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UNIVERSITY PARK -- Just weeks away from the start of the 2026-27 Penn State wrestling season, questions abound for the Nittany Lions.
Who among the most talent-laden roster in collegiate wrestling will earn the 10 starting spots?
Will the Nittany Lions' dual meet winning streak extend from 86 to 100 or more by the end of the season?
Can Penn State win a sixth consecutive NCAA championship?
There are more unknowns than those three, but they are a good place to start.
About the lineup?
"No clarity. You know, we've got several really good wrestlers preparing, but we probably won't announce anything or give any details until probably our first match (when Bloomsburg visits Rec Hall on Nov. 12)," head coach Cael Sanderson said at the team's media day earlier this week in the Rec Hall media room.
Four of the 10 starting slots figure to be cemented at this point: returning NCAA champion Luke Lilledahl at 125 pounds; three-time All-American and 2026 NCAA runner-up Shayne Van Ness at 149; two-time NCAA finalist Rocco Welsh at 184; and two-time NCAA finalist and 2026 champion Josh Barr at 197.
As for 133, 141, 157, 165, 174 and 285? Well, the only sure thing is that all of the options are good.
It's unclear who among All-American Marcus Blaze, Japanese international freestyle phenom Masanosuke Ono or Nathan Desmond will start at 133 and 141.
Sanderson has consistently spoken glowingly about Blaze.
"Blaze is a special human being. I mean, he’s a just an incredible competitor. Whatever he’s doing, and you know, he lives the life. He does everything right. So, he’s just going to keep getting better," Sanderson said.
"Obviously, he’s wrestling in Kazakhstan next weekend. Has a chance to compete for a world title. I couldn’t say enough good things about Marcus. He works so hard. He’s such a good kid. He’s such a competitor. You know he’s one of those never satisfied guys. So yeah, he’s just one of those guys, you’re grateful he’s on your team."
It sounds like Sanderson is a fan of Ono, too.
"He’s really excited about folkstyle. The transition from folkstyle to freestyle isn’t always an easy transition. It’s even more difficult to go from a life of freestyle to folkstyle. But he’s gotten really good and he’s very disciplined and diligent in his training," the coach said.
"He's got one of the best GPAs on our team. He’s getting A's, and that requires a lot of time from him. Just seeing his devotion and his character, it's really good for everybody."
From 157 through 174, All-American P.J. Duke, two-time All-American Tyler Kasak and three-time finalist and two-time champion Mitchell Mesenbrink figure to slot in somewhere.
Mesenbrink sounded ready to move up to 174, if needed.
“That's a possibility, for sure,” Mesenbrink said about moving up a weight to 174. “If the best coaches in the world tell me, ‘I think it would be really good if you go 157,’ OK, how are we going to do it? And obviously they would never say something without a plan. I’m going to trust them with whatever the plan is. And, so, if Levi gets the year back, it’s like, 'OK, let’s do it. It’s great.'”
However, two-time champion Levi Haines, who was thought to be out of eligibility, might have a fifth year coming. The NCAA passed a 5 in 5 eligibility model for incoming athletes and lawsuits started forcing additional years of eligibility for athletes in Haines' class of 2022.
"I don't know," Sanderson said. "It would be really nice for college sports if, at some point, the NCAA can enforce rules and kind of have a say in what's going on.
"It's pretty wild right now, and it's kind of embarrassing, I think. Maybe I shouldn't have said that, I don't know. But it's just like, 'What are we doing here? What's the standard? What's allowed? What isn't allowed?"
For now, Haines is in Kazakhstan for the Senior World Championships.
"If he gets the call back to folkstyle, he's been wrestling folkstyle his whole life, so he'll be good to go," Sanderson said. "It's not like he's out in the woods hunting. He wishes he's out in the woods hunting every day, and he is when he can, but we're not calling him back out of the woods. If he gets the call back to folkstle, he's going to be ready to go."
Meanwhile, at 285, the brothers Mirasola, last year's starter Cole and his twin brother, Connor, a backup at 197 a year ago, are both heavyweights now.
"Connor doesn't see himself as a depth guy. He wants to be a national champion and he's right here, obviously. He's moved to heavyweight. He wrestled heavyweight last spring, so he's not wrestling '97, at least not this year."
No matter how the roster shakes out, Penn State will be favored in every competition this season, whether it's a tournament or the 15 duals on the schedule.
And, despite uncertainty over eligibility or roster composition, Penn State seems to keep getting better.
"I think our culture is going to be really strong, and has been strong," Sanderson said. "That doesn't mean everything's perfect. But, overall, adversity and changes have given us a chance to take our program up a notch."