The last time Penn State was on the wrestling mat was the Black Knight Invitational on Nov. 23, where it saw 141-pound starter Aaron Nagao get injured in the finals.
On Friday night, the Nittany Lions racked up a 43-3 rout of Drexel in Philadelphia without Nagao, who is battling an upper body injury, according to Penn State Sports Network’s Jeff Byers. It was the program’s 73rd straight dual win — three dual wins away from tying the all-time mark of 76 set by Oklahoma State.
Penn State collected bonus points in all nine of its victories — two pins, three technical falls and four major decisions. It also had a 39-2 takedown advantage on the Dragons.
“I love the dual meet environment because I get to see all my friends wrestle. It’s great to be on the team where everyone’s hungry,” PJ Duke, who made his Penn State dual debut, told the Penn State Sports Network. “Everyone wants to get better. Everyone does the right things. … so to come out and see these guys, lights out every dual. It’s so fun.”
The dual began with No. 2 Luke Lilledahl tallying a 19-7 major decision on Desmond Pleasant at 125 pounds. No. 11 Marcus Blaze snapped off five takedowns on Kyle Waterman at 133 pounds before putting Waterman in a cradle for a fall in 4:32.
Cael Nasdeo filled in for Nagao at 141 pounds, and suffered an 8-5 loss to Jordan Soriano. Last year, Soriano topped Nasdeo, 11-8, in the teams’ dual.
The bonus-point parade got back on track for the Nittany Lions at 149 pounds with No. 1 Shayne Van Ness nearly pinning Patrick Kelly twice. Instead, Van Ness came away with a 20-4 technical fall in 6:52.
Duke, who is ranked No. 15, was impressive in his dual debut at 157 pounds against Luke Nichter. The true freshman snapped off four takedowns of Nichter in 1:05.
On the final takedown, Duke wrapped Nichter up in a cradle for a fall in 1:15. It was Duke’s fourth pin of the season in his 4-0 record.
Penn State’s PJ Duke, left, battles for positioning with teammate Joe Sealey in their 157-pound finals match of the Black Knight Invitational on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025 in West Point, NY. Duke topped Sealey, 2-1. Jennie Tate For the CDT
“I always try to stay right on the attack and put up as many points as I can. I’ve always done that, even since high school and middle school,” Duke said. “It’s what my dad always instilled in me. He said, ‘Put as many points as you can on the board, and the match is probably going to go your way.’”
Duke’s fall gave Penn State a 21-3 lead at the break.
No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink opened the second half of the dual with a 19-4 technical fall of Cody Walsh in 5:13 at 165 pounds. No. 1 Levi Haines had no problem racking up a 12-1 major decision on No. 17 Jasiah Queen at 174 pounds.
No. 4 Rocco Welsh forced four stalls from Ethan Wilson at 184 pounds to secure a 13-3 major decision. Connor Mirasola tallied seven takedowns in his 22-5 technical fall of Justin Griffith at 197 pounds in 5:28.
No. 10 Cole Mirasola used a takedown with six seconds left in his bout with Nate Schon at 285 to secure a 10-2 major decision to close out the dual.
The Nittany Lions head back to Happy Valley Sunday to host No. 14 Lehigh, who lost to Pittsburgh (21-15) on Friday night, inside Rec Hall.
“I can’t wait. I’ve been looking forward to it since I committed, which is probably like two and a half years ago,” Duke said. “That’s just been a dream of mine, even since I was a little kid. I remember I was nine years old going to Rec Hall for a dual, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is amazing seeing guys who I grew up watching, like (Jason) Nolf and (Bo) Nickal wrestle.’ I was like I want to do that, so now I’m going to do that. I’m just so blessed.”
No. 1 Penn State 43, Drexel 3
Friday at Philadelphia
125: No. 2 Luke Lilledahl, PSU, major dec. Desmond Pleasant, 19-7
133: No. 11 Marcus Blaze, PSU, pinned Kyle Waterman, 4:32
141: Jordan Soriano, D, dec. Cael Nasdeo, 8-5
149: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness, PSU, tech. fall Patrick Kelly, 20-4 (6:52)
157: No. 15 PJ Duke, PSU, pinned Luke Nichter, 1:15
165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, tech. fall Cody Walsh, 19-4 (5:13)
174: No. 1 Levi Haines, PSU, major dec. No. 17 Jasiah Queen, 12-1
184: No. 4 Rocco Welsh, PSU, major dec. Ethan Wilson, 13-3
197: Connor Mirasola, PSU, tech. fall Justin Griffith, 22-5 (5:28)
285: No. 10 Cole Mirasola, PSU, major dec. Nate Schon, 10-2
Takedowns: D 2, PSU 39
Records: Penn State (2-0), Drexel (2-1)
Next match: No. 14 Lehigh at No. 1 Penn State, Sunday, 1 p.m.
Nate Cobler
Centre Daily Times
Nate Cobler is a part-time reporter covering all things wrestling, either Penn State or Centre County’s high schools, for the Centre Daily Times. He’ll also cover other sports too. When he isn’t writing about sports, he is working for a local mortgage broker, Providence Mortgage Group.
