Mitchell Mesenbrink is headed into the 2026-27 season with a résumé that already puts him in rare company. The Penn State star is a two-time NCAA champion, the reigning Dan Hodge Trophy winner and FloWrestling’s No. 1 pound-for-pound wrestler entering the year.
Now the conversation shifts from what he has done to what he can still add.
At 174 pounds, Mesenbrink has a chance to chase two of the most exclusive marks in Penn State wrestling history: NCAA titles in multiple weight classes and multiple Hodge Trophies. Neither path is simple, even for a wrestler who built his reputation on constant pressure and nonstop offense.
FloWrestling’s Christian Pyles thinks the move up will test him in a way 165 pounds never really did.
“I think he’s going to find a lot more resistance at 174 than he did at 165,” Pyles told Nittany Sports Now’s Joe Smeltzer. “Comparing the weight classes, it’s going to be more of a challenge. What steps he’s taking to get bigger is important.”
That doesn’t mean the sport suddenly has an answer for Mesenbrink. His leg attacks, pace and ability to stack scoring chances have made him one of college wrestling’s most difficult problems. Pyles still sees those traits as the separator.
“But at the end of the day, the guy is transcendent in his leg-attack ability, his ability to score points and put pressure on guys,” Pyles said.
The issue is not whether Mesenbrink can win. It’s whether 174 pounds can make him work harder than 165 ever did.
FloWrestling’s November 2 rankings put him at No. 1 in the weight class, with Nebraska’s Christopher Minto at No. 2, Missouri’s Cam Steed at No.
3, Michigan’s Beau Mantanona at No. 4 and Arizona State’s Kaleb Larkin at No. 5.
Iowa’s Gabe Arnold, Cornell’s Simon Ruiz, Stanford’s Hunter Garvin and Iowa State’s MJ Gaitan also give the division real depth.
Larkin, in particular, stands out to Pyles as a stylistic headache.
“You take the greatest leg attacker in the game in Mitchell Mesenbrink, and you’ve got maybe the most unique leg-attack defense in Arizona State’s Kaleb Larkin,” Pyles said.
“If we see that match, I think it’s fireworks.”
Penn State’s own record book shows how rare the next step would be. According to the 2026-27 wrestling media guide, only six Nittany Lions have won NCAA individual titles in multiple weight classes.
Quentin Wright did it at 184 and 197 pounds. Ed Ruth won at 174 and 184.
Bo Nickal claimed titles at 184 and 197. Aaron Brooks won three at 184 before moving to 197.
Carter Starocci won four at 174 before taking his historic fifth at 184. Levi Haines became the newest member of that group, winning at 157 in 2024 and then at 174 in 2026.
If Mesenbrink wins again after moving from 165 to 174, he would become Penn State’s seventh wrestler to win NCAA titles at multiple weights.
There’s another layer, too. Mesenbrink won the 2026 Hodge Trophy after a dominant season, and another would put him with David Taylor, who won in 2012 and 2014, and Zain Retherford, who won in 2017 and 2018, as Penn State wrestlers with multiple Hodges. Taylor and Retherford did not win NCAA titles in different weight classes.
That combination is what makes Mesenbrink’s final college season so compelling. Winning a third national title is one thing. Pairing it with another Hodge Trophy would mean doing it with the kind of bonus-point production and dominance that defined his last run, only now against a deeper field and a tougher weight.
Pyles sees the challenge clearly.
“No one even slowed him down,” Pyles said of last season. “It wasn’t that no one challenged him; no one came close to challenging him. Can you just make it hard for him?”
That may be the question hanging over Mesenbrink all season long. He has already secured his place among Penn State’s elite. The next step is about separation - and about history.
A third national championship across two weight classes, plus another Hodge Trophy, would give him a Penn State combination that no wrestler has ever matched.
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