While the collegiate season is still about two months away, Penn State sent representatives to Warsaw, Poland to compete in the 2026 Poland Open.
Across many weight classes, the Nittany Lion connections dominated the field in freestyle, bringing home multiple medals.
Here’s how the wrestlers performed.
Luke Lilledahl, 57 kg, Gold
Luke Lilledahl opened things up with a commanding 10-0 tech fall over Hungary’s Balazs Racz in the first round. Lilledahl earned a spot in the finals with his second tech fall, this time by 11-0 over Switzerland’s Thomas Epp.
Lilledahl took on Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz, who won the 2017 NCAA Championship at 125 lbs. Lilledahl proved himself on the international stage with a 2-0 win, earning the gold medal over Cruz in Poland.
Marcus Blaze, 61 kg, Gold
Marcus Blaze opened his tournament similarly to Lilledahl, with an 11-0 tech fall over Ukraine’s Yaroslaw Hurskyy. In a tournament that featured many Americans, Blaze took on fellow American Austin DeSanto. In a closer battle, Blaze proved his strong defense once again, defeating DeSanto with a 5-0 victory.
Blaze continued his dominance in the semifinals, taking on another American in Josh Rodriguez. The battle of Nittany Lion Wrestling Club members came out in Blaze’s favor as he won by pinfall over Rodriguez.
Blaze continued and faced his third American of the tournament. In overwhelming fashion, Blaze defeated Kyle Burwick with an 11-0 tech fall, going 4-0 with a gold medal. Blaze finished with three bonus point victories in his four matches, giving him momentum heading into the Senior World Championships.
Josh Rodriguez, 61 kg, 5th place
Josh Rodriguez is a member of the NLWC. His run toward gold ended with a loss to Blaze, but his path to that match included two victories over wrestlers from Georgia. Rodriguez defeated Giorgi Goniashvili by pinfall before narrowly winning a match over Robert Dingashvili, 3-2.
Rodriguez lost a bronze medal match, and ultimately earned fifth place, defaulting to Japan’s Akito Mukaida.
Zain Retherford, 70 kg, Gold
Former Penn State wrestler Zain Retherford was back in action on the international stage at 70 kilograms. Retherford began with an 8-2 victory over American Alec Pantaleo.
Retherford broke out the offense in the next two matches, winning by tech fall and pin against Ukrainian Narek Pohosian and Hungary’s Marton Varga, respectively.
The former Nittany Lion took down Armenia’s Arman Andreasyan by pin, capping off a truly dominant day. Retherford finished with a 4-0 record, earning three bonus victories to end his tournament.
Levi Haines, 79 kg, Gold
While all the talk surrounding Levi Haines has been about him possibly having a fifth year — which he no longer has the opportunity to use — Haines continues to dominate in freestyle.
Haines pinned Poland’s Fabian Niedźiedzki in his home country to begin his day. Haines met a familiar foe in his next match, defeating former Iowa wrestler Patrick Kennedy by tech fall, 12-2, continuing his path to gold.
Haines took down Germany’s David Wolf Stas by tech fall in the next round, heading to the gold medal match. Haines faced off against Georgia’s Luka Chkhitunidze and won by pinfall again to stand atop the podium. Haines continues to build up for a Senior World Championship run at the end of October.
Cole Mirasola, 125 kg, 5th
Cole Mirasola continues to compete in the heavyweight class as he tries to acclimate to the weight class despite still being undersized. His size played a factor in a fifth-place finish in Poland.
Mirasola began with a 12-1 tech fall over American Jacob Bullock, proving his technique is still near the top amongst his opponents.
Mirasola dropped his next match against Germany’s Mohsen Mansour Siyar by a score of 13-7. The Nittany Lion defeated fellow American Crew Howard, 7-3, before dropping his bronze medal match by an 11-0 tech fall against American Jordan Wood.
Mirasola finished his Poland Open with a 2-2 record at 125 kilograms.
Most of Penn State’s wrestlers who competed in the Poland Open will continue to wrestle freestyle up until the start of the collegiate folkstyle season.
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