2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships Watch Party

2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships Fast Facts: Penn State Edition

2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships Fast Facts: Penn State Edition

Our multi-part series on notable facts and figures from the 2025 NCAA Championships begins with a look at Penn State's record-setting performance.

Apr 2, 2025 by Andy Hamilton
2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships Fast Facts: Penn State Edition

The 2025 NCAA Championships provided us with historic feats, upsets and dozens of notable facts and figures. Flowrestling's Andy Hamilton and Andrew Spey took a dive into some of the compelling stats that came out of national tournament in Philadelphia with some assistance from the Mat Talk Almanac. The multi-part series kicks off with a look at another record-setting performance by the Penn State Nittany Lions. 

More NCAA Fast Facts: Nebraska | Oklahoma State | Iowa | 5th-10th | States | Bonus Facts

— Penn State broke the tournament scoring record for the second straight year. This time, the Nittany Lions piled up 177 points. To put that number into perspective, if you combine the points scored by each of the third-place finishers — five of whom are from Penn State — you’d get to 166.5 points. 

— The Nittany Lions racked up 34.5 bonus points — a figure that, by itself, would’ve tied 13th-place Purdue. 

— Penn State became the second team in Division I history with 10 All-Americans. All 10 Nittany Lions placed sixth or better with two champs, a runner-up, five wrestlers who placed third, another who finished fifth and one who placed sixth. 

By comparison, the 2001 Minnesota squad — the first team with 10 All-Americans — had three wrestlers who placed third, three who finished fourth, a fifth-, a sixth- and two eighth-place finishers. 

— The previous All-American high for Penn State under coach Cael Sanderson was eight (2018, 2023 and 2024). Sanderson’s first Penn State squad had three All-Americans in 2010. The Nittany Lions have put five on the podium every season since. 

— This was Sanderson’s 12th NCAA title, which puts him in sole possession of second place behind Dan Gable’s 15. 

— With two champs and 10 All-Americans, Sanderson has coached 40 title winners and 96 All-Americans in 15 trips to the NCAA Championships with the Nittany Lions. 

— Penn State is now 40-20 in NCAA title bouts under Sanderson. 

— Penn State led the field with seven pins (no other team had more than four) and seven technical falls (no other team had more than four). 

— The Nittany Lions went 20-0 on the tournament’s first day and became the first team since Iowa in 1992 to have 10 quarterfinalists. 

— Freshman Luke Lilledahl became Penn State’s first 125-pound All-American since Nico Megaludis won the 2016 title. 

— Mitchell Mesenbrink’s title at 165 pounds is the fifth for the Nittany Lions at that weight since 2012. 

— Carter Starocci’s title at 184 pounds is the ninth for Penn State at the weight since 2011.