Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl walked away from last weekend’s U23 Championships with a result he’d rather forget, but he isn’t wasting much time on it.
After going 1-2 at 57 kilograms in Las Vegas and failing to place, Lilledahl said Tuesday he’s treating the setback as fuel as he heads into his junior season. That comes after a championship run last winter, when he finished 25-0 and beat Princeton’s Marc-Anthony McGowan 2-1 in the 125-pound NCAA final in Cleveland.
“I’ve definitely kind of flushed it because you can’t really dwell on the past,” Lilledahl said of his U23 showing. He previously won U17, U20 and U23 gold medals in 2022, 2024 and 2025, respectively.
“I have some stuff to work on, just talking to the coaches. I was frustrated because I’m not really in that position (losing) a lot. It’s definitely a different perspective for me but I think every time I lose, I always come back hungrier and better.”
Lilledahl, who is 50-3 in his career, will stay at 125 for another season and says the weight no longer feels like a stretch. The two-time Big Ten champion, who placed third at nationals during the 2024-25 season for Penn State, believes he’s settled into the class.
“I’m kinda growing into the weight class,” Lilledahl said.
“Maybe my freshman year I was a little bit smaller. I’m a little bigger now but I think that 125 is still is definitely my weight class.”
What continues to separate Lilledahl is the way he attacks from neutral. That showed up in the NCAA final, where McGowan tried to slow the match down and keep Lilledahl from creating offense. The tactic worked well enough to keep things tight, with Lilledahl’s only point coming on a stall call with 1:14 left.
Still, Lilledahl knows exactly what needs to sharpen going forward.
“I gotta be better at moving guys around, getting them to react more … keep moving forward,” Lilledahl said.
“I think if I just do those things, then everything will open up.
“Just not getting almost into my own head if I’m not able to score or if guys are good at doing that, because I know that they’re going to do that.”
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