CLEVELAND — Mitchell Mesenbrink and Levi Haines each won their second individual championship Saturday to help Penn State win its fifth consecutive team title at the NCAA men's wrestling championships.
Penn State, which clinched the team title during the consolation games the previous Saturday, finished with four national champions and a record 181.5 points, breaking its own mark of 177 set last year. The Nittany Lions have won 13 of the last 15 national championships.
Mesenbrink, the defending national champion and No. 1 seed, defeated Mikey Caliendo by technical fall (20-4) in the third round to finish the season undefeated and win the 165-pound title. No. 1 seed Haines defeated Nebraska's Chris Minto 2-1 to take gold at 174 pounds and win his second national championship. Haines also beat third-seeded Minto 2-1 in the Big Ten Conference finals.
Josh Barr defeated Oklahoma State's Cody Merrill 6-3 at 197 pounds and Luke Lilledahl took the 125-pound title with a 2-1 victory over Princeton's Marc-Anthony McGowan.
Oklahoma State was second with 131 points, including three national champions, and Nebraska, in third, had 100.5.
Freshmen Sergio Vega, Landon Robideau and Jax Forrest won titles for Oklahoma State. Vega defeated No. 1 seed Jesse Mendez of Ohio State 4-1 in an overtime takedown to claim the title at 141 pounds. Vega, who went undefeated this season, became the first undefeated freshman national champion since Oklahoma A&M's Dick Hutton in 1947. Mendez, a two-time NCAA champion, had his 31-game winning streak (dating back to last season) snapped.
Robideau defeated defending national champion Antrell Taylor of Nebraska 4-2 to take gold at 157 pounds. A visibly frustrated Taylor appeared to have thrown his anklet at Robideau, who stalled in the third round, after the match. Taylor and Robideau received a point each for stalling in the final three minutes.
Forrest, trailing 1-0 at the end of the second round, defeated Ohio State's Ben Davino 5-2 for the 133-pound title.
Stanford's 10th-seeded Aden Valencia defeated top-seeded and previously undefeated Shayne Van Ness 8-5 in overtime to win at 149 pounds and become the third individual national champion, and first freshman, in program history. Van Ness was the first of six finalists to compete for Penn State.
North Carolina State's Isaac Trumble defeated Iowa State's Yonger Bastida 5-0 to win the 285-pound title and his first national championship.
Minnesota's Max McEnelly defeated previously unbeaten Rocco Welsh of Penn State 4-3 for the 184-pound crown.
