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Live Penn State Wrestling Updates From Final X

Tracking the Nittany Lions' results at the Final X national wrestling event.
Mark Wogenrich|
Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Marcus Blaze competes at the NCAA Wrestling Championship at Rocket Arena.
Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Marcus Blaze competes at the NCAA Wrestling Championship at Rocket Arena. | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Senior Final X 2026 is here. USA Wrestling's annual main event is underway at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. And Penn State wrestling will be a major player.

Four current or former Nittany Lions are competing in best-of-three freestyle series for trip to the 2026 Senior World Wrestling Championships. They will wrestle in some of the event's most anticipated matches as part of the daylong celebration of freestyle wrestling. The winners qualify for the October world championships in Kazakhstan

Marcus Blaze made his first Senior World team with an epic 2-1 series win over Oklahoma State's Jax Forrest, while Levi Haines returned to Senior Worlds with a 2-0 sweep of Chance Marsteller.

We're tracking all the Penn State results here.

Marcus Blaze outlasts Jax Forrest in epic third match

Marcus Blaze scored a brilliant takedown in the second period and followed it with an even more brilliant move to defeat Jax Forrest 5-2 in the decisive third match of their 61 kg series. With the victory, Blaze, a two-time age-group world champion, made the Senior World team for the first time.

After giving up a second-period scoring move in Round 2, Blaze made one of his own in Round 3. He scored a takedown to take a 2-1 lead on Forrest, who evidently lost track of the match status. Sprawled flat on his stomach, Forrest gave Blaze an opening that he didn't pass up. Blaze easily turned Forrest for two exposure points to take a 4-1 lead and control of the match.

Blaze added another point on a caution and fended off Forrest's late moves for an exhausting but exhilirating win.

Kyle Dake gets revenge

Valencia swept Dake at Final X in 2025 en route to a world championship and appeared on his way to doing it again Friday after scoring a 3-2 decision in Round 1. But Dake, a four-time world champion, stormed back to claim the last two bouts, punctuating his title at 86 kg with a 4-0 win.

Dake scored all of his points in a first-period flurry that left little doubt that he was the hungrier wrestler. With the win, Dake made his sixth Senior World team at his third different weight class. Dake won his last world title in 2022 at 74 kg.

Kyle Snyder makes 9th Senior World team

After losing to a U.S. wrestler for the first time since 2016, Kyle Snyder left no doubt in the third match at 97 kg vs. Stephen Buchanan. Snyder scored three first-period takedowns, two in the first 30 seconds, en route to a 9-3 victory.

Buchanan was game, scoring a takedown on Snyder to stop the early flurry. But unlike in Round 2, Snyder didn't give up the complete comeback and secured his ninth trip to Senior Worlds. Snyder has won 10 Senior World or Olympic medals, including four world titles at 97 kg.

Kyle Dake forces Match 3 with Zahid Valencia

After falling to the defending 86 kg world champ in Round 1, Dake rebounded for a 4-1 victory, scoring one takedown, to force the decisive third match. Dake held Valencia without a takedown in Round 2 and rallied from a disappointing loss in which he though he scored the winner late in the second period. He also slipped out of a tight spot late in the second period to avoid a potential Valencia comeback.

Luke Lilledahl falls to Spencer Lee

Lilledahl needed a big move to have a chance at taking Lee to a deciding match, which he delivered in the first 30 seconds of Round 2. The Penn State sophomore hit a four-point move on Lee barely off the whistle but could not hold it. Lee methodically rallied, scoring a key four-point move of his own in the second period, for an 8-4 win to sweep Lilledahl and earn the Senior World team spot at 57 kg.

Lee gutted through the second match. He was dazed and dropped to his knees after butting heads with Lilledahl in the first period but followed that by forcing his third step-out point of the period. The 2024 Olympic silver medalist took control of the match with his takedown and turn in the second period. He limped off the mat after the match ended.

Lilledahl was looking to make his first Senior World team after defeating Lee at the U.S. Open.

Jax Forrest forces deciding match vs. Marcus Blaze

Forrest ralled after losing Round 1 with a 6-1 victory to force a third match in his 61 kg series vs. Blaze. The Penn State freshman led 1-1 on criteria when he was called for passivity for the second time in the match. Forrest turned that into a 2-1 lead, which Blaze sought to overcome with a late move.

This time, Forrest was prepared. He countered Blaze's shot with a four-point move to blow open the match. Though they didn't wrestle at NCAAs or the U.S. Open, Blaze and Forrest are going the distance at Final X.

Stephen Buchanan upsets Kyle Snyder in Round 2

Snyder, a resident athlete with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, continued to look ageless in his second-round bout vs. Stephen Buchanan. Snyder led 5-1 and appeared on his way to a ninth Senior World appearance at 97 kg.

However, Buchanan, a 2025 NCAA champion at 197 pounds, scored four points in 20 seconds via a sequence that confused everyone. It included a takedown and caution against Snyder. Nevertheless, Buchanan's 5-5 decision on criteria sent him to a deciding bout vs. Snyder, who had not lost to an American wrestler since 2016.

Levi Haines makes 2nd Senior World team

Levi Haines, the defending world silver medalist at 79 kg, will return looking for gold. He swept Chance Marsteller 6-3 and 6-1 in two decisive victories. In both cases, Haines scored late in the first period to change the match's trajectory.

In Round 2, Haines hit a 2-point takedown as time expired to cut Marsteller's lead to 3-2. Then he hit a four-point move after Marsteller took injury time to seal the decision. Haines, 21, looked fitter and faster than the 30-year-old Marsteller.

On the FloWrestling broadcast, Jordan Burroughs called Haines the "favorite" to win the 79 kg title at worlds. Haines is ranked No. 1 in the world at the weight class, according to FloWrestling.

Zain Retherford sweeps at 70 kg

Retherford looked exceptional in his first major action this season since the 2024 Olympics, sweeping Nebraska's Ridge Lovett 2-1 and 8-2 at 70 kg. Retherford led 2-2 in the second period when he scored a takedown and then four exposure points to seal the best-of-three sweep.

Retherford, a two-time Hodge Trophy winner at Penn State, returns to the Senior World team for the first time since 2023, when he won gold at this same weight class. He looks fit and ready to make another run to a world title.

Spencer Lee dominates Luke Lilledahl in opener

At 57 kg, Spencer Lee wrestled with a sizable wrap on his right elbow and the memory of a 5-4 loss to Luke Lilledahl at the U.S. Open. Lee, the 2024 Olympic silver medalist from Iowa, rebounded to dominate Round 1 at Final X. Lilledahl scored a pair of takedowns in the second period of a 7-1 decision that had Lilledahl reeling.

Lilledahl, the defending NCAA champion at 125 pounds, appeared intent on keeping the bout close after trailing just 1-0 at the break. But Lee forced a step-out during a shot-clock violation to curb Lilledahl's advantage and then scored two decisive takedowns for the win. Lilledahl needs to hit reset before Round 2.

Marcus Blaze scores tense Round 1 win over Jax Forrest

Blaze, the rising-star Penn State freshman who placed fourth at NCAAs, took a 1-0 lead over Oklahoma State's Jax Forrest, who won their weight class of 133 pounds. Blaze nearly scored a takedown with 20 seconds in the second period, instead getting a step-out point to defeat Forrest on criteria in a 2-2 bout at 61 kg.

Blaze and Forrest certainly could go to a deciding third match, as the margin in this one was razor thin. Forrest scored two points after Blaze was put on the shot clock and could not score. But Blaze got one back on a shot-clock violation, then made his major move late in the third.

Blaze and Forrest did not wrestle at the 2026 U.S. Open, which Blaze took in what he called a"bittersweet" victory, primarily because it soon followed his fourth-place finish at NCAAs. The two will wrestle Round 2 when the next session begins at 5 p.m.

Kyle Dake falls in thriller to Zahid Valencia

Dake and Valencia are wrestling the 86 kg series at Final X for the second straight season. Dake, the NLWC wrestler who was swept last year, thought he had scored a takedown with 11 seconds left to make the score 3-3. But David Taylor stood in his way.

The Oklahoma State coach, sitting in Valencia's corner, won his takedown challenge, and Dake was awarded just one point for the step-out. Valencia won a tight decision 3-2 in Round 1. Dake, looking to make his sixth Senior World team, needs a win in Round 2 to keep the series going.

Kyle Snyder handles Stephen Buchanan

Competing for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, Snyder scored a first-period takedown via a single-leg shot and was in control of his opener against Buchanan in a 5-2 decision at 97 kg. Snyder, a four-time world champion, looks to make his 12th world team.

Levi Haines takes assertive lead vs. Chance Marsteller

Penn State wrestlers have a reputation for being skilled scorers late in periods. Haines brought that trait with him to freestyle wrestling in a commanding 6-1 decision over Marsteller at 79 kg. Haines attacked with 10 seconds left in the opening period, surprising Marsteller with a takedown and a 2-1 lead. Marsteller appeared confused and might have thought he had scored.

Haines added two more takedown in the second period to take a 1-0 series lead. A two-time NCAA champ at Penn State, Haines returns to freestyle after winning a silver medal at worlds in 2025.

Zain Retherford wins Final X opener

Retherford hit the opening salvo in his 70 kg series vs. 2025 NCAA champion Ridge Lovett of Nebraska, turing a first-period takedown into a 2-1 decision. Retherford gave up a point on a passivity call in the first but hit a crisp shot for the bout's only takedown in that opening period.

Retherford then held off Lovett in the second period, getting out of a tough spot midway through, to take a 1-0 series win. A three-time NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy winner at Penn State, Retherford resumed his freestyle career after being forced to withdraw from the 2024 Olympics due to concussion symptoms. The 2023 world champ looked strong and methodical in Round 1 vs. Lovett.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

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