How Josh Barr became a Penn State wrestling, NCAA Championships star
Undefeated Penn State wrestling star Josh Barr talks about how he improved over the past year.
CLEVELAND — Luke Lilledahl completed a puzzle of sorts for Penn State wrestling Saturday night.
For all of the program’s grand success under coach Cael Sanderson, including five straight NCAA team championships, the Nittany Lions have struggled most at their lightest weight.
It had been 10 years since the Lions crowned a national champ at 125 pounds.
Leave it to Lilledahl to finally break that streak, though it came in a tight, nerve-wracking, defensive struggle.
Lilledahl stayed undefeated (25-0) and won his first individual national title over Princeton underdog Marc-Anthony McGowan, the 10th seed, here in a packed Rocket Arena. The PSU sophomore was wrestling for the NCAA title after coming so close last year in Philadelphia, finishing third.
He became the first PSU national champ at 125 since Nico Megaludis in 2016.
Lilledahl (25-0) won Penn State’s fourth national title of the evening, joining teammates Mitchell Mesenbrink (165 pounds), Levi Haines (174) and Josh Barr (197). His victory also pushed the Lions further past their NCAA record for team points to 181.5.
“Lightning Luke” won each of his five NCAA matches, overcoming a few tense moments along the way, especially early on. But he seemed to find himself in Friday night’s semifinals with a fast and furious victory over Oklahoma State’s Troy Spratley to set up his first finals appearance.
“I think setting the tone is something that I’ve been kind of trying to do this whole season. Really this match was the first match that I kind of went out there and did that,” Lilledahl said after the semifinal win. “The most important match so far is when I kind of wrestled my best. I think that’s kind of my wrestling career as a whole.
“Usually tournaments, I wrestle better throughout the tournament. Hopefully tomorrow night I wrestle my best that I’ve wrestled this weekend.”
Certainly, he appeared to do just that Saturday night. He took apart McGowan, who he had defeated just last month in bizarre fashion during his team’s final regular-season dual. Anthony-McGowan took five stalling penalties and was disqualified.
Lilledahl was coming off an impressive regular season and Big Ten Championships title run, his second.
Lilledahl’s title-winning performance followed up his impressive debut season in 2024-25, when he went 25-3 and finished third at his first NCAA Championships after losing in the quarterfinals.
The Missouri native starred at wrestling powerhouse Wyoming Seminary Prep in Kingston, Pa. where he was a state title winner and two-time Junior Hodge Trophy winner, given to the nation’s top high school wrestler.
Frank Bodani covers Penn State wrestling for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.
