Penn State also has the unanimous No. 1 team in both the dual and tournament rankings.
