Big Ten wrestling announced its pre-seeds ahead of the conference tournament on Monday, March 2. As expected, Penn State wrestlers litter the No. 1 seeds of their respective weight classes, but not everything necessarily makes sense in the initial seedings. Head coach Cael Sanderson thought so too.
Final Penn State wrestling rankings released before Big Ten Tournament
Levi Haines holds an undefeated, 18-0 record on the 2025-26 season and a 15-0 dual record. He's 8-0 in the Big Ten and scored 74 points to zero against his dual opponents. His pre-seed ranking does not reflect that despite being ranked the top wrestler in his weight class throughout the season.
The Big Ten has Haines ranked second behind Nebraska's Christopher Minto. Minto is 18-4 on the season, 15-4 in duals, and scored 54 points to 12 allowed against his opponents in 2025-26. When Haines and Minto faced one another on Jan. 30, the Nittany Lion beat the Cornhusker by an 8-6 decision.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” Sanderson said to reporters on Monday, as reported by Onward State's Aidan Conrad.
While one Penn Stater got snubbed from the No. 1 seed, another questionably earned the top spot.
In the 133-pound weight class, Marcus Blaze is ranked No. 1 in the pre-seed rankings. Behind him is Illinois' Lucas Byrd. The two did not face each other in the 2025-26 season and Byrd is the defending national champion of the group.
“In the past, our coaches spent a lot of time seeding the tournament and the bracket," Sanderson continued. "So, we thought [what] if a third party could do a good job, but obviously, what happened isn’t going to work."
In the past, Big Ten coaches voted on the seedings. This time around, wrestlers were ranked based on a 100-point algorithm. This awarded up to 25 points in head-to-head results, up to 25 points for their record against common opponents, up to 20 points for their conference dual record, up to 10 points for quality matches, up to 10 points for ratings percentage index, up to five points for coaches' rankings, and up to five points for conference allocations.
Here's where the Nittany Lions rank in the pre-seeds:
- 125 pounds: Luke Lilledahl (No. 1)
- 133 pounds: Marcus Blaze (No. 1)
- 141 pounds: Braeden Davis (No. 7)
- 149 pounds: Shayne Van Ness (No. 1)
- 157 pounds: PJ Duke (No. 2)
- 165 pounds: Mitchell Mesenbrink (No. 1)
- 174 pounds: Levi Haines (No. 2)
- 184 pounds: Rocco Welsh (No. 1)
- 197 pounds: Josh Barr (No. 1)
- 285 pounds: Cole Mirasola (No. 4)