All Penn State

Penn State Wrestling Is Perfect in 1st Round of NCAA Championships

The Nittany Lions went 10-0, nine wrestlers scored bonus points and Carter Starocci won his 100th career bout in the opening round of NCAAs.

Mark Wogenrich

Penn State’s Carter Starocci is introduced before wrestling Iowa's Angelo Ferrari in the 184-pound bout of their dual match in State College.
Penn State’s Carter Starocci is introduced before wrestling Iowa's Angelo Ferrari in the 184-pound bout of their dual match in State College. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Penn State went unbeaten during the first round of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships, qualifying all 10 wrestlers to Friday night's second session. A crowd of 18,085 fans at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center watched the Nittany Lions storm past the field to take a big early lead over Oklahoma State in the team standings.

Penn State, the three-time defending tournament champion, compiled 24 team points, with nine wrestlers earning bonus points. Oklahoma State (15.5) is second, followed by Michigan (12). One of Penn State's key early winners was 197-pound redshirt freshman Josh Barr, who win by major decision in his first action since getting injured at the Big Ten Championships. And Carter Starocci scored career win No. 100 in the first round.

Penn State returns to action Friday night in the second round. A recap of the action from Session 1:

125: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) technical fall No. 32 Marcello Milani (Cornell) 19-4 in 4:24: Lilledahl showed no NCAA debut jitters, scoring three first-period takedowns en route to an opening technical fall. Lilledahl (20-2) was aggressive from the outset, getting two takedowns in the first 90 seconds.

He added three more takedowns in the second period to clinch the technical fall, his 10th of the season. Lilledahl gets Northern Illinois' Blake West, the 16th seed, in the second round.

133: No. 8 Braeden Davis (Penn State) dec. No. 25 Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) 12-4: Davis (13-5) allowed the first takedown in the first period but finished the second and third with decisive takedowns for the major decision. He trailed Phipps 4-2 in the second but cashed in on a single-leg shot to close the period with a 5-4 lead.

The sophomore then finished the third with a double-leg takedown, turning that into four near-fall points and the major in the final 20 seconds. Davis gets a rematch with Maryland's Braxton Brown (25-4) in the second round. Davis beat Brown 9-7 at the Big Ten Championships.

141: No. 2 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) dec. No. 31 Jordan Titus (West Virginia) 4-2: Bartlett was methodical but rather benign in his opening bout, allowing a first-period takedown to stand as his main scoring option.

Bartlett (23-1) won a scramble for his takedown, spent most of the second period in tie-up positions and escaped midway through the third period. Still, Bartlett advances to the quarterfials, where he will meet Julian Tagg, the 18th seed from South Dakota State.

149: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) pin No. 30 Gabe Willochell (Wyoming) in 4:12: Van Ness, who was injured last season, returned to NCAAs solidly with a second-period fall. Van Ness (21-2) led Willochell 6-1 when he got the turn for the pin. Van Ness meets Rutgers' Andrew Clark in the second round. Van Ness has a technical fall and a major decision vs. Clark this season.

157: No. 1 Tyler Kasak (Penn State) pin No. 32 Landen Johnson (Northern Illinois) 1:38: Kasak proved his seed with the first round's fastest pin by a non-heavyweight. Kasak (18-1) scored a takedown 9 seconds into the bout, then turned a cradle into the fall. Kasak gets Iowa State's Cody Chittum in the second round.

165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) technical fall No. 32 Chandler Amaker (Central Michigan) 16-0 in 3:32: Mesenbrink began his NCAA tournament with (what else?) his 17th technical fall of the season. Mesenbrink (23-0) put Amaker on his back twice for a pair of 4-point moves to finish one of his more comfortable technical falls of the season.

Next up for Mesenbrink: 16th-seeded Kyle Mosher of Hofstra, who scored a first-round fall.

174: No. 2 Levi Haines (Penn State) pin Branson John (Maryland) 2:46: Haines made relatively quick work of his first-round opponent, putting John on his back twice, the second time for good late in the opening period. The fall was Haines' ninth of the season. Haines (21-1) meets 18th-seeded Gavin Sax of Oklahoma in the second round.

184: No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) technical fall No. 32 Caden Rogers (Lehigh) 18-2 in 6:19: Starocci reached his milestone 100th career win with more dominance, finishing a technical fall after the Lehigh wrestler was called for stalling in the opening minute of the bout. Starocci used a combination of takedowns, back points and two stalling points to finish the third-period win.

Starocci (100-4 in his Penn State career) will meet Rutgers' Shane Cartegna-Walsh in the second round. Starocci won their regular-season bout 17-2.

197: No. 4 Josh Barr (Penn State) dec. No. 29 Tucker Hogan (Lock Haven) 9-1: All eyes late in the session were on Barr, whom coach Cael Sanderson said was "ready to scrap" this week. Wearing a leg wrap, Barr opened the scoring with a second-period takedown on his way to the major decision. Barr hit a second takedown in the third period.

Barr (18-3) meets Trey Munoz, the 13th seed from Oregon State, in the second round.

285: No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) techical fall No. 30 Sam Mitchell (Wyoming) 15-0 in 5:31: Kerkvliet completed Penn State's afternoon with a comfortable victory and the team's fourth technical fall of the session. He scored back points twice in the win.

Kerkvliet (19-1) takes on 14th-seeded Gavin Hoffman of Lock Haven in the second round.

Up Next

Session 2 begins at 7 p.m. tonight at Wells Fargo Center. The session's action will include the second round and the consolation rounds.

More Penn State Sports

Published
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.

Home/Wrestling