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Penn State Wrestling Goes 20-0 on Day 1 of the NCAA Championships

The Nittany Lions already have built a sizable lead in pursuit of their fourth straight national championship.

Mark Wogenrich

Penn State's Josh Barr wrestles Tucker Hogan of Lock Haven during the first round of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center.
Penn State's Josh Barr wrestles Tucker Hogan of Lock Haven during the first round of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Before the NCAA Wrestling Championships began, Penn State coach Cael Sanderson placed his team's opportunity directly in front of the wrestlers. "The fun part is seeing what they do with it," Sanderson said.

Having fun yet, Penn State wrestling? The Nittany Lions lapped the field on Day 1 of the NCAA Wrestling Championships, putting their dominance on display at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center. Penn State went 20-0 during the tournament's opening day, establishing a firm early grip on its potentially fourth consecutive national title.

Penn State stormed through Thursday's opening session, going 10-0 with nine bonus-point wins, and followed that with a 10-0 performance in the second round. The Nittany Lions scored 39.5 team points, 11.5 more than second-place Nebraska.

Penn State won bouts with bonus points, scored seven technical falls and even claimed a win in sudden victory. The Nittany Lions allowed just one takedown and one reversal in 20 bouts Thursday.

A recap of Thurday night's second round as the Nittany Lions take their entire lineup to the quarterfinals:

125: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) technical fall No. 16 Blake West (Northern Illinois) 19-3 in 6:53: Lilledahl overpowered West from the beginning, turning loose a gauntlet of takedowns to score his second technical fall of the tournament. Lilledahl outscored his first two opponents 38-7, asserting his readiness for Friday's quarterfinal round.

Lilledahl (21-2) gets eighth-seeded Sheldon Seymour of Lehigh in the quarterfinals. Lilledahl defeated Seymour 4-1 in a December dual. Notably, Arizona State's Richard Figueroa, who won the 125-pound NCAA title as the eighth seed last year, was pinned by Rutgers' Dean Peterson on Thursday night.

133: No. 8 Braeden Davis (Penn State) dec. No. 9 Braxton Brown (Maryland) 5-3: Davis advanced to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year, making a first-period takedown stand up in another close decision over Brown. Davis (14-5) scored the bout's only takedown and added an escape in the second period to take a 4-1 lead.

Brown gave Davis a scare with a reversal midway through the third period but could not get the winning takedown. Davis will wrestle in top-seeded Lucas Byrd of Illinois in Friday's quarterfinals. Byrd topped Davis 7-1 in February.

141: No. 2 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) dec. No. 18 Julian Tagg (South Dakota State) 4-1: Bartlett pulled off some wizardry in the second period, using his experience not only to roll out of Tagg's takedown attempt but also to turn it into a takedown of his own. Tagg lifted Bartlett and took him to the mat, but the Penn State senior timed his roll perfectly.

Bartlett (23-1) then spun the savvy defensive move into the bout's only takedown and added a point with 1:43 of riding time. Bartlett will face Penn's CJ Composto, the 10th seed who upset Oklahoma State's Tagen Jamison in the second round.

149: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) dec, No. 19 Andrew Clark (Rutgers) 11-1: Van Ness was dominant in the top position, compiling more than 4 minutes of riding time in his second bonus-point win of the day. The redshirt sophomore (22-2) took a 6-1 lead into the second period, in which he rode Clark for the full 2 minutes.

Van Ness, who scored a first-round fall, added more riding time in the third after scoring his third takedown. He will meet North Carolina's sixth-seeded Lachlan McNeil in the quarterfinals.

157: No. 1 Tyler Kasak (Penn State) dec. No. 16 Cody Chittum (Iowa State) 8-3: Leading 3-1 to start the second period, Kasak didn't bother with the escape. He reversed Chittum instead, demonstrating his ability to control a bout from multiple positions.

Kasak (19-1) added a third-period takedown to secure the decision and was never threatened in the bout. He will get Purdue's Joey Blaze, the 8th seed who won in overtime Friday night.

165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) technical fall No. 16 Kyle Mosher (Hofstra) 22-6 in 4:15: The nation's leader in technical falls added two more Thursday, outscoring his opponents by a merciless total of 38-6.

Mesenbrink (24-0) led 12-2 after one period and briefly caught himself in a precarious spot in the second period. Mosher got a reversal out of a scramble, but Mesenbrink extricated himself and scored two more takedowns for his 18th technical fall of the season.

174: No. 2 Levi Haines (Penn State) dec. No. 18 Gaven Sax (Oklahoma) 4-0: Haines (22-1) couldn't quite get into good scoring positions after a first-period takedown, which was enough to get him into the quarterfinals. Still, Haines is in solid position at the bottom of the weight class. Next up for Haines is a matchup with Navy's Danny Wask, the No. 7 seed.

184: No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) technical fall No. 16 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (Rutgers) 15-0 in 4:24: Starocci overwhelmed the Rutgers wrestler with a technical fall for the second time this season. Starocci (23-0) put Cartagena-Walsh on his back twice in the first period for eight near-fall points and an 11-0 lead.

Starocci, who won his 100th career bout in Thursday's first round, clinched the win on a stalling point after nearly putting Cartagena-Walsh on his back for a third time. Starocci's quarterfinal opponent is eighth-seeded Jaxon Smith of Maryland, who began the tournament with two first-period falls. Starocci has two wins over Smith this season by technical fall and major decision.

197: No. 4 Josh Barr (Penn State) dec. No. 13 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) 5-2 SV: This was Penn State's nerviest bout of the day, with Munoz spinning Barr for a second-period reversal and taking him to overtime. Barr, who began the tournament with a major decision, countered a Munoz shot a minute in, gained control of the hips and finished the takedown with 1 minutes left.

Barr, wearing a leg wrap for the injury he sustained at the Big Ten championships, briefly took injury time in the second period after hitting his head. Barr (18-3) gets an interesting opponent in the quarterfinals: former Penn State wrestler Michael Beard, a two-time All-American, once with the Nittany Lons.

285: No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) dec. No. 14 Gavin Hoffman (Lock Haven) 4-0: Kerkvliet (20-1) punctuated the Nittany Lions' day with a phenomenal 5:01 of riding time, controlling Hoffman for the remainder of the bout after getting a first-period takedown.

After riding out Hoffman in the second period, Kerkvliet chose top and did it again. An emphatic finish to Penn State's stunning day.

Up Next

Session III of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships begin at noon ET Friday at Wells Fargo Center. The session will feature the quarterfinals and consolation rounds. ESPNU will televise.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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