UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Thirteen members of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team took part in the 2026 Southern Scuffle at Chattanooga on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 3-4, and three other Nittany Lions competed at the Bobby Kauffman Open at Edinboro on Sunday. Six Penn Staters won individual titles. All rankings listed are InterMat.
Connor Pierce won Penn State’s first title of the day in Chattanooga, winning at 149. Pierce went 6-0 at the tournament, including a major. He downed No. 24 Max Petersen of North Dakota State 5-2 in the semifinals and beat No. 26 Brock Herman of Little Rock 13-6 in the finals.
Joe Sealey won the Scuffle crown at 157. Sealey posted a 6-0 mark over the weekend, picking up a major and two technical falls. He downed The Citadel’s Kyrel Leavell 11-2 in the semis and took down Daniel Zapeda of North Carolina State 11-8 in the title match.
William Henckel won the championship at 174. Henckel rolled to a 6-0 mark with two majors and a technical fall. He beat No. 22 Aidan Wallace of Duke 8-3 in the semifinals before rolling to a 5-0 win over Penn’s Caden Bellis in the finals.
Asher Cunningham claimed the title at 184. Cunningham impressed with a 5-0 mark, including two majors and two pins. He majored No. 30 Christian Hansen of Cornell in the quarterfinals and beat No. 25 Caleb Campos of American 12-9 in the finals, with over 3:00 in riding time.
No. 1 Josh Barr rolled to Penn State’s fifth championship of the day at 197. Barr stormed to a 5-0 record, all for bonus points with a major, two tech falls and two pins. He dominated No. 3 Stephen Little of Little Rock in the finals, posting a dominant 9-1 major decision. Barr also pinned No. 15 Branson John of Maryland in the semifinals.
Lucas Cochran placed sixth at 285. Cochran went 3-0 to start the tournament, including a 5-0 win over No. 18 Brady Colbert of Army in the quarterfinals. Cochran did not compete in the semifinals, taking a medical forfeit loss to finish 3-1 and in sixth place.
No. 8 Aaron Nagao returned to action at 141 and won his first match before taking a medical forfeit loss to bow out of the tournament 1-1 (only the first medial forfeit counts as a loss). Cael Nasdeo went 1-2 with a major decision victory at 141, bowing out of the tournament with a medical forfeit loss (again, only the first medical forfeit counts as a loss). Kyison Garcia went 1-2, moving up a weight to compete at 141. Ty Watson went at 165, Sean Degl posted a 1-2 mark at 174, Mason Ellis went 1-2 with a major decision at 197 and Dawson Bundy posted a 1-2 mark with a major decision at 285. The Nittany Lions, wrestling without entrants at two weights, won the team title with 143.5 points.
Sunday’s Edinboro event saw Hayden Cunningham, Braeden Davis and Brock Weiss compete in a one day event at Edinboro University. All three wrestled unattached.
Davis went 4-0 to win the title at 141. He began the tournament with two pins and then tallied two more majors to claim the crown. Cunningham took third place at 141. He went 3-1 overall with a pin on the day. Weiss went 3-2 with a major and a tech fall at 149.
Penn State returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, when it hosts Rutgers to begin Big Ten action. The Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights battle at 4 p.m. in Rec Hall.
Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via X/twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. The Family Clothesline is the presenting sponsor for the 2025-26 Nittany Lion wrestling season. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.
