All 10 Penn State wrestlers were in action to begin day two of action at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for the 2025 NCAA Championships, and seven advanced to the national semifinals during the tournament’s third session on Friday afternoon.
Beau Bartlett, Shayne Van Ness, Mitchell Mesenbink, Levi Haines, Carter Starocci and Greg Kerkvliet all locked up All-America honors with their quarterfinal wins.
Nittany Lion No. 1 seeds Luke Lilledahl and Tyler Kasak both suffered upsets in the third round and will join teammate Braeden Davis, who lost to 133 pound top-seed Lucas Byrd of Illinois, in the consolation bracket.
Penn State continued to lead the team scores with 90.5 points, with Nebraska in second place with 63.5 points and Oklahoma State in third place with 63.0 points.
Highlighting the dual were major decision victories from Starocci, who became a five-time All-American, and Barr, who earned All-America distinction for the first time.
How It Happened
125 pounds
Up first for the Nittany Lions was No. 1 Luke Lilledahl against No. 8 Sheldon Seymour of Lehigh. Although pressured from the start, Lilledahl fought off a deep shot attempt and forced a restart at the center of the mat. The first period failed to produce any points as the two wrestlers hand-fought in neutral position. Lilledahl started in top position for the second period, allowing a quick escape by Seymour. No other points were scored in the second period. Lilledahl escaped quickly to start the final period to tie the match 1-1. After no points were scored the two wrestlers remained locked at 1-1 heading to sudden victory.
Still, no points were scored despite some scramble action. Seymour escaped to start the first tiebreaker, forcing Lilledahl to match him. Lilledahl managed to force a stall call but could not escape, giving the win to Seymour by way of riding time. Lilledahl will drop into the consolation bracket to keep his hopes alive for an All-American distinction and a third-place finish.
Lilledahl will face No. 11 seed Nicolar Rivera of Wisconsin in his first consolation bout on Friday night.
133 pounds
No. 8 Braeden Davis took on No. 1 Lucas Byrd of Illinois. After a short period in neutral, Byrd grabbed the bout’s first takedown to go up 3-0 midway through the first. A late escape from Davis made the score 3-1 heading into the second period. An escape, a takedown, and a four-second near fall from Bird extended his lead to 11-1 after two. A stall call against Davis was the only point scored in the final period as Davis dropped a 12-1 major decision.
Davis will slide into the consolation bracket, needing just one more win to achieve All-American status. He’ll face No. 11 seed Evan Frost of Iowa State to start his wrestleback action on Friday night.
141 pounds
Trying to put the Nittany Lions back in the win column, No. 2 Bartlett battled against No. 10 CJ Composto of Penn. No points were scored in the first period as neither wrestler put down much offensive pressure on the other. A quick escape from the Nittany Lion followed by the bout’s first takedown put Bartlett in front 4-0 entering the final period of action. Bartlett remained quick on his feet throughout the third to take the 5-0 decision victory after riding time.
The victory gave Bartlett the Nittany Lions’ first All-American of the year as he heads to the semifinals, where he’ll face rival Jesse Mendez, the No. 3 seed from Ohio State.
149 pounds
Hoping to make it two wins in a row, No. 3 Van Ness walked to the mat to face No. 6 Lachlan McNeil of UNC. Similarly to Bartlett’s bout, no points were scored in the first period as Van Ness started the second period in top position. An escape from McNeil out of the bottom position was the only point scored in the second as the Tarheel took a 1-0 lead entering the third. In just over 30 seconds of the final period, Van Ness finished on a double-leg to take his first takedown of the bout, going up 4-2 after an escape from McNeil. A second takedown from Van Ness in the waning seconds of the period gave the Nittany Lion a 7-2 decision victory.
Van Ness advance into the semifinals as an All-American and will take on No. 2 seed Ridge Lovett of Nebraska, who won their only previous meeting by major decision in January.
157 pounds
Up next was No. 1 Tyler Kasak against No. 6 Joey Blaze of Purdue. A takedown midway through the first from Kasak opened up the score 3-0 in favor of the Nittany Lion. An escape from Blaze cut into Kasak’s lead, 3-1 heading into the second period with Kasak starting in top position. Blaze escaped again to start the period, tightening Kasak’s lead even further to 3-2 entering the third period. Blaze scrambled hard in the third to score a neutral danger takedown over Kasak, winning 5-4 after Kasak couldn’t escape.
Kasak moves to wrestlebacks where he will battle Bellefonte grad Jude Swisher of Penn on Friday night.
165 pounds
No. 1 Mesenbrink stepped up against No. 8 Cameron Amine of Michigan. Immense offensive pressure from Mesenbrink drew a stall call on Amine, however, no points were scored in the opening three minutes. An early Mesenbrink escape and following takedown around the 30-second mark of the middle period put the Nittany Lion in front 4-0 heading into the third. Mesenbrink rode out Amine for the entirety of the third period to secure the 5-0 decision victory.
Mesenbrink earned All-American status and will compete in the semifinals in session IV against No. 12 seed Christopher Minto of Nebraska, who upset former Nittany Lion Terrell Barraclough in the third round.
174 pounds
No. 2 Haines took on No. 7 Danny Wask of Navy. Kasak scored his first takedown with just over a minute expired in the first period, leading 3-1 at the halfway mark after an escape from Wask. With the score remaining the same, Haines started the second period in bottom position where he escaped within 30 seconds to extend his lead to 4-1 entering the final two minutes. Haines finished off the bout with his second takedown, securing the 7-2 decision victory.
Haines earned All-American status and will wrestle again in the semifinals against No. 3 seed Dean Hamiti of Oklahoma State.
184 pounds
Next up were No. 1 Starocci and No. 8 Jaxon Smith of Maryland. After multiple takedown attempts, a late trip from Starocci locked up his first takedown of the bout to take a 3-0 lead into the second period. An escape from bottom position to start the period, paired with a stalling call on Smith, increased Starocci’s lead to 5-0 at the end of the second. Starocci followed up an escape from Smith with his second takedown of the bout, granting him the 9-1 major decision after riding time.
Starocci became a five-time All-American and will wrestle in the semifinals on Friday against No. 4 seed Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State.
197 pounds
After a short break, No. 4 Barr took on No. 5 Michael Beard of Lehigh. Barr struck first for the opening takedown against the former Nittany Lion, going up 3-1 with just under 30 seconds of riding time after an escape from Beard. The score carried over into the second until Barr escaped to start the middle period and quickly followed the effort with a second takedown, the Nittany Lion was now leading 7-2. A second takedown in the middle period extended Barr’s lead to 10-2 heading into the final period. A final takedown in the third from Barr aided him toward the 14-3 major decision victory after riding time.
Barr locked up the Nittany Lion’s sixth All-American so far at the NCAAs, progressing him into the semifinal round. He’ll meet No. 1 seed Jacob Cardenas of Michigan, who defeated Barr with a sudden victory decision in the Big Ten semifinals en route to a conference title two weeks ago.
285 pounds
Closing out session III for the Nittany Lions was No. 3 Kerkvliet taking on No. 6 Joshua Heindselman of Michigan. A huge double-leg takedown from Kerkvliet turned on the scoreboard for the Nittany Lion, now leading 3-0 within the first 30 seconds. Kerkvliet rode out the Wolverine for the rest of the first period, drawing a stall call and extending his lead to 4-0 with over 120 seconds of riding time after one. After starting the second period in neutral, no points were scored from either wrestler as the score remained the same. Kerkvliet won the bout with a 5-0 decision after riding time.
The win gave Kerkvliet his fifth All-American honor as he will compete in the semifinals against No. 2 seed Wyatt Hendrickson of Oklahoma State.
What’s Next?
All 10 Nittany Lions will be in action again once the NCAA Championships resume at 8 p.m. on Friday with session IV. All bouts will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
