Penn State’s march toward a sixth straight NCAA team title hasn’t even hit the mat yet, but FloWrestling is already setting the board for 2026-27.
In its preseason rankings, Flo slotted the Nittany Lions heavily across the individual and team landscape, with seven Penn State wrestlers showing up in the top 20 pound-for-pound list and the program landing No. 1 in the projected team tournament standings.
At the top of Flo’s pound-for-pound rankings sits Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink, followed by Oklahoma State’s Sergio Vega at No. 2.
Penn State also claimed three of the next six spots: Josh Barr at No. 3, Luke Lilledahl at No. 6 and Shayne Van Ness at No.
- PJ Duke checks in at No.
11, Tyler Kasak at No. 12 and Marcus Blaze at No. 19.
Flo’s full top 20 pound-for-pound list also includes Jax Forrest of Oklahoma State at No. 4, Max McEnelly of Minnesota at No.
5, Landon Robideau of Oklahoma State at No. 7, Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech at No.
9, Rocco Welsh of Ohio State at No. 10, Antrell Taylor of Nebraska at No.
13, Angelo Ferrari of Iowa at No. 14, Aeoden Sinclair of Missouri at No.
15, Aden Velencia of Stanford at No. 16, Ben Davino of Ohio State at No.
17, Aaron Seidel of Virginia Tech at No. 18 and Luke Stanich of Lehigh at No. 20.
The Penn State trio at the top of the list carries some extra weight. Mesenbrink, Barr and Lilledahl are all returning NCAA champions, and Mesenbrink also won the 2026 Hodge Trophy.
Flo’s individual weight-class rankings give another snapshot of where Penn State stands heading into the season. Lilledahl is projected No. 1 at 125, while Blaze is No. 4 at 133 and Braeden Davis is No. 11 at 141.
Van Ness comes in at No. 3 at 149, Kasak is No. 2 at 157, Duke is No. 1 at 165 and Mesenbrink is No. 1 at 174. Welsh is ranked No. 2 at 184, Barr is No. 1 at 197 and Cole Mirasola is No. 5 at 285.
The team picture is just as lopsided. Flo’s hypothetical tournament scoring has Penn State at 150 points, well ahead of Oklahoma State’s 124.5. Nebraska is third at 73, Iowa fourth at 68.5 and Virginia Tech fifth at 64.5.
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