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Mikey Caliendo and Mitchell Mesenbrink battled for a ninth time in their college careers at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Cleveland, Ohio.
Caliendo left with a ninth straight loss. He appeared salty after the fact. A handshake snub at the podium sparked reaction on social media.
Was it poor sportsmanship on Caliendo’s part? Was it a reasonable response to a performative act from a rival? The internet is currently split.
Mitchell Mesenbrink beat Mikey Caliendo.
Mitchell Mesenbrink becomes a back-to-back national champion at 165 pounds after a 20-4 tech fall victory against Mikey Caliendo pic.twitter.com/9Z4zMpVkEM
— AJ Piazza (@Aj_piazza31) March 21, 2026
9-0. That is Mesenbrink’s all-time record in the head-to-head series. The Penn State star picked up a second straight national title with his latest victory.
Each of those championships have come at Caliendo’s expense. The Iowa product has finished runner-up two consecutive seasons.
The rivalry extends beyond the postseason and into Big Ten competition, with Mesenbrink also beating Caliendo for his latest conference title.
Mitchell Mesenbrink just majored Mikey Caliendo in the Big Ten finals!
Coverage presented by @CKAWrestling. pic.twitter.com/xbjtZthnPp
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) March 8, 2026
The series is one-sided. Caliendo has not been able to get the monkey off of his back.
He appeared frustrated after his most recent setback, a 20-4 tech fall loss in Cleveland. Those feeling carried over into the post-match ceremony.
Vid of Iowa’ Mikey Caliendo rejecting PSU’ Mitchell Mesenbrink’ handshake at 165-lb podium.
Mikey (0-9) is going to wake up in an old folks home 50 years from now in a hot sweat mumbling “I could have been somebody. I could have been a champ.” pic.twitter.com/ZBYY3zQ1Dh
— Powers_Of_PSU (@powers_of_psu) March 22, 2026
Mesenbrink shook hands with each All-American at the podium. Caliendo did not acknowledge the gesture. He snubbed his rival by keeping his hands in his pockets. He refused to make eye contact.
Mesenbrink appeared to brush it off, continuing to move on through the line without much hesitation. Viewers quickly responded on social media.
Some called it poor sportsmanship from a sour runner-up.
“Second place was SALTY,” wrote one college wrestling fan on X while another commented, “Caliendo is just a sore loser.”
Others, however, sided with Caliendo. They didn’t believe the final result had anything to do with the snub.
“The handshake is completely disingenuous,” this follower said. Another wrote, “People don’t realize this is fake by Mesenbrink and he’s actually just shoving it in their face.”
The wrestlers did shake hands immediately after the match. Mikey Caliendo opted not to shake again at the podium.
Either way, he remains winless against Mitchell Mesenbrink. The Penn State wrestler is now a two-time NCAA champion.