All-American Mitchell Mesenbrink reveals why he transferred to Penn State Wrestling

Mitchell Mesenbrink opened up about how his mother motivated him to pursue the wrestling program at Penn State University. Mesenbrink claimed the 165 lb folkstyle title at the 2025 NCAA Championships.

Mesenbrink committed to Penn State's wrestling program in 2023, recorded an undefeated 12-0 dual meet record in the regular season, and racked up titles at the Journeymen Classic and Black Knight Invitational. He continued his momentum in the following season, remaining undefeated through 27 matches and claiming the Big Ten Conference and NCAA titles in 2025.

Besides, the 21-year-old also made waves with the US team at the World Championships and other professional events. Recently, he became the US National champion in freestyle and will battle it out with Carr at Final X for a spot on the US World Team.

On an episode of Nickels and Dimes Podcast, he discussed going to Penn State on his mother's suggestion despite considering firefighting and sticking to freestyle. Mesenbrink said:

"My mom said, 'I think if you don't go to Penn State, you're always going to wonder, what if? Like, what could have happened?' What college wrestling is.. You know, a lot of the time, the way that people train, I was like, honestly, I'm ready to just get my degree online and just do freestyle. And if I'm not going to enjoy it, I was looking into becoming a firefighter or something..."

He added:

"When you go on visits, Coach Cael doesn't really play games. You just come out on official, why not? I was sitting at practice, got gut feeling, and I just felt like my intuition was like, this is it. Talked to my dad up at the top of the bleachers. I was like, I think this is it. I trust that I'm 110% win or lose. Like, I did what I needed to do. It just went, not if. But these guys with the best team and best coaches in the world."

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Mitchell Mesenbrink earned the 165 lb silver medal at the 2024 NCAA Division I Championships.

Mitchell Mesenbrink made his feelings known after winning National title at the NCAA Championships

Mitchell Mesenbrink at the 2025 NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championship - (Source: Getty)

Mesenbrink became the winner at the 2025 Nationals and beamed with pride after his maiden victory with Penn State. The 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year shared an Instagram story of the moment and wrote:

"No better place in the world"

Besides him, Carter Starocci won his fifth National title at the 2025 NCAA Division I Championships, defeating UNI's Parker Keckeisen in the 184 lb category.

Mitchell Mesenbrink redshirted at California Baptist University in the 2022-2023 season and added the U20 World title in 2023.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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Edited by Agnijeeta Majumder