Penn State Wrestling's Mirasola Brothers Dominate at U20 Pan American Championships

Originally posted on Penn State Nittany Lions on SI
By Mark Wogenrich | Last updated Jul 12, 2025 10:27 PM ET

Three Penn State wrestlers won titles at the U20 Pan American Championships, continuing a prosperous freestyle season for the Nittany Lions. Twin brothers Cole and Connor Mirasola and future Penn State wrestler William Henckel won their weight classes at the event in Lima, Peru, helping the U.S. team to a sweep of the men's freestyle competition.

The Mirasola twins, both of whom redshirted for Penn State last season, claimed their second major freestyle titles of the season. Both won U20 U.S. Open titles in April and were equally as dominant at the Pan American Championships.

Cole Mirasola swept the 125 kg freestyle division with three 10-0 technical falls, ending all of them in the first period. Cole scored his fastest win in 51 seconds. Connor Mirasola (92 kg) also swept his three matches by scores of 10-0, including one win in 32 seconds.

Cole Mirasola! 2025 Pan American Games U20 Gold Medalist at 125 kg!#PSUwr pic.twitter.com/swjhj0gOHP
— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) July 12, 2025

Henckel, who also won a U20 U.S. Open title, went 3-0 with a pair of technical falls and a 9-0 decision at 79 kg. A member of Penn State's 2025 recruiting class, Henckel won two national prep championships at Blair Academy.

Cole Mirasola is the heir to the starting spot at 285 pounds in Penn State's lineup. In his redshirt season, Cole Mirasola went 6-2 wrestling in open events last season. Connor Mirasola was 8-0 at 197 pounds during redshirt season. He will wrestle behind defending NCAA runnerup Josh Barr.

Penn State wrestlers have been active and successful on the freestyle circuit this spring and summer. The Nittany Lions' Levi Haines and PJ Duke will represent the U.S. at the 2025 Senior World Championships in September in Croatia. Duke has been the biggest story of Team USA's freestyle season, winning the 70 kg freestyle title at Final X to earn a spot on the Senior World Team. Duke also has qualified for the U20 and U23 World Championships.

Connor Mirasola! 2025 Pan American Games U20 Gold Medalist at 92 kg!#PSUwr pic.twitter.com/AnBrbYnVAJ
— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) July 12, 2025

Seven current and future Penn State wrestlers will compete at the U23 World Championships in October in Serbia. That's 70 percent of the U.S. freestyle team. Haines and Duke are on the team with Mitchell Mesenbrink, Luke Lilledahl, Marcus Blaze, Rocco Welsh and Barr. And 2026 Penn State recruit Jayden James won gold at the U17 Pan American Championships.

Before Senior Worlds, Haines is scheduled to compete at a rankings series tournament in Hungary from July 17-20. The event marks the first Senior competition for Haines, a 2024 NCAA champion who won the Final X title at 79 kg. Haines is unranked entering the event.