The most important dual of the season is here. No. 1 Penn State has been the standard in men’s college wrestling for years, but No. 2 Ohio State is undefeated and ready to challenge for the top spot.
Here’s a preview of all 10 bouts we’ll see Friday at Bryce Jordan Center.
125 pounds: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl vs. No. 2 Nic Bouzakis
A battle of official undefeated wrestlers could start the dual as No. 2 Nic Bouzakis heads into enemy territory against All-American No. 1 Luke Lilledahl. Bouzakis is 11-0 on the year with wins over All-Americans Jore Volk and Stevo Poulin, and while he did take a loss to teammate and 2025 NCAA qualifier Brendan McCrone at the Clarion Open in November 5-4, losses against teammates don't count on an athlete's record. Lilledahl has had a similar season: he's dominated almost everyone except his own teammate, Nate Desmond, who took him down 5-3 at the Black Knight Invite. Desmond is expected to redshirt this year but recently wrestled up at 141 pounds and topped All-American Dylan Ragusin 8-5 in sudden victory.
Lilledahl and Bouzakis have never met in college, as Bouzakis wrestled up at 133 pounds last season during Lilledahl's true freshman year. In the first match between these two on the year, a win will mean not only a good team start but a new front-runner for the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Championships.
133 pounds: No. 4 Marcus Blaze vs. No. 2 Ben Davino
Like their 125-pound teammates, Ben Davino and Marcus Blaze both enter this important dual undefeated in their freshman season. Davino’s resume includes a win over No. 3 Evan Frost and two over No. 9 Drake Ayala, and Blaze has beaten Ayala, No. 7 Tyler Knox and No. 10 Jacob Van Dee.
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While these two have never met in college, they do have an extensive history with one another. Blaze has the last victory over Davino in the 2025 US Open, topping the Buckeye 7-0 in the consolation bracket. Blaze also beat Davino twice in the 2024 U20 world team trials, while Davino earned the win at the 2023 Ironman high school tournament. The stakes will be high for the freshman in this match. Both Davino and Blaze have been explosive this season, but both will need to be solid defensively as well in the battle of the two young wrestlers.
141 pounds: No. 12 Braeden Davis vs. No. 1 Jesse Mendez
After beating Penn State’s Beau Bartlett in the semifinals on the way to last year’s national championship, Jesse Mendez puts his undefeated record on the line against a new Penn State challenger in Braeden Davis. Penn State's Davis comes to the mat following a hand injury from a motorscooter last week. Prior to that, he suffered a fall against Nebraska's Brock Hardy and currently holds an 8-2 record on the year with his best win coming against No. 24 Henry Porter.
The matchup is one of Ohio State’s only chances at bonus points in the dual, so Mendez needs to capitalize on the opportunity. As one of a handful of top contenders thus far for the Hodge Trophy, Mendez is 17-0 on the year with 88%+ bonus and wrestling the best he has in his career. He's competing with aggression and fire — Davis' job will be to find a way to limit the damage.
149 pounds: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness vs. No. 6 Ethan Stiles
The 149-pound contest features two All-Americans in Shayne Van Ness and Ethan Stiles. Van Ness has the opportunity to break the dual open with a bonus point win against Stiles, who will be looking to pull the upset rather than simply limiting the damage against the top-ranked wrestler.
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In their last meeting at the 2025 NCAA wrestling tournament, Van Ness pinned Stiles while running through the consolation bracket. The Nittany Lion is now 16-0 on the year compared to Stiles' 12-4, and he holds a win over All-American Lachlan McNeil by major as well as victories against No. 4 Carter Young, No. 15 Aden Valencia, No. 16 Maxwell Petersen, No. 18 Ryder Block and No. 19 Chance Lamer.
157 pounds: No. 4 PJ Duke OR Daxton Chase vs. Landon Desselle
With Brandon Cannon still sidelined, Penn State true freshman and senior world team member No. 4 PJ Duke will not face Ohio State’s top option at 157 pounds. Instead, he will face redshirt freshman Landon Desselle, who enters the dual on a five-match losing streak.
The projected lineup for No. 2 Ohio State at No. 1 Penn State 🍿
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Against the Hawkeyes last weekend, Ohio State bumped up 149-pounder Maddox Shaw to take on Victor Voinovich III in place of Cannon. Now it's Desselle's turn. Duke will be looking for a tech fall or even a pin against Desselle. It will take a massive effort from Ohio State’s freshman wrestler to avoid bonus points against Penn State's funky freshman.
Duke has been challenged already this year though, dropping in tiebreakers to 2025 NCAA champion Antrell Taylor and pushing for a 12-10 decision over Michigan's No. 13 Cam Catrabone in a barn-burner. But against Desselle he'll be a heavy favorite to run up the score.
Penn State could also send out Daxton Chase, a redshirt freshman with a 6-3 record who notably took Ohio State's Maddox Shaw into tiebreakers before dropping to the Buckeye 2-1 in tie-breakers.
165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink vs. No. 16 Paddy Gallagher
Defending national champion Mitchell Mesenbrink is similarly a bonus-point machine. He'll face a veteran in Ohio State's Paddy Gallagher who he beat in their last meeting by injury default.
Gallagher carries a 9-5 record into this dual but all of his losses have come against top-16 opponents. He is still missing his big signature win on the season, though, and earning that against undefeated Mesenbrink who majored NCAA finalist No. 3 Mikey Caliendo will be a tall task.
Mesenbrink has earned a fall or tech fall in each of his last four matches and has earned bonus points in all 17 of his wins. He'll expect to continue that streak against Gallagher on Friday.
174 pounds: No. 1 Levi Haines vs. No. 5 Carson Kharchla
Levi Haines and Carson Kharchla will do battle at 174 pounds in the only matchup pitting seniors against one another. The pair met in last year’s dual with Haines earning a 6-4 decision win.
Haines is currently undefeated with a 16-0 record and 82% bonus while Kharchla is 14-3 with his losses coming against All-Americans Patrick Kennedy (x2) Chris Minto. Kharchla wrestles everyone tough, and for Ohio State to stay in this dual, he'll need to do the same against Haines and push to shock the country by delivering Haines his first loss since NCAA champion Dean Hamiti beat the Nittany Lion 2-4 last March. A win for Haines, meanwhile, could ice the dual for Penn State with two more top-ranked wrestlers to come.
184 pounds: No. 1 Rocco Welsh vs. No. 8 Dylan Fishback
After spending the last two seasons on Ohio State’s roster, redshirt sophomore Rocco Welsh will compete against the Buckeyes in this year’s dual. Standing in his way is Dylan Fishback, a NC State transfer who enters the dual having lost four of his last five matches, but does have a win over All-American Silas Allred on the year.
Fishback, an Ohio native, will have his hands full with the 2024 NCAA finalist in enemy territory. While these two have never met in college before, Welsh is the notable favorite in this match and is looking to improve to 16-0 on the season. Fishback's goal will be to avoid bonus and keep Ohio State in this dual as long as possible before Penn State unleashes its next No. 1-ranked wrestler.
197 pounds: No. 1 Josh Barr vs. No. 10 Luke Geog
Last year’s national runner-up Josh Barr has been perfect this year, and he will look to keep that record going against Luke Geog, who enters Friday’s dual on a three-match major decision win streak.
All 14 of Barr’s wins this year have been in bonus point fashion with four falls and seven tech falls. His match against Geog will be the first meeting of these two in college as Buckeye junior Seth Shumate earned the starting nod last year; Barr beat Shumate 20-5 in last year's dual.
Geog has been solid for the Buckeyes this season, posting a 14-3 record with his only losses coming against All-Americans Camden McDanel, Rocky Elam, Joey Novak and U20 world champion Justin Rademacher. He'll have his hands full with Barr.
285 pounds: No. 12 Cole Mirasola vs. No. 3 Nick Feldman
In one of just three matches where Ohio State enters the higher-ranked wrestler, Nick Feldman looks to give Ohio State some points against Cole Mirasola. The pair met in last year’s dual with Feldman taking a 10-3 decision win over his Nittany Lion opponent. Feldman is also fresh off a win over All-American Ben Kueter of Iowa while Cole Mirasola went 0-1 last weekend, dropping to All-American Taye Ghadiali of Michigan.
Even if the dual isn't in the balance at heavyweight, individual match wins matter heading into the postseason. Feldman currently paces the Big Ten with Nebraska's AJ Ferrari, Michigan's ;Ghadiali and Kueter next. If Mirasola can pull off the upset, he could do himself some significant conference seeding favors.
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