Mar 22, 2026 By Jonathan Guth 6 min read

Rocco Welsh trailed early in the first period, and despite a strong push in the final minute of the match, the Waynesburg Central graduate and Penn State sophomore dropped a 4-3 decision to Minnesota’s Max McEnelly in the 184-pound final on Saturday evening in the NCAA Division I National Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Welsh (24-1) had defeated McEnelly (24-2) in double overtime, 2-1, on March 15 for the Big Ten Championship at Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, but the Gopher avenged the setback to win his first national title and hand Welsh his only loss of the season.

The championship bout was a defensive-minded affair, as McEnelly was able to record the only takedown in the match with 59 seconds remaining in the first period. Welsh escaped five seconds later to cut the deficit to 3-1, but the rest of the period didn’t feature any significant attempts for a takedown.

McEnelly escaped with 1:49 left in the second for a 4-1 advantage, stayed in good position and went into the third with a three-point lead.

Welsh escaped four seconds into the final frame, and started to open up his offense in the last minute, but McEnelly fought off each attempt. Welsh took four shots in the final 60 seconds.

McEnelly was warned for stalling with nine seconds remaining and penalized for it as time wound down to cut the deficit to 4-3, but Welsh was not able to break through and suffered his second loss in the national finals.

Welsh finished second to five-time national champion Carter Starocci of the school he now wrestles for in 2024 while competing for Ohio State at 174. He elected to redshirt last season before moving to State College and the now five-time defending national team champions, who won the team title with 181.5 points.

The Nittany Lions had secured their 14th team championship Saturday morning in the final round of consolations, but still crowned four individual champions in Mitchell Mesenbrink, Levi Haines, Josh Barr and Luke Lilledahl to break their own team record of 177 points, which was set last year.

Cael Sanderson has been at the helm for 13 of Penn State’s championships. The Nittany Lions won their championships under Sanderson in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. The 2020 event was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This was an incredible year,” said Sanderson during a press conference that was uploaded to YouTube by USA Wrestling following the finals. “Obviously, our hearts and minds are with the kids who didn’t reach their goals. We are here thinking about what we can do better, so we got a lot on our mind right now, but happy for the team. Just an incredible group of guys. Our staff are all unicorns, up and down the lineup. We are blessed and very grateful to have the staff we do.”

Penn State’s first national team title came in 1953 under coach Charles Speidel.

Oklahoma State, who is coached by David Taylor, a two-time national champion for Penn State in 2012 and 2014, was second in the team standings with 131 points, and Nebraska came in third with 100.5.

The Cowboys, who could be the team to challenge the Nittany Lions for dominance in the college wrestling world, had three freshmen win national titles in Sergio Vega, Landon Robideau and Jax Forrest.

Vega capped off his rookie season with a takedown in sudden victory to down Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez, the No. 1 seed at 141, by a score of 4-1.

Vega (24-0) did not surrender a takedown all season, and became the first undefeated freshman to win national gold since Oklahoma A&M’s Dick Hutton in 1947. Mendez (26-1) had his 31-match winning streak snapped. The Buckeye is a two-time NCAA champion.

Forrest (18-0) didn’t compete until the second semester, as he was still in high school at Bishop McCort, but after winning his fourth Powerade championship on Dec. 30, Forrest headed to Stillwater.

Forrest defended his No. 1 seed at 133, and won the tournament with a 5-2 decision over Ohio State’s Ben Davino (29-2) to become the second freshman to finish undefeated and win a national title.

If the lineup for the finals were conducted under the normal format from lightest weight class to heaviest, Forrest would have competed first, but the NCAA moved the lineup to have Forrest and Davino compete in the last bout.

Robideau (21-2) topped defending national champion Antrell Taylor of Nebraska, 4-2, for the championship at 157. Taylor (26-4) was visibly upset after the bout, and threw his ankle band at Robideau.

Mesenbrink (26-0) earned his second-straight national title after a 20-4 technical fall in 5:12 over Iowa’s Mikey Caliendo (22-5) in the finals at 165. Messenbrink was selected as the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler and the NCAA’s Most Dominant Wrestler Award for his work throughout the season.

Haines defended his No. 1 seed at 174 with a 2-1 decision over Nebraska’s Christopher Minto (24-6). The senior ends his career at Penn State with a career record of 99-4, including a season mark of 26-0 this year. He won two national titles and was a four-time All-American.

Barr (24-0) earned his first national championship with a 6-3 decision over Oklahoma State’s Cody Merrill (21-5) in the 197-pound final. Barr was the NCAA runner-up last season at 197.

Lilledahl (25-0) capped off his perfect season with a 2-1 decision over Princeton’s Marc-Anthony McGowan (18-7) in the finals at 125 for his first national title. Lilledahl is a two-time All-American after placing third last season in the national tournament.

Lock Haven’s Wyatt Henson, who was a teammate of Welsh his junior and senior seasons at Waynesburg Central High School, rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the first period to edge Iowa’s Nasir Bailey, 6-4, in the blood round at 141.

Henson (29-9) dropped his next bout, 10-5, to Carter Nogle of Air Force, before suffering a setback to Penn’s CJ Composto, but still reached the podium in eighth place.

Bailey scored a takedown with 45 seconds remaining in the first period, but Henson escaped with 24 seconds left in the opening three minutes to cut the deficit to 3-1.

Bailey chose bottom to begin the second period, but Henson rode him out to enter the third trailing by two. The two-time state champion in Pennsylvania and the son of 2000 Olympic silver medalist Sammie Henson escaped 12 seconds into the third and scored a takedown with 1:12 remaining for a 5-3 lead.

Bailey was able to escape with four seconds remaining, but Henson earned a point for riding time and clinched All-American status.