2026 US Open Pre-Seeds: Where are Penn State wrestlers on the Senior Men's Freestyle lists?

Numerous Penn State wrestlers and members of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club will compete at the US Open this weekend. Ten of the entries have a spot in the senior men’s freestyle division Pre-Seeds. Those help set the bracket for each weight class, of course. And, the outcomes at the event will help set the stage for Final X, where the 2026 Senior Team USA will be determined.

The Penn State connections in the preseeds are as follows:

Luke Lilledahl is No. 2 at 57kg behind Spencer Lee.

Marcus Blaze is No 3 at 61kg behind Jax Forrest and Seth Gross

Nate Desmond is No. 12, at 65kg.

Tyler Kasak is No. 3 at 70 kilograms behind Alec Pantaleo and Caleb Henson.

Joe Sealey is No. 13 at 74kg.

William Henckel is No 8 at 79kg.

Kyle Dake is No. 1 and Rocco Welsh No. 3 at 86 kilograms. Parker Keckeisen splits them.

Josh Barr is No. 1 at 92 kilograms.

Connor Mirasola is No. 6 at 97 kilograms

You can discuss the US Open with fellow fans on The Wrestling Room forum by clicking here.

The full preseeds list is here. Per USA Wrestling:

“Tournament seeding was based on an agreed upon set of seeding criteria that included USA Wrestling PIN ratings, head-to-head results, tournament placements, and common opponents. Pre-seeds were finalized by the U.S. men’s freestyle national team staff.

“Seeding is not final until after weigh-ins conclude. Adjustments to the seeding will be made if a wrestler drops out of the field for any reason. In that case, the wrestler in question will be removed from the list and every wrestler underneath will bump up to the next seed.”

Which other Penn State connections are competing in the US Open?

The full list is closer to 15. The tournament runs this Friday and Saturday in Las Vegas. We should note that Penn State All-Americans Mitchell Mesenbrink and PJ Duke are not in the field. Both will have to enter the U.S. World Team Trials in May to try and claim a spot in Final X. Additionally, two-time NCAA champ Levi Haines is already in the Final X field at 79 kilograms by virtue of past performance.

Penn State senior U.S. Open entries:

Luke Lilledahl: 57 kilograms

Marcus Blaze: 61 kilograms

Kysion Garcia: 65 kilograms

Nathan Desmond: 65 kilograms

Connor Pierce: 70 kilograms

Tyler Kasak: 70 kilograms

Joseph Sealey: 74 kilograms

William Henckel: 79 kilograms

Rocco Welsh: 86 kilograms

Kyle Dake: 86 kilograms

Josh Barr: 92 kilograms

Connor Mirasola: 97 kilograms

Cole Mirasola: 125 kilograms