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Penn State wrestling: Luke Lilledahl finishes second at U20 Worlds; Mitchell Mesenrbrink goes for gold Wednesday

Greg Pickelby: Greg Pickel08/15/23GregPickel
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Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson speaks at a news conference on Jan. 3, 2023. (Thomas Frank Carr/BWI)

A future Penn State wrestler has completed his time at the U20 World Wrestling Championships. A current Nittany Lion will go for gold on Wednesday. The program is represented at the annual freestyle event by Class of 2024 commit Luke Lilledahl and current team member Mitchell Mesenbrink.

Lilledahl won his first three matches on Monday with relative ease in the 57 kilogram (125 pound) division. His trio of triumphs came by a combined score of 23-6. His semifinal was a taller task. The senior-to-be trailed for most of the match before stunning Ruslan Abdullayev of Azerbaijan and winning by fall with only seconds remaining in the third period.

Lilledahl would ultimately finish as the divison’s silver medalist. He lost Tuesday’s final 5-0 to Yuto Nishiuchi of Japan.

Mesenbrink, who wrestles in the 74 kilogram (163 pounds) weight class, dominated on his first day of wrestling in Amman, Jordan. He won his first three matches by technical falls, racking up a combined point total of 33-1. Then, in the semifinals, he needed less than a minute (58 seconds to be exact) to score another technical fall, this time by a 10-0 count, over Zhakshylyk Baitashov of Kyrgyzstan.

The Penn State newcomer who transferred into the Lions’ program this offseason will wrestle for U20 gold on Wednesday morning between 10 and 11 a.m. He will face Hossein Mohammad Aghae of Iran. The two have history. Mesenbrink beat Aghae 9-6 in a quarterfinal at last year’s U20 Worlds in the 70 kilogram division en route to a second-place finish.

More Penn State wrestling updates

It’s been another busy offseason for Penn State wrestling. Numerous past, current and future Nittany Lions have had success on the International stage. Soon, though, the first two listed above iwll all will return to focusing on folkstyle competition at either the high school or college level.

Speaking of the latter, we know more about Penn State’s 2023-2024 schedule then we did at the start of the month. The team will host Lehigh in State College for a non-conference dual meet on Dec. 3. We won’t learn the team’s full schedule for at least another month, in all likelihood. But, Big Ten foes this year include Rutgers, Nebraska, Indiana, and Ohio State at home. And, the team will face Iowa, Michigan, Maryland, and Michigan State on the road.

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