Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl made his feelings known about being seeded No. 1 for the upcoming Big Ten Wrestling Championships. The tournament is slated for Saturday and Sunday at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pennsylvania.
Lilledahl’s most recent outing on the mat came during the Big Ten dual-meet season. His latest match was against Coey Bainey in the 125 pounds category, on Feb. 21, where he maintained Penn State’s dominance by registering a technical fall, 20-3, at the 5:11 mark at the Rec Hall in University Park.
Currently, the Nittany Lions star is gearing up for the Big Ten Wrestling Championships and is selected as the top seed for 125 lbs. He is one of the six top seeds across multiple categories from the Penn State wrestling team, and reflecting on this, he downplayed the No. 1 seed status in his recent media conversation.
Opening up about his mindset, his top seed, and how his previous performances and wins have helped him, he said:
“Obviously, winning Big Ten was a goal, and I think after Big Ten I was like, ‘All right, got that done.’ Kinda like a lot of people were maybe doubting me throughout the season, because I had a couple of losses, and then I pretty much felt like after Big Ten’s I was like, ‘All right, well now I’m the man.’
“To be like for the first time being ranked No. 1 was like a different kind of feeling because then I was like, ‘All right, well, now I’m ranked No. 1, maybe I don’t have to protect it.”
He added:
“But like everyone expects me to win now, and so this year, like being ranked No. 1 for a lot more of the season, I feel like last year kind of helped me know how to deal with it, like know how to deal with it, and at the end, it doesn’t matter what you’re seeded or you’re ranked, like you just gotta like get it done so.”
When Luke Lilledahl Opened up About His Mindset Before Entering the 2025-26 NCAA Wrestling Season
Luke Lilledahl dominated with his exceptional performance against No. 1 Matt Ramos. After the won, he made his feelings known about entering the 2025-26 NCAA wrestling season. Exuding confidence in himself, he said that he felt no pressure. Opening up about what he was looking forward to in the tournament, he said:
“I don’t really feel any pressure going into these, like some other guys might because I’ve already been at these powerful stages before. So it’s nothing new. I think wrestling different guys that I haven’t wrestled yet, just because I’ve kind of wrestled the same throughout the season. Every guy besides Ramos that I wrestled during the season, I wrestled at the Big Tens.”
He added:
“Just seeing how much better I am than these other guys from other conferences, and just having fun.”
Along with winning the Big Ten title, Luke Lilledahl is also the 2025 U23 World Champion, the 2024 U20 World Champion, and the 2022 U17 World Champion.
Read More News:
1. Penn State Star Mitchell Mesenbrink Admits He Never Looks At Brackets During The Big Ten Championships
3. NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championship 2026: Seeds, Top Contenders, Schedule & How To Watch
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