Four Penn State wrestling medalists help Team USA win men's freestyle team title at U23 Worlds

Penn State wrestlers won four medals at the U23 World Championships, helping Team USA win the men’s freestyle team title in Serbia. Three Nittany Lions are coming back to State College with gold medals. Senior Levi Haines won the 79-kilogram bracket. Junior Mitchell Mesenbrink took gold at 74 kilograms. And sophomore Luke Lilledahl took first at 57 kilograms. Beyond those three champs, freshman PJ Duke finished third at 70 kilograms.

USA Wrestling recaps the medal round for Haines, Duke, and Lilledahl

“Lilledahl wrestled his match against Japan’s Yuta Kikuchi, who made a name for himself this tournament,” USA Wrestling writes. “[The Penn State wrestlers] forced Kikuchi to go on the shot clock twice, taking a 2-0 lead into the back half of the match. Lilledahl iced things with a single leg score going off the mat in the final minute to get the 4-0 win. It’s the third age-group World gold and fifth World final for one of the top lightweight prospects in the country.

“The 79 kg final had slightly less dramatic effect. Haines wrapped things up early with a pair of four-pointers—an overhook toss going off the mat and a double leg to the back—to surge past 2023 U20 World bronze medalist Ibrahim Yaprak of Türkiye by technical fall, 11-1. Haines backed up his silver medal outing from last month’s Senior World Championships with an upgraded result in Serbia.

“The Nittany Lion Wrestling Club added a third athlete to the medal stand with PJ Duke pulling off a dramatic pin in his bronze medal match at 70 kg. Duke leveraged a lat-pull, whipping Armenia’s Davit Margaryan to his back for a pin with one second left in the first period. Duke collected his third age-group World medal, adding to his U20 World bronze from last year and his U20 World title from earlier this summer. He was also a member of the Senior World Team, along with Haines.”

You can read a recap of Mesenbrink’s medal round here.

Full Penn State wrestling U23 Worlds results

57 kilograms – Luke Lilledahl, gold

65 kilograms – Marcus Blaze, did not place

70 kilograms – PJ Duke, bronze

74 kilograms – Mitchell Mesenbrink, gold

79 kilograms – Levi Haines, gold

86 kilograms – Rocco Welsh, seventh

92 kilograms – Josh Barr, 10th (injury default)

Team USA has also won the U17 and U20 men’s freestyle world championships this year. Penn State Class of 2026 commit Jayden James won gold at the former. And, Nittany Lion medalists at U20s include Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke (gold), Will Henckel (silver), and Connor and Cole Mirasola (bronze).

Penn State starts its 2025-2026 season Nov. 14. It welcomes Oklahoma to town that day.