Penn State Wrestling’s Big Ten Title Push: Seeds, Contenders, and Storylines to Watch
Penn State Wrestling is getting ready to pile into the team plane later this week and make their way to Evanston for the 2025 B1G Wrestling Championships.
That’s right folks, just like that, make no mistake about it, it’s B1G Championship week!
And it’s time to fire up the multiple mat cams, grab a family-sized bag of M&M’s, and get ready to strap into the action as all 14 Big Ten teams descend into the Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Session I is set to kick off at 11:00am EST and the non-stop wrestling will air nationally on the Big Ten Network as well as on B1G+.
For most teams and wrestlers, the B1Gs represent the ability to fulfill life-long dreams and take home some coveted hardware. But Penn State Wrestling isn’t like most teams. And during Cael Sanderson’s incredible run over the past decade-plus, the Nittany Lions and their fans understand that while the B1Gs are important, they aren’t the ultimate prize.
Additionally, the B1G just recently released their pre-seeds for this weekend.
Obviously, the final seeds won’t be announced until the coaches meeting on Friday, but I highly doubt many, if any changes, will be made.
So with that, let’s take a look at all 10 of the Penn Staters and what potentially lies ahead.
2025 B1G Championships Preview for Penn State Wrestling
125
Luke Lilledahl
B1G Pre-seed: 4
Did they get it right?: Yep
Opening round matchup: No. 13 Caelan Riley (ILL)
Roadblock: Semifinals matchups against No. 1 Matt Ramos (PUR)
With losses to both Dean Peterson (4-1 decision) and Brendan McCrone (fall) during the regular season, a four-seed seems about right for Lilledahl.
But unfortunately for him, that means he has to take on the one-seed in the semis. And Purdue’s Matt Ramos has been a man on a mission this season. The 125 group has been a wild roller coaster, similar to last season. And the only guy who has yet to drop a match is Ramos.
I’m not saying Luke won’t shock the nation. I’m just saying it would be a tough task for the true freshman.
133
Braeden Davis
B1G Pre-seed: 4
Did they get it right?: Sure?
Opening round matchup: No. 13 Andrew Hampton (MSU)
Roadblock: Semifinals matchups against No. 1 Drake Ayala (IA)
Braeden has only wrestled two matches since his injury back in January. And for the year he’s competed in a total of 11.
So his sample size isn’t exactly “large.” Hence what I think about his seed.
Look, when Davis is on top of his game, he can be as good as anyone in the nation. But as I pointed out recently, there is very little chance he’s anywhere close to 100%.
Which is why it will be super important for Davis to win enough matches for the auto-bid to the NCAA’s and not aggravate his injury.
141
Beau Bartlett
I believe the result of this match will go a long way in seeing if Beau can finally climb to the top of the mountain at the end of the season.
149
Shayne Van Ness
B1G Pre-seed: 1
Did they get it right?: Of course
Opening round matchup: Bye – Quarterfinals match against the winner of No. 8 Kal Miller (MD)/No. 9 Dylan Gilcher (MICH)
Roadblock: Finals matchups against No. 2 Kyle Parco (IOWA) or No. 3 Ridge Lovett (NEB)
I think there’s a really high chance that Ridge Lovett advances to the finals at 149. And if he does, then it will be a massive matchup for Van Ness.
Because in their only career matchups from two months ago, Lovett took Shayne behind the woodshed. His 10-2 major decision loss was about the most lopsided match you will ever see from SVN.
So the big question is this, what did Van Ness learn from the loss?
My guess is “Quite a bit”. But we shall see.
157
Tyler Kasak
B1G Pre-seed: 2
Did they get it right?: I mean, okay?
Opening round matchup: Bye – Quarterfinals match against the winner of No. 7 Trevor Chumbley (NU)/No. 10 Conner Harer (RUT)
Roadblock: Semifinals matchups against No. 3 Antrell Taylor (NEB)
Similar to Davis, Tyler Kasak has only competed in three matches since January. Granted one of them did include an injury forfeit to Maryland’s Ethan Miller, but that was a complete one-off.
Did Miller do enough to deserve the one-seed? Not in my opinion. But in the end it doesn’t matter.
I will have my eyes on Kasak’s potential semifinals match against Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor. Kasak dispatched Tayler 9-3 in Penn State Wrestling’s dual in mid-January. But Taylor is a tough wrestler and this match will be a barometer on how Kasak is feeling both physically and mentally.
165
Mitchell Mesenbrink
B1G Pre-seed: 1
Did they get it right?: Yes
Opening round matchup: Bye – Quarterfinals match against the winner of No. 8 Tyler Lillard (IND) or Maxx Mayfield (NU)/No. 9 Paddy Gallagher (OSU)
Roadblock: Not pulling his back out while brushing his teeth
Mesenbrink is 4-0 in his career against Iowa’s Mike Caliendo. Furthermore, this includes a decision, a major decision, and two tech falls.
Caliendo’s lone loss on the season was a 19-4 butt-whooping at the hands of Mitchell. And I don’t see anything changing here.
174
Levi Haines
B1G Pre-seed: 1
Did they get it right?: Yep
Opening round matchup: Bye – Quarterfinals match against the winner of No. 8 Brody Baumann (PUR)/No. 9 Lucas Condon (WIS)
Roadblock: Finals matchups against No. 2 Carson Kharchla (OSU)
Even for as dominant as Levi Haines is on the mat, he can still be pushed by competitive guys.
Case on point was Haines’ matches between Maryland’s John Branson and Illinois’ Danny Braunagel. These matches were sandwiched between Levi’s gritty 6-4 win over Kharchla in Penn State’s dual against Ohio State on February 14th.
Haines won both of those matches, however he struggled to get to his offense at times. Additionally he was susceptible to some counter shots in both matches. Which means his run to the finals, just like everyone else, won’t be easy.
And if he does square up against Kharchla again, this match will for sure go down to the wire.
But Levi Haines has “Been there done that” many times before.
184
Carter Starocci
B1G Pre-seed: 1
Did they get it right?: What other ranking could he get?
Opening round matchup: Bye – Quarterfinals match against the winner of No. 8 Ryder Rogotzke (OSU)/No. 9 DJ Washington (IND)
Roadblock: None
I have only two things I want to see here:
No. 1 – Another Starocci/Washington rematch in the quarterfinals
No. 2 – Carter Starocci gets through the tournament healthy
Whether he will win his third B1G title isn’t even a question at this point.
197
Josh Barr
B1G Pre-seed: 2
Did they get it right?: Yes
Opening round matchup: Bye – Quarterfinals match against the winner of No. 7 Evan Bates (NU)/No. 10 Remy Cotton (MSU)
Roadblock: Semifinals matchups against No. 3 Jacob Cardenas (MICH)
If redshirt freshman Josh Barr is going to win a B1G title this year, he’s going to have to go through an absolute meat grinder.
Even for a seasoned veteran, getting through Evan Bates, Jacob Cardenas, and Stephen Buchanan is an almost impossible task.
But as many Nittany Lion fans have seen before, Penn State Wrestling is a place that makes “impossible”, “possible”.
285
Greg Kerkvliet
B1G Pre-seed: 2
Did they get it right?: Yes
Opening round matchup: Bye – Quarterfinals match against the winner of No. 7 Ben Kueter (IOWA)/No. 10 Hayden Filipovich (PUR)
Roadblock: Finals matchups against No. 1 Gable Steveson (MINN)
All eyes across the nation will be tuning into the possible matchup in the B1G finals at 285.
In his final (at least I think so??) season in collegiate wrestling, Gable Steveson hasn’t even really broken a sweat in any of his matches. He’s a perfect 11-0 and has won all of those matches with bonus points.
Kerkvliet also brings a perfect 16-0 record to the B1G’s, however he struggled in the latter portion of the schedule due to some lingering illnesses.
In either case, I don’t see a scenario in which both of these giants don’t meet in the finals. And boy, will that be some must watch tv!
