Penn State 2025-2026 lineup (updated)

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

125: Lilledahl

133: Ono (Davis RS)

141: Blaze

149: SVN

157: Duke (Kasak RS)

165: MM

174: Haines

184: Welsh

197: Barr

Hwt: Mirasola the heavier

 

I expect this team to have 9 AAs, maybe 10 if Mirasola can hang in the Big 10 as a 230 pound heavy.

I have LL, Blaze, SVN, Duke, MM Haines and Barr as finalists with 3 champs total.

Ono and Welsh place top 4.  Mirasola I have AA.

Penn State wins by 40 points.

Edited Monday at 03:22 PM by Jimmy Cinnabon

[Truzzcat]

Transitive property is not a good metric especially in different styles but I think Kasak wrestled Taylor much better than Duke did. I would also say duke is a bit better at freestyle than he is at folk. Kasak did wrestle Taylor before he went on a heater so he could just have more confidence and be a better wrestler now. All that to say I am not penciling in PJ to start like I was a month ago.

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

Just now, Truzzcat said:

Transitive property is not a good metric especially in different styles but I think Kasak wrestled Taylor much better than Duke did. I would also say duke is a bit better at freestyle than he is at folk. Kasak did wrestle Taylor before he went on a heater so he could just have more confidence and be a better wrestler now. All that to say I am not penciling in PJ to start like I was a month ago.

I am not saying Duke is better than Kasak.  Kasak honestly should have won NCAAs in March...not sure why he looked so lethargic against Blaze.  But two years in a row finishing 3rd means he needs to take a year off and really refine his game and finish out his career with 2 titles and a Hodge.

Duke is ready now, plug and play, shirt Kasak makes the most sense.

[SaltMerchant]

1 hour ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

125: Lilledahl

133: Ono (Davis RS)

141: Blaze

149: SVN

157: Duke (Kasak RS)

165: MM

174: Haines

184: Welsh

197: Barr

Hwt: Mirasola the heavier

 

I expect this team to have 9 AAs, maybe 10 if Mirasola can hang in the Big 10 as a 230 pound heavy.

I have LL, Blaze, SVN, Duke, MM Haines and Barr as finalists with 3 champs total.

Ono and Welsh place top 4.  Mirasola I have AA.

Penn State wins by 40 points.

I am still waiting for Cinny Jimmybon to tell us all who will be the possible favorites over  LL, Ono, Blaze, SVN, Duke/Kasak, MM, Hains, Barr in the NCAA ...??

[happyvalet]

5 minutes ago, SaltMerchant said:

I am still waiting for Cinny Jimmybon to tell us all who will be the possible favorites over  LL, Ono, Blaze, SVN, Duke/Kasak, MM, Hains, Barr in the NCAA ...??

This really shouldn't bother you so much. I will list out some feasible champs so you can relax.

• 125: Vince Robinson
• 133: Ryan Crookham
• 141: Jesse Mendez
• 149: Caleb Henson
• 157: Antrell Taylor
• 165: n/a
• 174: Simon Ruiz
• 184: Max McEnelly
• 197: AJ Ferrari
• 285: Yonger Bastida

[Caveira]

34 minutes ago, SaltMerchant said:

I am still waiting for Cinny Jimmybon to tell us all who will be the possible favorites over  LL, Ono, Blaze, SVN, Duke/Kasak, MM, Hains, Barr in the NCAA ...??

Brand new account.  Same exact thread as the pastry.  Prompting each other with questions.  Cute.   

[RandolphTJones]

I think Mirasola has a great chance to AA this year. This will be the weakest Heavyweight has been in a very long time. Most of the "top" heavyweights this coming season are undersized, historically. Being in that Nittany Lion room Mirasola could be a title contender. 

[Gus]

4 hours ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

125: Lilledahl

133: Ono (Davis RS)

141: Blaze

149: SVN

157: Duke (Kasak RS)

165: MM

174: Haines

184: Welsh

197: Barr

Hwt: Mirasola the heavier

 

I expect this team to have 9 AAs, maybe 10 if Mirasola can hang in the Big 10 as a 230 pound heavy.

I have LL, Blaze, SVN, Duke, MM Haines and Barr as finalists with 3 champs total.

Ono and Welsh place top 4.  Mirasola I have AA.

Penn State wins by 40 points.

The way I see it is that they have 9 starters that are currently that are NCAA finalist caliber. Insane. 

[Rassling2]

5 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

Transitive property is not a good metric especially in different styles but I think Kasak wrestled Taylor much better than Duke did. I would also say duke is a bit better at freestyle than he is at folk. Kasak did wrestle Taylor before he went on a heater so he could just have more confidence and be a better wrestler now. All that to say I am not penciling in PJ to start like I was a month ago.

No one is beating Ono next season James, book it.

[scourge165]

14 hours ago, happyvalet said:

This really shouldn't bother you so much. I will list out some feasible champs so you can relax.

• 125: Vince Robinson
• 133: Ryan Crookham
• 141: Jesse Mendez
• 149: Caleb Henson
• 157: Antrell Taylor
• 165: n/a
• 174: Simon Ruiz
• 184: Max McEnelly
• 197: AJ Ferrari
• 285: Yonger Bastida

I did this as well, but I didn't finish it so my computer crashed.

125-Both the finalist are back. 

133-Ono has ONE year to learn Folkstyle. He can take Crookham down 3 times, but Crookham is a MONSTER on top. If he were to not score early and choose down, he's likely getting ridden for 2 minutes AND very possibly getting turned(and maybe multiple times). 

141-Mendez as you said, 2 TIME DEFENDING CHAMP, Hardy. Lots of others COULD win any of these, but just the obvious. 

149-The guy who has won the title two years ago and took a 2nd last year!

157-Shapiro could certainly win that match as well as Taylor.

165-MM is the clear favorite and I'd bet the house on him, but a guy like Mantanona on his own little vision quest COULD give him some problems. But 165 is a near lock. 

174-Haines wins it...BUT lets say for the sake of argument that Sinclair goes 174 next year? Sinclair is absolutely...without a doubt talented enough to beat Levi Haines. Haines is still the clear favorite, but Sinclair is built like a '74. I really believe 9 out of 10 kids his size, height, build, everything, they'd cut to 174. He doesn't cut at all and I believe could make '74 and do so while not losing any of that gas tank. Just the opposite, when he wrestled '97, he was getting worn down by Wrestling guys who were probably 20-25 pounds heavier and cutting while he was weighing in under weight. But he LIKELY won't do that. 

184-There are 5 guys here who could win it.
McEnelly...when would a guy who took a 5X(lets say 4X) Champ to the wire and lost in SV, then loses at the NCAA to a guy who went 3,3,2,1,2 also in SV NOT be the overwhelming favorite?

Maybe in a year in which you'll have another incredible young talent in Ferrari?
Or how about Ryder? I would have preferred to see Ryder stay as a fan of the sport. I don't know that they got much better. 
Aedon Sinclair is a darkhorse here. He's as good as anyone in that 2024 class IMO...I even went back and added him as a threat at '74.

Welsh was on the easIER side of the bracket at 174 when he lost to Starocci in the finals. It's NEVER easy to get to the finals, but 3 Champs were in that bracket and he Wrestled none of them to get to the finals. 

 

197-Of course AJ Ferrari if he can stay healthy. 

HWT-

 

I think PSU should be the favorite at 133, 157, 165, 174, 197

That's pretty good. I think they CAN win at 125, 141 and 149. But this past year, they just as likely could have won at '25, '41, '49, '57, '65, '74, '84, '97 and they looked to have the biggest threat to Hendrickson. 

Penn State is THAT far ahead of the field(though Okie St is looking like they'll be gaining a LOT of ground in '27, '28...that doesn't mean each individual Wrestler is that far ahead of the field.  

149-

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

15 hours ago, Rassling2 said:

No one is beating Ono next season James, book it.

He's never wrestled folk before. I think he'll still be a contender but it's not hard to imagine him losing to Crookham.

[bnwtwg]

15 minutes ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

He's never wrestled folk before. I think he'll still be a contender but it's not hard to imagine him losing to Crookham.

All he has to do is go to the center of the mat, point at it and demand Crookham actually wrestle rather than back up the whole time, and boom! 133 lb runner up to 2x champion Lucas Byrd*

[AgaveMaria]

16 hours ago, Rassling2 said:

No one is beating Ono next season James, book it.

How will he do with mat wrestling when facing a top quality rider?

[Rassling2]

3 hours ago, AgaveMaria said:

How will he do with mat wrestling when facing a top quality rider?

I think he’ll do just fine after practicing dominant top positions with the boyz in Caels room. Perfecting the bow and arrow might be a nice start. I read alot of things about his previous training routine and I’m predicting he takes to folk style like he’s been doing it for years. I fully predict he loses to no one next season. 

Edited yesterday at 06:11 PM by Rassling2

[flyingcement]

3 hours ago, AgaveMaria said:

How will he do with mat wrestling when facing a top quality rider?

Good thing they have Nagao in the room honestly.  That's his best position.  Will give Ono a good partner to learn from.'

[scourge165]

6 hours ago, flyingcement said:

Good thing they have Nagao in the room honestly.  That's his best position.  Will give Ono a good partner to learn from.'

Sure...and I would bet on Ono, but people are acting like he doesn't have an absolute stud in his weight. 

Crookham beat Vito soundly twice. Vito is a World Champ. 

So...sure, that'll be helpful and Ono is so good on his feet, that'll help. But it's also a huge disadvantage. I think it's easier to go from Folkstyle to Freestyle than the other way around. 

 

Edit-It will be a lot of fun to watch Blaze next year. He's a different style Wrestler than I can remember. His defense is so damn good...it's just mind blowing. 4 years in the State of Ohio and he was never taken down?

Can someone verify this for me? So he didn't win the Ironman 4X, he's lost. Did he lose on ride outs or what? I get not getting taken down your last two years or whatever, especially if you're a stud, but all 4 years? 

I probably will pick him to win it at '41, but it'd be an upset pick. 

 

Edited 17 hours ago by scourge165

[flyingcement]

1 minute ago, scourge165 said:

Sure...and I would bet on Ono, but people are acting like he doesn't have an absolute stud in his weight. 

Crookham beat Vito soundly twice. Vito is a World Champ. 

So...sure, that'll be helpful and Ono is so good on his feet, that'll help. But it's also a huge disadvantage. I think it's easier to go from Folkstyle to Freestyle than the other way around. 

 

I would bet on Byrd and Crookham both over Ono for folk this year

[Ragu]

1 hour ago, flyingcement said:

I would bet on Byrd and Crookham both over Ono for folk this year

Those are both guys who win on close gritty matches. Those types of matches don’t exist with Ono

[Gene Mills Fan]

college Freshman get ridden mostly because they are 18 year olds wrestling 21-22 yr olds not because they don't have folkstyle experience. Ono is not freshman. On top his gut or trap arm are enough or he just cuts everyone all season long and goes neutral to score a zillion points

[ionel]

13 hours ago, flyingcement said:

I would bet on Byrd and Crookham both over Ono for folk this year

Well sure ... but what kind of guarantee? 

[Winners Circle]

13 hours ago, scourge165 said:

Sure...and I would bet on Ono, but people are acting like he doesn't have an absolute stud in his weight. 

Crookham beat Vito soundly twice. Vito is a World Champ. 

So...sure, that'll be helpful and Ono is so good on his feet, that'll help. But it's also a huge disadvantage. I think it's easier to go from Folkstyle to Freestyle than the other way around. 

 

Edit-It will be a lot of fun to watch Blaze next year. He's a different style Wrestler than I can remember. His defense is so damn good...it's just mind blowing. 4 years in the State of Ohio and he was never taken down?

Can someone verify this for me? So he didn't win the Ironman 4X, he's lost. Did he lose on ride outs or what? I get not getting taken down your last two years or whatever, especially if you're a stud, but all 4 years? 

I probably will pick him to win it at '41, but it'd be an upset pick. 

 

He beat Vito 10-6 and 8-4 and both matches were 1 point until the 3rd period when he got a match sealing takedown. I wouldn't call that "soundly". He also was beat by Vito 13-3, who Ono teched in just over 4 minutes. Yes, I know free is different than folk. But I'm must playing devil's advocate. 

[GimJustafan]

On 5/20/2025 at 10:56 AM, AgaveMaria said:

How will he do with mat wrestling when facing a top quality rider?

cant see him conceding many takedowns nor choosing bottom

[ionel]

Can he get two or three takedowns in the first?  A 6-2 or 9-3 lead going into the second with still a neutral choice should be in good shape as long as not stalled out on bottom.  

[Truzzcat]

Ono vs Crookham is a very interesting matchup. Ono can get to his legs but I wonder if he can finish. A lot of those positions where guys get takedowns in free are a results of guys fighting in off the edge. Crookham will care less if Ono gets to his leg and pushes him out.

[Winners Circle]

11 minutes ago, ionel said:

Can he get two or three takedowns in the first?  A 6-2 or 9-3 lead going into the second with still a neutral choice should be in good shape as long as not stalled out on bottom.  

Have a hard time believing he won't be able to against most, if not all people.