The figurative trophy case for Arrowhead High School wrestling alumni just keeps getting more crowded.
Mitchell Mesenbrink, a standout at the wrestling powerhouse high school and the son of Arrowhead’s former head coach, won his second NCAA Division I wrestling title at Penn State, dominating with a 20-4 tech fall over Mikey Caliendo of Iowa for the 165-pound title March 21 in Cleveland.
The junior improved to 80-1 in his career, with appearances in three straight NCAA title matches and championships each of the past two seasons. Even with a cut above his eye, Mesenbrink showed why he’s picked up the nickname “The Missile,” hitting four takedowns in the first period alone.
Penn State won a fifth straight team title in the process and two individual crowns. Mesenbrink has been regarded as the best pound-for-pound wrestler in the nation most of the year, leading the NCAA “Most Dominant Wrestler” standings, and he’s a favorite for the Hodge Trophy, given to the nation’s top wrestler.
Mesenbrink also got the best of Caliendo in last year’s title match and this year’s Big Ten Championships.
Though Mesenbrink – the son of John, who left Arrowhead after 13 seasons as head coach at Arrowhead and became a fixture in the Askren Wrestling Academy that helped greatly raise the level of skill in Milwaukee-area youth wrestling – won three WIAA state titles, he didn’t initially get a scholarship offer from Penn State. He began his college career at Cal Baptist, then transferred to Penn State and broke into the lineup as a redshirt freshman. His only loss came in the 2024 title match.
When John left for the AWA, he joined forces with two former students, Ben and Max Askren, both state champions at Arrowhead and eventually in college, with three national titles between them at Missouri.
Keegan O’Toole, another Arrowhead and Missouri athlete, won NCAA national titles in 2022 and 2023, getting upset in the semifinals in 2024; had O’Toole won, he would have met Mitchell Mesenbrink in the final. With Nicolet High School alumnus Parker Keckeisen winning a national title for Northern Iowa in 2024, a Milwaukee-area alumnus has won an NCAA Division I title in five straight seasons.
Among other recent Wisconsin college standouts, former Loyal High School wrestler Stephen Buchanan of Iowa won the NCAA title in 2025. Port Washington’s Alex Dieringer, wrestling for Oklahoma State, won three NCAA titles from 2014 through 2016, earning the Hodge Trophy the final year. Ben Askren twice earned the Hodge Trophy.
Frank Bodani of the York Daily Record contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Arrowhead alum Mitchell Mesenbrink wins second NCAA wrestling title
Reporting by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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