The Penn State Nittany Lions are champions of the college wrestling world once again.

Cael Sanderson’s group won the school’s fifth consecutive NCAA team championship and its 13th championship in 15 seasons on Saturday night at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena, clinching the title before the beginning of the finals and finishing the weekend with 181.5 points, breaking the tournament scoring record for a third straight year.

Luke Lilledahl (125), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174) and Josh Barr (197) all came away from Cleveland with individual titles, while Penn State’s Shayne Van Ness was upset in the 149 final by Stanford’s Aden Valencia, and Minnesota’s Max McEnelly defeated Rocco Welsh at 184 via 4-2 decision.

In other action, Bishop McCort graduate Jax Forrest was one of three freshmen for Oklahoma State to win a national title, defeating Ohio State’s Ben Davino in a thrilling 133 final to close out the tournament. Forrest graduated high school early and joined the Cowboys in January. He finished the season 18-0.

The Cowboys’ Sergio Vega (141) and Landon Rodideau (157) also won individual titles to help PSU alum David Taylor’s squad to a second-place finish with 131 points. Vega upset two-time national champion Jesse Mendez of Ohio State, 4-1, with a sudden victory takedown, while Robideau defeated Nebraska’s reigning champion Antrell Taylor. Oklahoma State is the first program in NCAA history to crown three freshmen national champions in a single tournament.

See Monday’s Altoona Mirror for more information.

TEAM SCORING

1. Penn State 181.5, 2. Oklahoma State 131, 3. Nebraska 100.5, 4. Iowa 92.5, 5. Ohio State 84.5, 6. Stanford 67.5, 7. Michigan 55, 8. Iowa State 52, 9. Minnesota 48.5, 10. NC State 44.5, 11. Virginia Tech 41.5, 12. Wyoming 38, 13. Arizona State 36.5, 14. Missouri 34, 15. Illinois, 28, 17. Columbia 25, 18. Cornell 21.5, 19. Penn 21, 20. Princeton 20, 21. Indian 19.5, 22. Little Rock 17.5, 23. American, West Virginia 17, 25. Air Force 16

NCAA FINALS

141 — No. 2 Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State) over No. 1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State), 4-1 (SV)

149 — No. 10 Aden Valencia (Stanford) over No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State), 4-1 (SV)

157 — No. 5 Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska), 4-2

165 — No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) over No. 3 Mikey Caliendo (Iowa), 20-4

174 — No. 1 Levi Haines (Penn State) over No. 3 Chris Minto (Nebraska), 2-1

184 — No. 3 Max McEnelly (Minnesota) beats No. 1 Rocco Welsh (Penn State), 4-2

197 — No. 1 Josh Barr (Penn State) over No. 7 Cody Merrill (Oklahoma State), 6-3

285 — No. 2 Isaac Trumble (NC State) outscores No. 1 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State), 5-0

125 — No. 1 Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) over No. 10 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton), 2-1

133 — No. 1 Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Ben Davino (Ohio State), 5-2