Penn State Wrestling had a historic showing at the 2024 NCAA Championships last year, including posting a recording breaking team score.
Entering this year's championships in Philadelphia, it has been considered all but a forgone conclusion that the Nittany Lions would claim another team title and multiple individual titles, the only question was, what other impressive feats would Cael Sanderson's juggernaut program do this year?
The college wrestling world got its answer quickly as, on Thursday, the Nittany Lions over the first two sessions of the NCAA Championships posted a historic and perfect 20-0 record. Believed to be potentially the first time in NCAA Championships history, the Nittany Lions won each of their 20 matches on Friday with each of their 10 wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals.
Furthermore, the Nittany Lions allowed just one takedown across their 20 matches, that lone takedown coming in Braeden Davis's opening matchup, meaning the Nittany Lions won 19 straight matches without allowing a single takedown.
As day oneaAs the dust settled following day one, Penn State had an already commanding lead in the team score standings with 39.5 points. 11.5 points ahead of second place at Nebraska (28.0), 12.5 ahead of third place at Oklahoma State (27.0), and 21 points ahead of a trio of schools (Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio State) who have 18.0 points.
Penn State's 39.5 points after day one would've been good enough for the Nittany Lions to finish within the top 15 in last year's NCAA Championships.
Below you can find the full results from day one, the team standings heading into the third session and each quarterfinal matchup.
Full Results
125 - Luke Lilledahl
First Round: Defeated No. 32 Marcelli Milani (Cornell) – TF 19-4 , 4:24
Second Round: Defeated No. 16 Blake West (Northern Illinois) – TF 19-3 , 6:52
133 - Braeden Davis
First Round: Defeated No. 25 Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) – MD 12-4
Second Round: Defeated No. 9 Braxton Brown (Maryland) – 5-3
141 - Beau Bartlett
First Round: Defeated No. 31 Jordan Titus (West Virginia) – 4-2
Second Round: Defeated No. 16 Julian Tagg (SDSU) – 4-1
149 - Shayne Van Ness
First Round: Defeated No. 30 Gabe Willochell (Wyoming) – Fall (4:11)
Second Round: Defeated No. 19 Andrew Clark (Rutgers) – MD 11-1
157 - Tyler Kasak
First Round: Defeated No. 32 Landon Johnson (Northern Illinois) – Fall (1:38)
Second Round: Defeated No. 16 Cody Chittum (Iowa State) – 8-3
165 - Mitchell Mesenbrink
First Round: Defeated No. 33 Chandler Amaker (Central Michigan) – TF 16-0 , 3:32
Second Round: vs. No. 16 Kyle Mosher (Hofstra) - TF 22-6 (4:15)
174 - Levi Haines
First Round: Defeated No. 31 Branson John (Maryland) – Fall (2:46)
Second Round: Defeated No. 18 Gavin Sax (Oklahoma) – 4-0
184 - Carter Starocci
First Round: Defeated No. 32 Caden Rogers (Lehigh) – TF 18-2 , 6:19
Second Round: Defeated No. 16 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (Rutgers) – TF 15-0 , 4:23
197 - Josh Barr
First Round: Defeated No. 29 Tucker Hogan (Lehigh) – MD 9-1
Second Round: Defeated No. 13 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) – 5-2 (SV)
285 - Greg Kerkvliet
First Round: Defeated No. 30 Sam Mitchell (Wyoming) – TF 15-0 , 5:31
Second Round: Defeated No. 14 Gavin Hoffman (Lock Haven) – 4-0
TOP 5 TEAM STANDINGS
1. Penn State - 39.5
2. Nebraska - 28.0
3. Oklahoma State - 27.0
4. Iowa - 18.0
4. Minnesota - 18.0
4. Ohio State - 18.0
QUARTERFINAL MATCHUPS
125: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl vs. No. 8 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh)
133: No. 8 Braeden Davis vs. No. 1 Lucas Byrd (Illinois)
141: No. 2 Beau Bartlett vs. No. 10 CJ Composto (Penn)
149: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness vs. No. 6 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina)
157: No. 1 Tyler Kasak vs. No. 8 Joey Blaze (Purdue)
165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink vs. No. 8 Cameron Amine (Oklahoma State)
174: No. 2 Levi Haines vs. No. 7 Danny Wask (Navy)
184: No. 1 Carter Starocci vs. No. 8 Jaxon Smith (Maryland)
197: No. 4 Josh Barr vs. No. 5 Michael Beard (Lehigh)
285: No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet vs. No. 6 Josh Heindselman (Michigan)
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