'Cats Fall to Top-Ranked Penn State, 51-0

Sunday, January 18

Evanston, Ill.

2 p.m. CT

Northwestern

Penn State

Photo by: Henry Frieman/Northwestern Athletics

'Cats Fall to Top-Ranked Penn State, 51-0

1/18/2026 5:16:00 PM | Wrestling

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern wrestling (3-3, 1-2 B1G) fell to No. 1 Penn State (9-0, 3-0 B1G), 51-0, on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

In the second half of a pair of weekend duals, the 'Cats faced off with the top-ranked Nittany Lions for the first time since 2021. Penn State entered the match undefeated in dual action,with ten ranked wrestlers who have combined to drop just six bouts all season.

While Northwestern couldn't tally a victory against the defending National Champions, the 'Cats saw graduate student J.D. Perez score a takedown against No. 4 Rocco Welsh at 184 lbs. After surrendering an early takedown to Welsh, Perez fought back with an attack of his own to bring the score nearly even in the first period. At 141 lbs, No. 32 Billy Dekraker showcased strong defense to limit No. 7 Braeden Davis to just a single takedown in the bout.

Up Next
Northwestern returns to action at home next Friday, when the 'Cats are set to host Rutgers at 7 p.m. CT. Action from Welsh-Ryan Arena will be streamed on B1G+.

#1 Penn State 51, Northwestern 0
174: #1 Levi Haines (PSU) over #32 Eddie Enright (NU) (TF 19-4 6:53)
184: #4 Rocco Welsh (PSU) over J.D. Perez (NU) (TF 22-7 5:36)
197: #1 Josh Barr (PSU) over Alex Smith (NU) (Fall 1:48)
285: #13 Cole Mirasola (PSU) over Gabe Christenson (NU) (TF 19-4 2:47)
125: #2 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) over #26 Dedrick Navarro (NU) (TF 20-5 6:56)
133: #4 Marcus Blaze (PSU) over #24 Sean Spidle (NU) (MD 15-4)
141: #7 Braeden Davis (PSU) over #32 Billy Dekraker (NU) (MD 9-0)
149: #1 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) over August Hibler (NU) (TF 18-3 7:00)
157: #3 PJ Duke (PSU) over Gunnar Myers (NU) (Fall 2:42)
165: #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) won by forfeit