The 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships are just over a week away. Before action gets underway, check out our bracket reactions for all ten Penn State wrestlers who are headed to Cleveland.

125 lbs: #1 Luke Lilledahl - #1 Seed

Returning 3rd place finisher Lilledahl’s undefeated season was rewarded with the top seed at 125 lbs. He’ll be a heavy favorite in his first match against either Missouri’s #27 or Bloomsburg’s Jace Schafer. In round two, he’ll see Big 12 third or fourth place finishers #16 Ezekiel Witt or #17 Jett Strickenberger. Lilledhal won a 6-5 decision over Witt at the Journeymen Collegiate Duals in December.

If seeds hold, Lilledahl’s potential quarterfinal opponents would either be #9 Dean Peterson or #12 Maximo Renteria. Lilledahl hasn’t wrestled Renteria in his career. He beat Peterson twice this season but fell to him 4-1 last season.

The other top-side quarterfinal includes last year’s returning finalists #4 Troy Spratley and #7 Vincent Robinson along with All-Americans #3 Sheldon Seymour and #10 Stevo Poulin. Regardless of who emerges, Lilledahl will have a tough semifinal opponent. He hasn’t wrestled Spratley or Robinson but split matches against Seymour last season. Lilledahl also beat Poulin 3-0 at NCAAs last year. #2 Eddie Ventresca and #5 Nic Bouzakis hold the 2nd and 3rd seeds and are among the potential finals opponents for Lilledahl.

133 lbs: #2 Marcus Blaze - #3 Seed

Big Ten finalist Marcus Blaze will start his tournament against #33 Gabe Whisenhunt of Oregon State and will see either #25 Gage Walker or #17 Ethan Berginc in the round of 16. Berginc is the only opponent of those three Blaze has faced. He won that match by 21-6 tech in November.

Blaze’s quarterfinal opponent, if seeds hold, is 2x NCAA finalist #7 Drake Ayala. Blaze owns two decisions against Ayala including a 4-1 sudden victory win in the Big Ten semifinals. If Blaze reaches the semifinals, he could see either 2025 NCAA champ Lucas Byrd or Big Ten champ Ben Davino. He hasn’t wrestled Byrd and has split a pair of tie-breaker bouts with Davino.

The three highest seeded wrestlers on the top half of the bracket are all freshmen: #3 Jax Forrest, #4 Kyler Larkin, and #5 Aaron Seidel. Blaze has yet to face any of them in his college career but did defeat Forrest at the Clarion Open when the two were in high school.

141 lbs: #14 Braeden Davis - #14 Seed

2025 All-American Braeden Davis enters as the #14 seed after his 7th place finish at Big Tens. His first round opponent is Utah Valley’s Haiden Drury. A win there could set up a rematch with Nebraska NCAA finalist Brock Hardy. Davis led Hardy for much of the match in this season’s Penn State vs Nebraska dual, but Hardy ended the bout early with a fall. Should Davis get by Hardy, he could see 6th seeded #9 Vince Cornella in the quarterfinals followed by either #2 Sergio Vega or #7 Nasir Bailey in the semis. Davis hasn’t wrestled Cornella or Vega but split matches with Bailey over the last two seasons. Bailey notched the 3-2 victory in this year’s Iowa vs Penn State dual.

If Davis falls to Hardy in the second round, he may need to get by two-time All-American CJ Composto on the back side of the bracket in order to reach the blood round where he could see an opponent like Vance Vombaur or Joey Olivieri, both of whom defeated Davis at Big Tens.

149 lbs: #1 Shayne Van Ness - #1 seed

Big Ten champ Van Ness will be highly favored in his match vs the 32 vs 33 seed then will face either Lock Haven’s Lucas Kapusta or Iowa State All-American in round two. While Van Ness will be heavily favored in those first two rounds, a potential round of 16 bout against a returning All-American is less than ideal.

If seeds hold, Van Ness would see Oklahoma State All-American and Big 12 champion #6 Casey Swiderski in the quarterfinals. The two have never met in their careers. Potential semifinal opponents for Van Ness include freshmen #3 Collin Gaj of Virginia Tech and #4 Koy Buesgens of NC State. Van Ness hasn’t faced either but would be heavily favored against both wrestlers.

The smart bet for wrestling fans is to pick Van Ness to make the finals. The top seeded wrestlers on the opposite side of the bracket include #2 Jaxon Joy of Cornell, #10 Cross Wasilewski of Penn, #11 Caleb Tyus of SIUE, and #7 Ethan Stiles of Oregon State. Van Ness would be heavily favored against any of them.

157 lbs: #1 PJ Duke - #1 Seed

True freshman PJ Duke won Big Tens and earned the top seed. The 2025 Senior World teamer will begin his first NCAA tournament against either the 32 or 33 seeds, Charles of Morgan State and Prechtel of Bellarmine followed by a bout against either Luke Mechler of Wisconsin or Cael Swensen of SDSU.

Things will get tougher for Duke in the quarterfinals where he could face #11 Daniel Cardenas or #8 Brandon Cannon. Duke has a decision win over Cardenas and a major decision over Cannon from Big Tens.

Potential semifinal opponents for Duke include either # Kaleb Larkin or # Landon Robideau of Oklahoma State. Those two met in the Big 12 finals with Larkin locking up the win.

Duke will be favored to reach the NCAA finals, in which case he might see returning NCAA champ Antrell Taylor, All Americans Meyer Shapiro and Ty Watters, or tough sophomores Jude Swisher and Kannon Webster. Like many of his teammates, Duke is the favorite to win the whole thing. 

165 lbs: #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink - #1 Seed

It’s no surprise that Mesenbrink sits in the top seed. The nation’s top ranked 165-pounder boasts a 100% bonus rate headed into NCAAs, and anything other than a title for the Wisconsin native would be a surprise. He’ll be expected to dominate either #33 Vigil or #32 Walsh in his opening bout before facing either #11 Braeden Scoles or #13 Paddy Gallagher, both of whom he has majored in the past. 

Potential quarterfinal opponents include Little Rock All-American and #9 Matty Bianchi and UNC’s #16 Bryce Hepner. In the semis, Mesenbrink could see one of two Big 12 finalists, Arizona State’s #4 Nicco Ruiz, or Oklahoma State’s #5 LaDarion Lockett. Dee Lockett is the more highly touted prospect, but Ruiz defeated him at Big 12s.

It seems likely that Mesenbrink will reach the finals where he’ll see either #2 Mikey Caliendo or #3 Joey Blaze. Mesenbrink hasn’t competed against Blaze, brother of teammate Marcus, but is 8-0 over Caliendo with five bonus point victories.

174 lbs: #1 Levi Haines - #1 Seed

Levi Haines’ undefeated season and Big Ten title have unsurprisingly helped propel him to the top spot at NCAAs. The Nittany Lions will be looking for bonus points from Haines against either O’Dell or Condon in his first match and against either #17 Jared Simma or #30 Nick Fine in round two. In the quarterfinals, Haines could see either Michigan scrambler #9 Beau Mantanona or former teammate #8 Alex Facundo of Oklahoma State.

Haines will be expected to reach the semifinal where he could see #4 Carson Kharchla or #5 Patrick Kennedy. Haines is a combined 5-0 against the pair.

Likely finals opponents for Haines appear to be Nebraska’s #3 Christopher Minto or Cornell’s #2 Simon Ruiz, but he shouldn’t overlook other All-Americans like NC State’s #6 Matty Singleton, Missouri’s #7 Cam Steed, or Navy’s #15 Danny Wask from making a run to the finals.

184 lbs: #1 Rocco Welsh - #1 Seed

2024 NCAA finalist Rocco Welsh finished his season with a 20-0 record and a Big Ten title. That made him the only undefeated wrestler in the weight and earned him the top seed. He will be a heavy favorite in round one against either #15 Goin or Uhlenhopp as well as round two against either #20 Ian Bush or #17 Rylan Rogers.

Things get a little tighter for Welsh in the quarterfinals where guys like #5 Silas Allred and #13 Chris Moore await. Assuming Welsh advances to the semis, be on the lookout for CKLV champion #9 James Conway of Franklin & Marshall, Michigan’s #6 Brock Mantanona, or Ohio State’s #7 Dylan Fishback. Welsh won a come-from-behind 7-6 decision against Fishback during the regular season and defeated Mantanona in sudden-victory at Big Tens.

Welsh is favored to reach the finals, and if he does, he could see some combination of #3 Aeoden Sinclair, #4 Max McEnelly, or #3 Angelo Ferrari, among others. Welsh hasn’t faced Sinclair in his career but has notched two tie-breaker wins over Ferrari this season along with one tie-breaker victory over McEnelly.

197 lbs: #1 Josh Barr - #1 Seed

Like 165-pound teammate Mesenbrink, Barr is an undefeated conference champion with a 100% bonus point rate. He’ll be expected to cruise in this tournament. Barr opens with either #31 Tompkins of Air Force or Schaffer of Kent State followed by Bucknell’s #23 Dillon Bechtold or Maryland’s #15 Branson John.

Potential quarterfinal opponents for Barr include Stanford’s #7 Angelo Posada and Oklahoma’s #10 DJ Parker, and potential semifinal opponents include #5 Sonny Sasso of Virginia Tech and #3 Joey Novak of Wyoming. SDSU All-American #11 Bennett Berge and Ohio State’s #13 Luke Geog are also wrestlers to watch from the second quarterfinal group at 197 lbs. Regardless of who reaches the semifinals, Barr will be expected to dominate. Barr hasn’t wrestled Parker, Sasso, Novak, or Berge, but he has teched Posada and Geog this season.

Should Barr reach the finals as he’s expected to do, he could see Little Rock All-American #4 Stephen Little, Oklahoma State freshman #6 Cody Merrill, Oregon State age-level World medalist #9 Justin Rademacher, or Iowa State’s #2 Rocky Elam. Conventional wisdom puts Elam in that final. Elam is a wrestler that many fans believe is the greatest test for Barr. This would be the first meeting between Barr and any of these three opponents. 

285 lbs: #7 Cole Mirasola - #9 seed

Penn State freshman Cole Mirasola will begin his first NCAA tournament against Duke’s #30 Connor Barket who he teched last season at the Southern Scuffle. His second round bout will be a tougher problem to solve against Iowa’s #6 Ben Kueter. Mirasola beat Kueter during the Iowa vs Penn State dual but fell 2-0 to Kueter at Big Tens. Should Mirasola get past Kueter, he would likely see #1 Yonger Bastida in the quarterfinals with potential semifinalists #4 AJ Ferrari and #5 Nick Feldman waiting in the wings.

If Mirasola falls to Kueter in the second round, he would likely need to defeat someone like Virginia Tech’s #19 Jim Mullen to reach the blood round and someone like #3 Taye Ghadali or #11 Nathan Taylor to get on the podium. If Mirasola were to reach the quarterfinals and fall to Bastida, he could see opponents like #12 Koy Hopke or #22 Devon Dawson in the blood round.