Penn State Wrestling Off to Commanding Start to 2024-25 Season

The No. 1 Nittany Lions opened the Big Ten schedule with a 55-0 win over Michigan State, their fourth shutout of the season.

Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson during the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Kansas City. / Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

The No. 1 Penn State wrestling team extended its win streak to 63 consecutive matches with a Big Ten shutout of Michigan State on Friday. The Nittany Lions (7-0) won 10 bouts, all with bonus points and six by fall, in a 55-0 victory at Rec Hall to open the conference schedule. Penn State has begun pursuit of its fourth consecutive NCAA wrestling title with pure dominance of its dual-meet schedule.

Penn State scored its fourth shutout of the 2024-25 season and tied the school record with the 55-point margin of victory. The Nittany Lions scored a 36-0 edge in takedowns over the Spartans and recorded three first-period falls.

Penn State has been almost perfect through the first part of its 2024-25 sechedule. The Nittany Lions have outscored their seven opponents this season by a combined score of 323-9. That includes wins over No. 23 Lehigh (36-3) and No. 21 Missouri (41-3). The Nittany Lions are a combined 57-3 in individual bouts of their seven duals. Two of the three losses were to wrestlers ranked No. 1 in the country: Lehigh's Ryan Crookham and Missouri's Keegan O'Toole. At the Journeymen Collegiate Duals in December, Penn State won 29 of 30 bouts in its three matches and outscored its opponents 137-3. Twelve Penn State wrestlers are undefeated with at least five bouts.

On Friday night at Rec Hall, Penn State sent nine wrestlers ranked in InterMat Wrestling's top-5 to the mat. No. 1 Carter Starocci (184), No. 2 Levi Haines (174), No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet (285), No. 2 Shayne Van Ness (149), No. 2 Levi Haines (174) and No. 3 Tyler Kasak (157) recorded falls.

Penn State 55, Michigan State 0

• 285: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet pin Max Vanadia :56

• 125: No. 12 Luke Lilledahl tech. fall Luke Corday 19-2, 6:08

• 133: No. 5 Braeden Davis tech. fall Andrew Hampton 20-5, 5:25

• 141: No. 3 Beau Bartlett decision Jaden Crumpler 12-3

• 149: No. 2 Shayne Van Ness pin Clayton Jones 2:25

• 157: No. 3 Tyler Kasak pin Braden Stauffenberg 3:46

• 165: No. 1Mitchell Mesenbrink tech. fall Jay Nivison 20-5, 3:57

• 174: No. 2 Levi Haines pin Ceasar Garza 4:13

• 184: No. 1 Carter Starocci pin Ryan Boucher 5:48

• 197: No. 4 Josh Barr pin Cory Thomas 2:44

Up Next

Penn State wrestles its first Big Ten road match at Nebraska on Jan. 17. The match is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.

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