How many wrestlers with Penn State ties will make the Olympic team? Here are our predictions

Four years ago, Penn State was set to host USA Wrestling’s Olympic Team Trials before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the event to be moved to Fort Worth, Texas.

Now, fans from around the country will flock to the Bryce Jordan Center on Friday to take in some of the best wrestling in the world as the Olympic Team Trials make their triumphant return to Happy Valley.

There will be a total of 21 wrestlers affiliated with Penn State looking to turn an Olympic dream into a reality. Those wrestlers will compete in the men’s freestyle and women’s freestyle competitions.

There will also be Greco-Roman wrestling going on too, but here, we’ll focus just on the freestyle competition that Penn State-affiliated wrestlers are in. All the seeding is based on the preseeds released on Monday.

57 kilograms

Penn State connected wrestlers competing: Nico Megaludis (former Nittany Lion, No. 5 seed), Luke Lilledahl (future Nittany Lion, No. 9), Thomas Gilman (Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, No. 2)

Outlook: Gilman is the lone wrestler in the class to have Olympics experience, finishing with a bronze at the 2020 Tokyo games. He is slated to face the winner of Bishop McCort’s Jax Forrest, who is fresh off a PIAA title, and Liam Cronin, who competed at Nebraska. The NCAA 133-pound runner up, Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix, is in the same part of the bracket as Gilman as he is the No. 3 seed. Lilledahl and Forrest will be joined by fellow high school wrestler Marcus Blaze from Ohio.

Lilledahl is in a bad spot because should he win his first match, he’ll face the top seed in former Illinois wrestler Zane Richards in the quarterfinals. Richards won the Pan-American Games last year. He also won the U.S. National tournament.

Megaludis faces former Iowa great Spencer Lee in the quarterfinals, so it should be fun to watch right out of the gate. One thing to note here is whoever wins the weight class isn’t an Olympian yet, as the weight class hasn’t been qualified for the games. The winner will have to compete in a last chance qualifier May 9-12 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Prediction: Lee and Gilman square off in the best-of-three finals series with Lee coming out on top.

65 kilograms

Penn State connected wrestlers competing: Nick Lee (former Nittany Lion, NLWC, No. 1 seed), Zain Retherford (former Nittany Lion, NLWC), Beau Bartlett (current Nittany Lion, No. 5)

Outlook: Retherford wasn’t seeded because he was automatically slotted into the semifinals since he won a world title last year at a non-Olympic weight of 70 kilograms. He’ll take on the winner of the lower part of the bracket, which includes some big names. No. 2 seed Yianni Diakomihlis, who won four NCAA titles at Cornell, is there. So is No. 3 seed James Green, who competed at Nebraska and won a pair of Pan-American titles, with his most recent medal being a 2021 U.S. National title. Lee is the top seed for good reason — he just won a Pan-American title in February. He’s set to face the winner of either former Michigan wrestler Alec Pantaleo or former Wisconsin wrestler Seth Gross.

Bartlett, who has come out and said how excited he is to wrestler freestyle, is set to open his tournament against former Cornell great Nahshon Garrett. Just like the winner of 57 kilograms class, the winner here has to qualify the weight by finishing in the top three at that Olympic qualifier event in Turkey.

Prediction: Retherford and Lee make the finals in a battle of former teammates. Retherford wins the class, but look for it to go all three rounds in the final series.

74 kilograms

Penn State connected wrestlers competing: Kyle Dake (NLWC), Mitchell Mesenbrink (current Nittany Lion, No. 5 seed), Jason Nolf (former Nittany Lion, NLWC, No. 2), Alex Facundo (current Nittany Lion, No. 9), Levi Haines (current Nittany Lion, No. 10), Vincenzo Joseph (former Nittany Lion, No. 7)

Outlook: Dake didn’t get seeded and is automatically in the best-of-three finals since he was a World medalist at an Olympic weight. Now, these seeds will probably change because the No. 3 seed in Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole withdrew after the preseeds were released, so that’s how this outlook will go. The No. 1 seed in the class won’t change in Jordan Burroughs, which is no surprise for a wrestler that has won six world championships and was the 2012 Olympic champion.

Burroughs is going to get a Nittany Lion, it’s just a matter of who — Facundo or Haines. Mesenbrink has an interesting draw as he should receive a bye to the quarterfinals, where he could face Cornell’s freshman phenom Meyer Shapiro. Joseph should take on former Princeton wrestler Quincy Monday in the quarterfinals with the winner more than likely taking on Nolf in the semifinals.

Prediction: It’s hard to pick against Burroughs, so I look for him to make the best-of-three finals against Dake, topping Nolf to get there. Look for Dake to top Burroughs, in what could be Burroughs’ last time wrestling.

86 kilograms

Penn State connected wrestlers competing: David Taylor (former Nittany Lion, NLWC), Aaron Brooks (current Nittany Lion, No. 1 seed), Mark Hall (former Nittany Lion, No. 5), Carter Starocci (current Nittany Lion, No. 6), Max Dean (former Nittany Lion, NLWC, No. 7), Connor Mirasola (future Nittany Lion, No. 9)

Outlook: There are 11 wrestlers in the weight, with over half of them connected to Penn State. Taylor is in the best-of-three series final since he won a World medal at an Olympic weight. Brooks is the top seed since he won a U23 World Championship last year. He could face either Mirasola or former Virginia Tech wrestler David McFadden in the quarterfinals. Hall faces former Oklahoma State wrestler Alex Dieringer in the quarterfinals for a shot to face Brooks in the semifinals. Starocci is supposed to face Pat Downey, who has made a name for himself more on social media than his most recent wrestling. The winner gets North Carolina State’s Trent Hidlay, a Mifflin County graduate and the NCAA 197-pound runner up to Brooks. Dean should make the quarterfinals against former Lock Haven wrestler Chance Marsteller, who is the No. 2 seed.

Prediction: Brooks just looks unbeatable, especially since finishing off his run to a fourth NCAA title, so look for him to face off with Taylor in the finals. The pair squared off in Final X last year with Taylor sweeping the best-of-three series. Look for Taylor to win again here, but expect it to go all three rounds this time.

97 kilograms

Penn State connected wrestlers competing: Kyle Snyder (NLWC)

Outlook: Like Dake and Taylor, Snyder sits in the finals due to his World medalist status. The former Ohio State wrestler is a two-time Olympic finalist, winning in 2016 before entering his final season with the Buckeyes. With there only being nine wrestlers in the challenge tournament, there won’t be a ton of action. The No. 1 seed is former Missouri wrestler J’Den Cox. He’ll face the winner of a match between Christian Carroll, who is a freshman for Oklahoma State, and former Iowa heavyweight Anthony Cassioppi.

The other quarterfinal matchup in that part of the bracket is former Indiana wrestler Nathan Jackson (No. 5 seed) facing Snyder’s former teammate Kollin Moore (No. 4 seed). The bottom half of the bracket has an ACC flare to it with a pair of former North Carolina State wrestlers in Michael Macchiavello and Isaac Trumble battling with former Virginia wrestler Jonathan Aiello and former Nebraska wrestler Eric Schultz to make the finals. Trumble is the No. 2 seed, so he’ll face Schultz in the quarterfinals. Macchiavello is the No. 3 seed.

Prediction: Cox and Macchiavello will battle it out to face off with Snyder. Cox gets through, but Snyder continues his reign on the weight class.

125 kilograms

Penn State connected wrestlers competing: Greg Kerkvliet (current Nittany Lion, No. 3 seed)

Prediction: All 10 wrestlers in this class are battling for a spot in the finals to face off with former Michigan wrestler Mason Parris. Kerkvliet’s draw is very nice for the reigning NCAA 285-pound champion. He should make the semifinals with ease, where he’ll more than likely face the No. 2 seed in former North Carolina State wrestler in Nick Gwiazdowski. It will be quite the matchup, but Kerkvliet looks like a man on a mission. The No. 1 seed is former North Dakota State wrestler in Hayden Zillmer, who is a six-time national team member for the U.S. He should make the semifinals with no problems, where he’ll face either current Air Force wrestler Wyatt Hendrickson or former Missouri wrestler Dominique Bradley.

Prediction: Kerkvliet faces Bradley, who upsets Zillmer for a shot at Parris. Kerkvliet gets through to setup a rematch of the 2023 NCAA finals against Parris, who top Kerkvliet. Parris continues to have Kerkvliet’s number to make the Olympics.

WOMEN

57 kilograms

Penn State connected wrestlers competing: Jen Page (NLWC)

Outlook: Page is automatically in the semifinals since she won the bronze medal in last year’s world championships at a non-Olympic weight of 59 kilograms. She is one of four World medalists in the bracket. She’s on the top half of the bracket, which means she could get the top seed in Mallory Velte, who is a two-time Pan-American champion and another one of those World medalists. The pair have a history, as Velte topped Page in the 2017 World Team Trials finals. Macey Kilty and Kayla Miracle are the other World medalists. Kilty is automatically in the bottom half of the bracket semifinals, with Miracle waiting in the final series for the winner of the challenge tournament.

Prediction: Velte tops Page again to face off with Kilty in the challenge tournament finals. Kilty beats Velte to face off with Miracle. Miracle’s freshness of not having to go through the gauntlet of the challenge tournament gives her the edge over Kilty.