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Penn State wins 5th consecutive wrestling national championship, with 4 wrestlers earning individual titles

· Yahoo Sports

The Penn State wrestling program won its fifth consecutive national championship on Saturday at the NCAA wrestling championships in Cleveland.

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Four individual Nittany Lions wrestlers won national titles, resulting in a NCAA record of 181.5 points that earned a team national championship. That mark surpassed the previous high point total, set last year by Penn State with 177.

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Luke Lilledahl won in the 125-pound class, defeating Princeton’s Marc-Anthony McGowan. Mitchell Mesenbrink finished on top in the 165 category, topping Iowa’s Michael Caliendo. Levi Haines prevailed in 174 over Nebraska’s Christopher Minto. And Josh Barr earned the title in 197, besting Oklahoma State’s Cody Merrill.

Each of the four wrestlers finished their seasons undefeated. Mesenbrink and Haines won titles for the second straight year.

Additionally, Penn State had two other wrestlers place second with Shayne Van Ness (149) falling to Stanford’s Aden Valencia and Rocco Walsh (184) was runner-up to Minnesota’s Max McEnelly.

For Penn State coach Cael Sanderson, the national championship was the 13th of his acclaimed career. Only three times during his 17-year tenure in Happy Valley have the Nittany Lions not won the team title. Sanderson is now two championships away from tying legendary Iowa coach Dan Gable for the most national championships in history.

With most of the team returning next season, another national title is a strong possibility for the Nittany Lions and Sanderson. Only Haines is moving on as a senior.

Penn State’s run of five consecutive wrestling championships now becomes the longest in program history, surpassing four-year streaks from 2011-14 and 2016-19.

Oklahoma State finished second at the NCAA championships with 131 points, followed by Nebraska (100.5), Iowa (92.5) and Ohio State (84.5) in the top five.

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