Penn State wrestler and Arrowhead graduate Mitchell Mesenbrink is a two-time national champion and the winner of this season's Dan Hodge Trophy, but his journey to becoming the face of college wrestling started in his childhood living room.
Mesenbrink began his wrestling career at 5 years old, grappling with stuffed animals alongside his father, John.
“We would wrestle. My dad would like control the bigger stuffed animals, and I'd wrestle the stuffed animals in the living room on the carpet,” Mitchell Mesenbrink said.
His parents remember those early days clearly, recalling how he would battle and roll around with the toys.
“Whenever we would do that with the Elmo, he [would raise his arm] was like, 'Champion!'” Mitchell's mom, Bernadette Mesenbrink said.
Watch: Penn State wrestler Mitchell Mesenbrink balances national championships and Hodge Trophy with music passion
“And then boom.. Mitchell is in it. He is there,” Mitchell's dad, John Mesenbrink said.
Now, Mesenbrink has achieved the highest honor in the sport by winning the Dan Hodge Trophy.
“My whole life, I have been told, you just work hard, and you can do anything you want," Mesenbrink said.
"I know right now that if I was done wrestling for the rest of my life, every time that I went out there, I did it with 100% effort and with love and with joy and peace and that there is no regrets,” Mesenbrink said.
Beyond wrestling, Mesenbrink has a passion for making music, a pursuit that he says makes him a better wrestler.
“When I say music and wrestling, those are two things that people are like, 'Bro, that is a pipe dream. You can’t do that,'” Mesenbrink said.
“Music has really allowed an out for me. But not only as an out. It’s been like an in. I want to be in that industry,” Mesenbrink said.
His parents said his love for music stems from childhood road trips. His father was a coach, which meant the family traveled frequently to watch teams compete.
“How it started was back in the day, the kids didn’t have iPads. They didn’t have iPhones. We did a lot of traveling. John was a coach always. So we did a lot of traveling to go watch the teams compete, which we loved to do. So, we sang. We created music and we sang,” Bernadette Mesenbrink said.
Mesenbrink continues to enjoy his journey while making his family proud.
“Giving, loving, trying to do things that I know fill up my cup and we’ll take that as a step,” Mesenbrink said.
“Anything if you put your mind to it and your heart to it, and you sacrifice, and you are willing to work hard, that it’s obtainable. And if you don’t, you did your best. And there’s no regrets,” his parents said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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