Ohio State has been one of the two best teams in college wrestling all season, but Penn State proved it’s still the king of the sport on Friday night.
After the first 17-0 start in program history, Ohio State suffered its first loss of the year in blowout fashion against the top-ranked and also-unbeaten Nittany Lions, falling 36-5 at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center.
Penn State won nine of 10 matches on the night with two-time national champion Jesse Mendez earning Ohio State’s only victory of the dual.
Ohio State’s chances of upsetting Penn State evaporated quickly as the Buckeyes lost two of the night’s most winnable matches right off the bat. In the dual’s opening match at 125 pounds, No. 2 Nic Bouzakis lost to No. 1 Luke Lilledahl on a takedown in sudden victory. In the night’s second match, No. 4 Marcus Blaze defeated No. 2 Ben Davino, 3-2, with a reversal during the second tiebreak period at 133.
Mendez did what he usually does at 141 pounds, earning an 18-2 tech fall over 12th-ranked Braeden Davis to improve to 18-0 on the season and put five points on the board for the Buckeyes. But Penn State dominated the rest of the dual from there.
Just relentless. @PhenoMendez | #GoBucks https://t.co/fLBQF1eIrC pic.twitter.com/9QxCEctE8A
— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) February 14, 2026
No. 1 Shayne Van Ness rolled to a 20-5 tech fall over Brogan Fielding at 149 pounds. PJ Duke followed with a win by fall over Daxton Chase at 157. After the halftime break, No. 1 Mitchell Messenbrink scored a 12-2 major decision over No. 16 Paddy Gallagher at 165 to put another bonus point on the board for Penn State. No. 1 Levi Haines rolled to a 16-1 tech fall over T.J. Schierl for Penn State’s fourth straight bonus-point victory.
Ohio State’s Dylan Fishback led for most of the match against No. 1 Rocco Welsh – an Ohio State transfer – at 184 pounds, but Welsh secured a takedown with less than 10 seconds remaining to earn a 7-6 decision over the eighth-ranked Fishback. Josh Barr, another No. 1-ranked Nittany Lion, followed with an 11-2 major decision over No. 10 Luke Geog.
Finally, No. 12 Cole Mirasola took down No. 3 Nick Feldman in sudden victory to score a 4-1 upset at heavyweight, securing a 31-point win for Penn State.
| Wt. | Result | OSU | PSU |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | No. 1 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) def. No. 2 Nic Bouzakis (OSU), SV-1, 4-1 | 0 | 3 |
| 133 | No. 4 Marcus Blaze (PSU) def. No. 2 Ben Davino (OSU), TB, 3-2 | 0 | 6 |
| 141 | No. 1 Jesse Mendez (OSU) def. No. 12 Braeden Davis (PSU), TF, 18-2 | 5 | 6 |
| 149 | No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) def. Brogan Fielding (OSU), TF, 20-5 | 5 | 11 |
| 157 | No. 4 PJ Duke (PSU) def. Daxton Chase (OSU), F, 3:28 | 5 | 17 |
| 165 | No. 1 Mitchell Messenbrink (PSU) def. No. 16 Paddy Gallagher (OSU), MD, 12-2 | 5 | 21 |
| 174 | No. 1 Levi Haines (PSU) def. T.J. Schierl (OSU), TF, 16-1 | 5 | 26 |
| 184 | No. 1 Rocco Welsh (PSU) def. No. 8 Dylan Fishback (OSU), D, 7-6 | 5 | 29 |
| 197 | No. 1 Josh Barr (PSU) def. No. 10 Luke Geog (OSU), MD, 11-2 | 5 | 33 |
| HWT | No. 12 Cole Mirasola (PSU) def. No. 3 Nick Feldman (OSU), SV-1, 4-1 | 5 | 36 |
Penn State clinched its sixth straight Big Ten dual meet championship with Friday’s victory. The Nittany Lions, who haven’t lost a dual since 2020, are the heavy favorites to win the NCAA championship for the fifth consecutive year and 13th time in 15 seasons.
Despite Friday’s lopsided loss, Ohio State still has a strong case to remain the No. 2 team in the country, as the Buckeyes have defeated most of the nation’s other top teams, including No. 4 Iowa State, No. 5 Nebraska, No. 7 Iowa (twice), No. 8 N.C. State, No. 9 Minnesota (twice) and No. 10 Michigan. Friday’s performance, however, showed that Ohio State will need massive improvement between now and the postseason to have a chance of taking down Penn State at the Big Ten or NCAA championships.
First, the Buckeyes will look to bounce back on Sunday as they complete their regular season with a road match at Maryland (2 p.m., B1G+).
