CLEVELAND (AP) — Mitchell Mesenbrink and Levi Haines each won their second individual championship on Saturday to help Penn State win its fifth consecutive team title at the NCAA men’s wrestling championships.
Penn State, which clinched the team title during the consolation matches earlier Saturday, finished with four national champions and a record 181.5 points, breaking its own mark of 177 set last year. The Nittany Lions have won 13 of the last 15 national championships.
Mesenbrink, the defending national champion and No. 1 seed, beat Mikey Caliendo by technical fall (20-4) in the third round to finish the season undefeated and win the 165-pound title. No. 1 seed Haines beat Nebraska’s Chris Minto 2-1 to take gold at 174 pounds and win his second national championship. Haines also beat the third-seeded Minto 2-1 in the Big Ten Conference finals.
Josh Barr beat Oklahoma State’s Cody Merrill 6-3 at 197 pounds and Luke Lilledahl took the 125-pound title with a 2-1 win over Princeton’s Marc-Anthony McGowan.
Oklahoma State was second with 131 points, including three national champions, and third-place Nebraska had 100.5.
Freshmen Sergio Vega, Landon Robideau and Jax Forrest won titles for Oklahoma State. Vega beat No. 1 seed Jesse Mendez of Ohio State 4-1 on a takedown in overtime to claim the title at 141 pounds. Vega, who was not taken down this season, became the first undefeated freshman national champion since Oklahoma A&M’s Dick Hutton in 1947. Mendez, a two-time NCAA champion, had his 31-match win streak (which dated to last season) snapped.
Robideau beat defending national champion Antrell Taylor of Nebraska 4-2 to take gold at 157 pounds. A visibly frustrated Taylor appeared to have thrown his ankle band at Robideau — who stalled in the third round — after the match. Taylor and Robideau were each awarded a point for stalling in the final three minutes.
Forrest, who trailed 1-0 at the end of the second round, beat Ohio State’s Ben Davino 5-2 for the 133-pound title.
Tenth-seeded Aden Valencia of Stanford beat top-seeded and previously unbeaten Shayne Van Ness 8-5 in overtime to win at 149 pounds and became the third individual national champion — and first freshman — in program history. Van Ness was the first of six finalists to compete for Penn State.
North Carolina State’s Isaac Trumble beat Yonger Bastida of Iowa State 5-0 to win the 285-pound title and his first national championship.
Max McEnelly of Minnesota beat previously undefeated Rocco Welsh of Penn State 4-3 for the crown at 184 pounds.
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