4 Penn State wrestling Black Knight Invite takeaways: Nagao injury, Desmond's dazzling debut, full results

Penn State wrestling won nine of 10 titles on Sunday at the 2025 Army Black Knight Invitational. But, that will not be the biggest storyline to come out of the Lions’ trip to West Point, N.Y. Our top takeaways, plus full results, are below.

1. Aaron Nagao suffers an injury

Penn State 141-pound starter Aaron Nagao collided with Army’s Braden Basile in their title match. After initially needing injury time to be checked out by the trainers, the Nittany Lion, who is just returning from an injury that took away all of his 2024-2025 season, was forced to leave the mat and medically forfeit to finish second. It appeared to be an upper-body injury, but it happened fast enough that anything could be possible.

If Nagao needs time off the mat, Penn State will likely turn to 2024-2025 133-pound All-American Braeden Davis. He bumped up a weight like Nagao did this offseason but was on track to redshirt this year. That may end up changing.

2. Desmond’s dazzling debut

Penn State 125-pound freshman Nate Desmond had a fantastic debut in a blue and white singlet. In high school, he won two state titles at Bethlehem Catholic, plus one at Wyoming Seminary. He also won a national prep title as a junior. His senior season was cut short due to injury. But, he’s back on the mat and looked fantastic on Sunday in New York. After winning his first three matches by a combined score of 39-0, he beat top-ranked teammate and returning All-American Luke Lilledahl by decision, 5-3, in the finals.

Lilledahl is still a national title contender. And, Desmond is still on track to redshirt. But, his time in State College could not have started on a better note.

3. Starting spot battle updates

Penn State went into Sunday planning to use the one-day tournament to gather more info on two key starting spot battles. In the first one, freshman PJ Duke beat redshirt freshman Joe Sealey 2-1 in the 157-pound final. The expectation continues to be that Duke will wrestle this year while Sealey will redshirt despite his big dual meet debut win against Oklahoma two weeks ago.

Moving on to 285, redshirt freshman Cole Mirasola beat veteran Lucas Cochran 3-1 in one 285-pound semifinal. He then went on to win a title. Mirasola now beat Cochran on two different wrestle-offs and tracks as the team’s starting heavyweight in 2025-2026.

4. Full Penn State wrestling weight-by-weight results

125 pounds

Luke Lilledahl
R1: BYE
QF: TF Sawyer Ostroff, LIU, 17-2 (2:48)
SF: TF Sulyman Bah, Columbia, 17-2 (6:59)
F: Lost to Nate Desmond, Penn State by decision, 5-3

Nate Desmond
R1: TF Connor Smith, Columbia, 15-0 (4:02)
QF: D. Cooper Flynn, Tenn-Chatt, 7-0
SF: MD Charlie Farmer, Army, 17-4
F: D. Luke Lilledahl, Penn State, 5-3

133 pounds

Marcus Blaze
R1: BYE
R2: TF Jackson Baglio, Gardner-Webb, 17-0 (3:00)
QF: F Max Elton, Buffalo, :46
SF: MD Jake Capps, Army, 19-5
F: TF Ethan Berginc, Army, 21-6 (7:00)

Kysion Garcia
R1: TF Troy Guerra, Buffalo, 15-0 (5:33)
R2: D. Ethan Uhorchuk, Tennessee-Chattanooga, 4-2
QF: Loss by decision to Takeo Davis, 11-3
Consi R2: MD Ethan Lipsey, Tenn-Chatt, 12-4
Consi SF: MD Bryce Luna, Tenn-Chatt, 11-2
Fifth place match: Loses to Evin Gursoy, 6-0, to finish sixth

141 pounds

Aaron Nagao
R1: TF Till Helms, Gardner-Webb, 19-4 (3:31)
QF: TF Yuta Otero, Tenn-Chatt, 18-2 (4:21)
SF: D Hunter Mason, Tenn-Chatt, 13-6
F: Loses by medical default to Braden Basile, Army

Cael Nasdeo
R1: BYE
QF: D. Lorenzo Frezza, Columbia, 15-12
SF: Lost by major decision to Braden Basile, Army, 11-3

149 pounds

Shayne Van Ness
R1: F Marco Frinzi, Columbia, 1:21
QF: F Justin Holly, Buffalo, 1:31
SF: TF Mason Barvitskie, Army, 16-1, in 6:49
F: MD Connor Pierce, Penn State, 14-7

Connor Pierce
R1: TF Ryan Pierce, Army, 19-4 (5:55)
QF: F Sam Ewing, Buffalo, 4:00
SF: MD Richard Fedalen, Columbia, 18-5
F: Lost to Shayne Van Ness, Penn State, 14-7

Dalton Perry
R1: TF Billy Meiszner, Tennessee-Chattanooga, 19-4 (5:22)
QF: Lost by MFF Richard Fedalen, Columbia, :01

157 pounds

PJ Duke
R1: F Owen Hicks, Army, 1:38
QF: F CJ Liddie, Tenn-Chatt (2:37)
SF: F Kaleb Burgess, Army, 1:29
F: D. Joe Sealey, Penn State, 2-1

Joe Sealey
R1: F Owen O’Conner, Army, 3:24
QF: MD Kellen Smith, Army, 21-8
SF: TF Brayden Roberts, LIU, 22-6 (6:40)
F: Lost to PJ Duke, Penn State, 2-1

165 pounds

Mitchell Mesenbrink
R1: F Nathan McCartney, Gardner-Webb (4:40)
QF: F Jack Valentin, LIU, 1:21
SF: TF Mason Reiniche, Tenn-Chatt, 20-4 (5:19)
F: Wins by fall over Gunner Flipowicz, Army (2:03)

Sam Beckett
R1: BYE
QF: Loss by major decision to Cesar Alvan, Columbia, 14-3
Consi R2: MD Brad Unger, Buffalo, 8-0
Consi SF: D. Kelin Laffey, Buffalo, 4-1
Fifth-place match: D . Micah Hanau, Army, 4-1 to win fifth


174 pounds

Levi Haines
R1: TF Andrew Christie, Army, 18-2 (5:21)
QF: TF Isaiah Guerrero, Gardner-Webb, 21-4 (4:08)
SF: MD Cooper Haase, Army, 19-4 (5:45)
F: D. William Henckel, Penn State, 7-0

William Henckel
R1: TF Eric Tigue, Buffalo, 19-4 (4:52)
QF: TF Andrew Wilson, Gardner-Webb, 15-0 (3:53)
SF: D. Nick Fine, Columbia, 7-3
F: Lost to Levi Haines, Penn State, 7-0

184 pounds

Rocco Welsh
R1: BYE
QF: TF Cole Karpinski, Army, 20-4 (3:46)
SF: MD Joseph Curtis, Columbia, 19-7
F: D. Asher Cunningham, Penn State, 13-5

Asher Cunningham
R1: BYE
QF: MD. David Barrett, Army, 12-0
SF: MDAaron Ayzerov, Columbia, 11-3
F: Loses by decision to Rocco Welsh, Penn State, 13-5

197 pounds

Connor Mirasola

R1: BYE
QF: F Eli Pack, Army, 2:38
SF: TF Adam Haselius, Columbia, 19-2 (2:18)
F: TF Wolfgang Frable, Army, 17-2 (7:00)

285 pounds

Cole Mirasola
R1: F Rocky Files, Gardner-Webb, (1:53)
QF: F Tristen Hitchcock, Army (2:44)
SF: D Lucas Cochran, Penn State, 3-1
F: D. Brady Colbert, Army, 10-6

Lucas Cochran
R1: BYE
QF: TF Sam Sorenson, Army, 19-1 (4:46)
SF: Lost to Cole Mirasola, Penn State by decision, 3-1
Third place match: MD. Vincent Mueller, Columbia 12-2