Penn State wrestling crowns 9 champs at Black Knight Invitational
Penn State sent 22 wrestlers to Army West Point’s Black Knight Invitational on Sunday.
The Nittany Lions had 14 of those wrestlers reach the finals at their weight class, with five weight classes having an all-Penn State matchup.
Penn State captured titles at nine of the 10 weight classes with Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds), Beau Bartlett (141), Shayne Van Ness (149), Tyler Kasak (157), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, and Josh Barr (197) collecting those crowns. At 174, 184 and 285 pounds, the Nittany Lions had a pair of teammates in those, but decided not to wrestle the matches.
Levi Haines (174), Matt Lee (174), Carter Starocci (184), Zack Ryder (184), Greg Kerkvliet (285) and Cole Mirasola (285) were the wrestlers in those finals matches not competed. Alex Facundo (157) and Lucas Cochran (197) were the other finalists for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions recorded 185.5 points as a team to cruise to the title with 18 wrestlers placing — 16 in the top three of their weights. Army West Point finished second in the team race with 130.5 points.
Kasak and Barr are part of lineup battles, and may have given the coaching staff an edge by defeating teammates for their crowns.
Kasak had three bonus-point victories to reach the finals with a pair of technical falls and a major decision in the semifinals. In the finals, Kasak’s first-period takedown was the deciding factor in a 5-2 victory over Facundo.
Facundo bonused his way to the finals too with four technical falls, outscoring his opponents 81-20.
Barr had a pair of falls to open his title run, then hung an 11-0 major decision on teammate Connor Mirasola in the semifinals. Barr tallied nine third-period points to take care of Cochran, 10-1.
Cochran was the No. 1 seed, and had three bonus-point victories to reach the finals. He opened with a pin, made the semifinals with a 15-0 tech and recorded an 11-1 major decision in the semifinals.
Kurt McHenry (125 pounds, third), Timothy Levine (133, fifth), Kyison Garcia (133, sixth) and Connor Mirasola (197, third) were the other placewinners for Penn State.
Penns Valley graduate Ty Watson got his first taste of collegiate wrestling for the Nittany Lions and went 1-2 at 165 pounds — a weight he bumped up to.
Watson suffered a 12-2 loss to Army West Point’s Gunner Filipowicz, who is ranked 14th nationally, in his college opener. He rebounded to collect his first win, which was a pin of Michigan State’s Cam Adams.
Watson’s tournament came to a close with an 11-4 loss to Columbia’s Cesar Alvan.
Gary Steen (133 pounds), Cael Nasdeo (141) and Connor Pierce (149) were other competing wrestlers for Penn State.
St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy grad places
Zack Witmer, who competed for the Wolves, competed at 133 pounds Sunday for Columbia University. Witmer is in his senior season with the Lions.
He opened his tournament by racking up a 14-2 major decision on Levine. Witmer than had to injury default to Army West Point’s Ethan Bergnic early in the second period.
He ultimately defaulted out of the tournament for a fourth-place finish.
This story was originally published November 24, 2024 at 5:26 PM.
