In its biggest dual of the year, No. 1 Penn State wrestling (10-0, 4-0 Big Ten) took care of business against No. 2 Iowa (9-1, 3-1 Big Ten) 30-8 on Friday night in the Bryce Jordan Center. In a dual consisting of mostly top-10 matches, the Nittany Lions continued their dominant streak without a dual loss since 2020.
Notable wins for Penn State included included Tyler Kasak’s decision over No. 1 Jacori Teemer, Shayne Van Ness’ major decision against No. 2 Kyle Parco and tech falls by Mitchell Mesenbrink against No. 2 Mikey Caliendo and Luke Lilledahl against Joey Cruz.
How It Happened
125 Pounds
No. 7 Luke Lilledahl was first to the mat, marching out to “The Imperial March” to take on No. 26 Joey Cruz. Lilledahl erupted with an early takedown in the first 40 seconds of the match before Cruz took a point from the escape. The match was briefly stopped for an injury timeout for Lilledahl, though the wrestler continued after a trainer taped his left wrist. After Cruz took down on the reset, Lilledahl spent the rest of the first period racking up riding time as the Bryce Jordan Center showed its approval.
Lilledahl, starting in bottom position, earned an escape within a few seconds of the second period. He completed a takedown a minute through the period and spent the rest of the period on top.
Leading 7-1 at the start of the third period, Lilledahl needed fewer than 15 seconds before notching a takedown and another 10 seconds before recording a second. With 1:15 left in the match, Lilledahl picked up three more points and earned another takedown 40 seconds later as his flurry continued.
With one more takedown, Lilledahl won the match by tech fall 22-6 at 6:43.
133 Pounds
Stepping in for Braeden Davis, Kurt McHenry, who weighed in at 125, came out of the tunnel to take on No. 3 Drake Ayala at 133 pounds. Ayala earned a takedown within a few seconds and picked up another about halfway through the first period, while McHenry earned an escape point from both. Ayala notched one more takedown before the end of the period and racked up riding time to close it out with a 9-2 lead.
Ayala recorded an escape and takedown to start the second period. With more than a minute left in the second period, Ayala recorded another takedown and took the tech fall victory 19-4 at the 3:42 mark to tie the meet 5-5.
141 Pounds
No. 3 Beau Bartlett took on Cullan Schriever at 141 pounds and quickly scored a takedown to start off the action. Action lulled for some time after two blood timeouts, but Bartlett recorded got in on a fast shot for another takedown and riding for 30 more seconds before Schriever escaped.
Leading 6-2 into the second period, Barlett gave up an escape after building his riding time over a minute. Bartlett started the third period with an escape, but couldn’t do much else. The Nittany Lion tacked on a riding time point and took the third match of the evening by 8-3 decision, giving Penn State an 8-5 lead.
149 Pounds
No. 4 Shayne Van Ness took to the mat to face No. 2 Kyle Parco, and Van Ness got off to a fast start with a high shot for an early takedown. Parco fought his way to a takedown with a minute left in the first period to tie the bout 4-4 heading into the second.
Parco notched a quick reversal to start the second period, but Van Ness’ escaped then used a high double for a takedown gave and an 8-6 lead. The Nittany Lion then turned Parco for four near fall points to end the second period with a 12-6 advantage.
After just missing a takedown at the outer edge of the mat, Van Ness got the Bryce Jordan Center to explode with a quick takedown at the center. Van Ness finished the match on top to build up 1:34 in riding time and won by major decision 17-6. The victory pushed Penn State ahead 12-15
157 Pounds
No. 3 Tyler Kasak faced No. 1 Jacori Teemer at 157 pounds next. Neither wrestler made any strong attacks in the first period, which ended 0-0. Kasak picked up a quick escape point to start the second and used a low single for a takedown with 1:25 left. Movement stopped with 20 seconds left for an injury timeout to Kasak while trainers bandaged him heavily around the head. With a Teemer escape, Kasak led 4-1 after two
Kasak built his riding time over two minutes before Teemer escaped with about a minute left in to make the match 4-2. Late in the bout, Kasak picked Teemer up and literally walked around the mat with the the Hawkeye to drain the final seconds and secure the 5-2 decision victory.
Penn State led 15-5 going into the intermission.
165 Pounds
No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink faced No. 2 Michael Caliendo and got off with a quick, twitchy start. Caliendo snagged Mesenbrink’s foot to start the period, but Mesenbrink’s defense avoided the takedown. Mesenbrink scored a takedown with 1:20 left in the period and, after a Caliendo escape, worked his way to another takedown with about 25 seconds remaining to take a 6-1 lead after one.
After a Caliendo escape, Mesenbrink notched another takedown in the first minute of the second period and went to work on top, picking up a stall point to lead 10-2 going into the third. Mesenbrink started the third with a reversal, followed by a Caliendo escape and another takedown for the Nittany Lion. He scored another takedown late and another stall point, which sealed the tech fall 19-4 at 6:24.
174 Pounds
No. 2 Levi Haines was next against No. 6 Patrick Kennedy and, despite plenty of grappling, neither could get an edge early on. Haines looked primed for a takedown in the waning seconds of the period but still couldn’t finish.
Kennedy allowed Haines his escape point to start the second period, and Haines fought his way to a takedown with around 25 seconds left. Kennedy took his escape point to start the third, but Haines scored a crucial takedown with a minute left to take a 7-1 lead. Another takedown with 33 seconds left gave Haines a 10-2 lead, and Haines finished with the 10-3 decision victory after Kennedy managed a late escape.
Penn State led 23-5 going into the last three matches.
184 Pounds
No. 1 Carter Starocci faced Angelo Ferrari in a highly-anticipated match after Iowa’s higher-ranked wrestler Gabe Arnold talked up the match against Starocci a week prior. However, Arnold was a no-show in State College on Friday night. Ferrari walked out to the mat to plenty of boos, while the Bryce Jordan Center erupted for Starocci as he came out to Michael Myers’ theme from “Halloween.”
Ferrari did a good job on defense but didn’t attack much. Still, Starrocci’s only point in the first period came from stalling against Ferrari. The Hawkeye escaped in the second after Starocci built his riding time over a minute, but neither wrestler could score for the remainder of the period, with Ferrari show good defense against a Starocci shot out of a scramble.
Starting the third in bottom position, Starocci got an escape point while still holding a 1:07 edge in riding time. Little happened between the two wrestlers in the third period as Starocci scraped by with a 3-1 decision victory.
197 Pounds
No. 4 Josh Barr worked to keep his hot streak alive against No. 1 Stephen Buchanan next. Buchanan almost got a takedown with 45 seconds left in the first period, but Barr did well to avoid giving up points. Barr picked up an escape point after 1:06 through the second period, which was the only point through five minutes.
Buchanan quickly escaped in the third period and kept his riding time at 1:02 with the score tied 1-1. With less than 30 seconds remaining, Buchanan put the bout away with a takedown and secured a 5-1 decision victory.
285 Pounds
No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet took on No. 11 Ben Kueter to close out the evening. Kerkvliet earned his first takedown after a minute of wrestling and another to close out the first period with a 6-1 lead. The Nittany Lion heavyweight spent the entire second period in control on top to put his riding time over three minutes with the full-period rideout.
Kueter gave Kerkvliet his escape point quickly in the third period, and surrendered another point on a fleeing call with a minute left. Kerkvliet tacked on another takedown with 40 seconds left and stayed in control the remainder of the way for a 12-2 major decision to close out Penn State’s 30-8 win.
What’s Next?
Penn State is back in the Bryce Jordan Center at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7, to take on No. 22 Michigan. The dual will air the Big Ten Network.
