After a successful first day at the NCAA Championships that saw eight of ten Nittany Lions wrestlers advance to the quarterfinals.
Fighting for spots in the semifinals and potentially finals on Friday will be Braeden Davis (125), Beau Barlett (141), Levi Haines (157), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Carter Starocci (174), Bernie Truax (184), Aaron Brooks (197), and Greg Kerkvliet (285).
Entering the second day, the Nittany Lions led the team standings with 15.5 points, ahead of Nebraska (14.0) and Michigan (13.5).
Below, you can find everything to know about day two of the championships on Friday featuring sessions three (quarterfinals) and four (semifinals).
WHAT TO KNOW
WHAT: NCAA's Wrestling Championships Session 3 & 4
WHEN: Session 3 (12:00 p.m ET) | Session 4 (7:00 p.m. ET)
HOW TO WATCH: Session 3 (ESPNU | ESPN+) | Session 4 (ESPN | ESPN+)
HOW TO LISTEN: LionsVision | Penn State Athletics App
OTHER IMPORTANT LINKS:
- Mat Assignments: Bubbaland | Penn State Wrestling Twitter
- Team Scores: Penn State Wrestling Club | Track Wrestling
- Full Brackets: NCAA
SEMIFINALS RESULTS
141: Beau Bartlett defeats North Carolina's Lachlan McNeil 5-1 and will get a rematch with Ohio State's Jesse Mendez in tomorrow's finals.
157: After trailing 4-1 heading into the final minute of the third period, Levi Haines and Virginia Tech's Bryce Andonian go to sudden victory where Haines picks up the pinfall victory. He'll move to the finals and will face off against Arizona State's Jacori Teemer.
165: Mitchell Mesenbrink defeats Iowa's Michael Caliendo 17-9 to advance to the finals tomorrow night. He will face off against Iowa State's David Carr in the finals, who defeated Messenbrink's good friend and training partner Keegan O'Toole in the other semifinal matchup on Saturday.
174: Carter Starocci is officially going to have his shot at history tomorrow. He defeats Michigan's Shane Griffith 2-0 and will face off against Ohio State talented freshman Rocco Welsh. He will look to become just the sixth wrestler all-time to be a four-time NCAA champion.
197: Aaron Brooks will be joining Carter Starocci on Saturday night in their quest for history. Brooks defeated Missouri's Rocky Elam 17-2 . North Carolina State's Trent Hidlay, the No. 2 seed, awaits him in the national final at 197.
285: Greg Kerkvliet finishes off Penn State's perfect night in the semifinals with an 8-1 win over Arizona State's Cohlton Schultz 8-1 and will face Michigan's Lucas Davison in Sunday night's finale at 285.
SESSION 1 RESULTS
125: Braeden Davis fell in the quarterfinals to Arizona State's Richard Figueroa 3-2. Davis will move onto the consolation bracket now.
133: Aaron Nagao picked up a 5-1 win over Mizzouri's Kade Moore in wrestlebacks and continues forward in the consolation bracket.
141: Beau Barlett has moved onto the semifinals with a pin of Minnesota's Vance Vombauer and is now a two-time, All-American and is headed to the semifinals. He will take on North Carolina's lachlan McNeil who defeated Real Woods 7-1.
149: Tyler Kasak picked up a very fast fall over Cornell's Ethan Fernandez, picking up a pin a the 36 second mark. He moves on in the consolation bracket.
157: With an 8-0 win over Peyton Robb of Nebraska, Levi Haines has moved onto the semifinals at 157 and is now a two-time All-American. He will take on Virginia Tech's Bryce Andonian who defeated No. 4 seed Ed Scott in the quarterfinals on Friday.
165: With a 6-1 win over Michigan's Cam Amine, Mitchell Mesenbrink is onto the semifinals and has earned All-American honors as a freshman. He'll now face Iowa's Mikey Claiendo, the No. 6 seed.
174: "Dominate or Die" is what Carter Starocci said after beating No. 1 Mekhi Lewis out of Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals on Thursday. He's onto the national semifinals looking for his fourth NCAA title. He is also now a four-time champion. He'll now face Michigan's Shane Griffith, the No. 4 seed in the semifinals.
184: Bernie Truax fell to No.3 Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals and will move into the consolation bracket. He still can earn All-American status and finish as high as third.
197: Aaron Brooks earned the pin just 2:44 into his quarterfinals matchup and is now a five-time All-American. He'll move onto the semifinals as he looks to become a four-time champion.
285: Ohio State's Nick Feldman gave Greg Kerkvliet a challenge but Kerkvliet earned a 1-0 and is now a four-time All-American moving onto the semifinals to face Arizona State's Cohlton Schultz.
FRIDAY PREVIEW
125 Pounds
After taking care of business on Thursday against Trustin Lujan out of Michigan State and Brett Ungar out of Cornell, Davis advances to Friday's quarterfinals where he will take on Arizona State's Richard Figueroa who enters the contest coming off wins over Ethan Berginc of Army and Patrick McKee of Minnesota.
If Davis defeats Figueroa, he would face either Purdue's Matt Ramos, the No. 4 seed or Lock Haven's Anthony Noto, the No. 12 seed in Friday night's semifinals.
133 Pounds
After falling yesterday in the opening round, Aaron Nagao defeated Mizzouri's Kade Moore in wrestlebacks as he looks to wrestle his way to a third place finish this weekend. He'll take on Arizona State's Julian Chlebove on Friday afternoon.
141 Pounds
Beau Bartlett cruised to a pair of victories on Thursday over Kal Miller of Maryland and Mitch Moore of Rutgers. He now faces Minnesota's Vance Vombaur, the 26 seed on Friday in the quarterfinals. Vombaur is upset. No. 7 seed, Cael Happel from Northern Iowa in Thursday's opening round.
149 Pounds
After falling in the first round to Stanford's Jaden Abas, Tyler Kasak defeated Drew Robberts of Minnesota on Thursday in his first Wrestleback and will now face Cornell's Ethan Fernandez, the No.7 seed.
157 Pounds
It was a pair of dominating wins for Levi Haines on Thursday in the first two rounds over Isaac Wilcox of Ohio State and Travis Teague of Oklahoma State. Now, Haines will take on Peyton Robb of Nebraska in Friday's first session and with a win, would face either North Carolina State's Ed Scott or Virginia Tech's Bryce Andonian.
165 Pounds
Freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink picked up two big wins over Northwestern's Maxx Mayfield and Binghamton's Brevin Cassella on Thursday and now will face Michigan standout, the No. 10 seed, Cameron Amine on Friday in the quarterfinals. With a win, he'll take on either Cornell's Julian Ramirez (No. 6) or Mike Caliendo (No. 3) of Iowa.
174 Pounds
To no one's real surprise, Carter Starocci is into the quarterfinals in the quest for his fourth national championship. On Thursday, he defeated Andrew Sparks of Minnesota and Adam Kemp of Cal Poly. He'll now have his biggest challenge in perhaps his entire journey as he'll have to face Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech on Friday in the quarterfinals.
The winner of the premier matchup will take on either Michigan's Shane Griffith, the no. 4 seed Shane Griffith of Michigan or Jared Simmo of Northern Iowa, the No. 28 seed.
184 Pounds
Bernie Truax is into the quarterfinals after his pair of victories on Thursday and will now face the No. 3 seed, Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals. The winner will take on either Thomas Stewart Jr of Virginia Tech (No. 7) or Minnesota's Isaiah Salazar (No. 2) in the semifinals.
197 Pounds
Aaron Brooks is into the quarterfinals as he looks to win his fourth national championship. He'll take on Stephen Buchanan of Oklahoma in the quarterfinals. Buchanan is the No. 8 seed in the weight class. If Brooks advances he'll face the winner of No.4 Michael Beard from Lehigh or No. 12, Missouri's Rocky Elam in the semifinals.
Heavyweight
Greg Kerkvliet picked up a pair of wins on Thursday and is into the quarterfinals to face Ohio State's Nick Feldman, someone he had just recently faced in the Big Ten Championships. With a win, he'll advance to the semifinals and would face either the No. 4 seed, Arizona State's Cohlton Schultz or No. 5 seed, Lehigh's Nathan Taylor.
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