The Penn State Nittany Lions opened their season in style, roaring to a 45-0 win over the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners in front of over 8,000 fans at the Bryce Jordan Center.
While the score was lopsided, the individual matches offered details on Penn State's overall team depth, newcomers and the team's strongest weights. Here are the biggest takeaways from the debut performance of the defending national champions.
The Nittany Lion depth was on full display
Penn State has never had a shortage of talent. The 13-time NCAA champions have put five athletes on the top of the podium at the same national tournament twice in program history and just became the second team to crown ten All-Americans in one season last season. This is also the same program that has broken the NCAA scoring record at the last two NCAA tournaments. Dominance is nothing new for the Blue and White.
This year’s debut dual highlighted the program's eliteness once again.
The Nittany Lions rolled out newcomers at 197, 285, 133 and 157 pounds along with a transfer athlete at 184 pounds and didn’t miss a beat. In fact, at 197 and 157 pounds, Penn State’s lineup featured two athletes in Connor Mirasola and Joe Sealey who were unlikely starters coming into the season given Penn State’s returning NCAA finalist at 197 pounds in Josh Barr and Penn State’s U20 champion PJ Duke at 157 but still scored bonus points in the varsity lineup against the Sooners.
Connor Mirasola opens us up with a 13-3 major decision in the 197! 🔥👏
— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST)
Mirasola, in particular, picked up his 13-3 major decision win over a top-ten opponent in No. 8 DJ Parker, giving him top-ten status if Barr’s injury becomes too severe or if Mirasola earns the starting spot. Mirasola is the real deal. His only issue is that the returning national finalist and current No. 1 athlete at his weight — Barr — is on his team.
Sealey, meanwhile, is one of three 157 pounders for Penn State who could be ranked in the country, though, of course, only one will get the nod, sidelining two potential podium threats. In his moment in the spotlight though, Sealey showed what he can do, teching Landyn Sommer of Oklahoma 19-4 in the third period. He'll have competition from Duke for the starting spot while two-time All-American Tyler Kasak is expected to redshirt at the weight.
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Mirasola and Sealey proved that Penn State doesn't just have select top-heavy talent; the Nittany Lions also have multiple athletes at each weight who can run up the scoreboard for them if given the starting nod.
Penn State's 141-pounder Aaron Nagao's 9-5 decision over Oklahoma's Alex Braun is also emblematic of Penn State's depth across weight classes. His position as a starter was more expected this season, but he's still someone who has had to navigate a deep room at his weight class and compete for his spot on a roster that also includes All-American Braeden Davis. Nagao came to Penn State after earning All-American honors himself at Minnesota and then finished in the Round of 12 during his first season as a Nittany Lion before missing the 2024-2025 season due to injury. He's now 1-0 on the year following his win over Braun.
Nagao and heavyweight Cole Mirasola were the only two Penn State wrestlers to finish without bonus points, though neither were taken down in their bouts against Braun and Juan Mora respectively.
Blaze, Welsh impress in Penn State debut
While Nagao, Sealey and the Mirasola brothers all made their season debuts against Oklahoma, each of those four athletes have been in the Penn State program for at least a year and had the chance to learn the system and integrate before competing under the bright lights of the Bryce Jordan Center. For Penn State's newest athletes, 133-pounder Marcus Blaze and 184-pound transfer athlete Rocco Welsh, the experience was new, though both of these guys have competed in high-profile moments prior to their matches in the Blue and White.
Back on top! 🌎 Marcus Blaze reflects on a dominant run at U20 Worlds.
— USA Wrestling (@USAWrestling)
Blaze and Welsh both started their Penn State seasons fresh off performance at the U23 world championships, and while neither came back with a medal, Blaze did win U20 gold earlier this summer. Welsh also has previous NCAA experience, having advanced to the national finals for the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2024 before redshirting last season. These athletes may be new to State College, but they are not new to the spotlight, and their poise showed in their dominant performance against Oklahoma in their first career Penn State matches.
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Welsh teched Anders Thompson of Oklahoma 19-4 in the third period while Blaze added an 18-3 third-period tech of his own over Tyson Charmoli at 133 pounds. Penn State had lineup options at 133 pounds coming into the season, so Blaze's presence in the starting lineup implies that his coaching staff see him as a title threat here in his true freshman season. Expect to see him enter the rankings this week ahead of the Black Knight Invite.
Levi Haines paces All-American returns with the lone pin of the night
While eight of ten Penn State wrestlers picked up bonus points against Oklahoma, only one — 2024 NCAA champion Levi Haines — notched a pin, though that result didn't come easy for the junior upperweight. In his bout against Oklahoma's Carter Schubert, Haines came out firing, only to take a head to his chin and be whisked into concussion protocol within the first ten seconds. The Nittany Lion proved to be okay and returned to the mat to pick up a pin, but the whole sequence gave him an unexpected, emotional roller coaster start to his season.
Levi Haines with the pin 😤📌
— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling)
Fellow former NCAA champion Mitchell Mesenbrink preceded Haines' pin with a first-period tech fall 19-4 against Owen Eck at 165 pounds while All-American Shayne Van Ness added a 20-1 third-period tech fall against Layton Schneider at 149 pounds and All-American Luke Lilledahl put up a 14-4 major decision win against Conrad Hendrickson at 125 pounds. All four of these Penn State athletes are title threats again this year and all will head into Penn State's next dual against Drexel ranked in the top three of their respective weight classes, with Haines, Mesenbrink and Van Ness currently holding down the top spots at 174, 165 and 149 pounds.
This is the kind of Penn State team fans have come to expect, but that doesn't make the shutout performance against a top-20 opponent any less impressive.
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