ROSEMONT, Ill. – Penn State wrestling fifth-year student-athletes Mitchell Mesenbrink and Shayne Van Ness were both named Big Ten Wrestlers to Watch by the Big Ten Conference office on Monday afternoon.
Mesenbrink is fresh off a dominant season in 2025-26 that saw him win his second national championship while taking home the Dan Hodge Trophy following another unblemished run to the title at 165 pounds. He finished the year 27-0 with 15 dual wins and had an untouched 8-0 Big Ten record. The Hartland, Wisconsin, native forced a team-leading 78 dual meet points while allowing none. Mesenbrink had 26 of his 27 wins come in bonus point fashion, logging eight pins, 11 technical falls, six major decisions and a win by forfeit. He also became a three-time Big Ten Conference Champion following a 3-0 showing inside the Bryce Jordan Center that featured a pair of major decisions and a technical fall.
Van Ness, a native of Somerville, New Jersey, published his third All-America campaign in his senior season, rolling to a 25-1 overall record coupled with a national runner-up finish. The veteran Nittany Lion booked an untouched 15-0 record in dual meet competition with a likewise-unbeaten 8-0 run against Big Ten Conference opposition. He additionally claimed his first Big Ten Conference individual title at 149 pounds. Van Ness booked a 69-0 differential in dual point scoring over the course of the year and mustered 20 wins in bonus-point fashion, logging six pins, 10 technical falls and four major decisions for a 76.9 percent bonus rate.
All 14 Big Ten Conference wrestling programs saw a pair of student-athletes appear on the preseason watch list. The watch list is headlined by 14 student-athletes who earned All-America distinction last year and a pair of reigning NCAA Champions in Mesenbrink and Minnesota’s Max McEnelly. The list also includes six wrestlers who captured All-Big Ten honors at the end of the season in 2025-26.
Penn State turns its attention to the collegiate campaign in under two weeks, as the Blue & White kick off their 119th varsity season and 18th under the direction of head coach Cael Sanderson on Thursday, November 12, with a 7 p.m. (ET) dual meet against the Bloomsburg Huskies inside Rec Hall. The dual meet will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app.
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Visit GoPSUsports.com for more information on Penn State wrestling. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion wrestling team on X and Instagram @PennStateWREST, in addition to the team’s Facebook page at /PennStateWrestling.
The 2026-27 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.