Here’s where Penn State wrestling sits after Day 1 of the Big Ten championships
The first day of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships is over inside Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern — and Penn State is again poised to dominate.
The Nittany Lions sit in first place of the team race after sending six wrestlers into the conference finals. Penn State also qualified all 10 of its wrestlers for the NCAA championships in two weeks in Philadelphia.
The Nittany Lions have tallied 145 team points to lead Nebraska (118.5) by 26.5 points. Iowa is third with 98 points.
“I think overall a good day. It’s just a really competitive tournament. We can always wrestle better,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “But this is all preparation for the nationals. We just got to get through here. Guys are doing a good job, but it’s all preparation.”
Here’s a look at where Penn State’s wrestlers stand, heading into Day 2:
125 pounds: Luke Lilledahl
Record for day: 3-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Lilledahl has had so much success as a high school wrestler, and it seems to have spilled over into his college career.
After cruising to the semifinals, the true freshman took on the No. 1 seed and No. 1 wrestler in the country in Purdue’s Matt Ramos, whom Lilledahl defeated with a 12-4 major decision. Lilledahl jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after taking Ramos to his back for nearfall points midway through the first period.
Ramos escaped before the period’s end and opened the second with a reversal. However, Lilledahl got an escape to make it 8-3 after two periods.
In the third period, Lilledahl tacked on another takedown and had 1:30 in riding time for the 12-4 major decision. He’ll face Nebraska’s Caleb Smith in the finals.
The Nittany Lions’ wrestler debuted in the Big Ten championships with a pin of Illinois’ Caelan Riley in the first round. In the quarterfinals, Lilledahl hung an 11-1 major decision on Iowa’s Joey Cruz before facing Ramos.
“Luke wrestled great. He’s getting better every match. His confidence is flying, so he’s good,” Sanderson said.
133 pounds: Braeden Davis
Record for day: 3-1
Current round: Consolation semifinals
Recap: After opening the day with a convincing 11-2 major decision over Michigan State’s Andrew Hampton, Davis was kicked into the consolation bracket with a 3-1 loss to Rutgers’ Dylan Shawver.
It was a matchup of defending Big Ten champions — Davis at 125 pounds and Shawver at this weight. The Scarlet Knights wrestler needed a takedown late in the third period for the winning score.
The Nittany Lions wrestler bounced back in the consolation bracket with a 17-2 technical fall of Purdue’s Dustin Norris in 2:30. Davis made the consolation semifinals by hanging on for a 10-5 win over Indiana’s Angelo Rini.
141 pounds: Beau Bartlett
Record for day: 1-1
Current round: Consolation semifinals
Recap: Bartlett was aiming to get his first conference title, but it wasn’t meant to be.
The No. 1 seed opened with a 13-3 major decision on Purdue’s Greyson Clark to make the semifinals. But Bartlett looked like a totally different wrestler in his semifinals match against Minnesota’s Vance Vombaur, which he eventually lost 5-3. He wrestled defensive, and Vombaur made him pay with a first-period takedown.
The Penn State wrestler escaped to trail 3-1 after one period. Vombaur’s escape in the second period made it 4-1.
Vombaur had a strong ride in the third, which kept Bartlett from escaping until there was just under one minute left. His defense then kept Bartlett at bay for a 5-3 upset win.
149 pounds: Shayne Van Ness
Record for day: 1-1
Current round: Consolation semifinals
Recap: After Penn State fans saw Bartlett go down, it got a little bit worse with Van Ness.
He was unable to score any points in the first period of his semifinals match against Illinois’ Kannon Webster, which he eventually lost 4-2. But Van Ness did end up scoring the first points of the bout with an escape in the second period.
The third period saw Webster open with an escape to tie the match. Near the end of the third period, Webster drove through Van Ness for a winning takedown in a 4-2 upset.
The Nittany Lions wrestler had a bye into the quarterfinals, where he faced Maryland’s Kal Miller. Van Ness had no troubles racking up a 12-2 major decision.
157 pounds: Tyler Kasak
Record for day: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: With a bye to the quarterfinals, Kasak took on Northwestern’s Trevor Chumbley for a spot in the semifinals.
Kasak had to overcome some accidental eye pokes to secure a 7-3 victory over Chumbley.
In the semifinals, the Penn State wrestler built up a 6-1 lead on Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor before throwing him to his back for a fall in 1:17. Kasak takes on Ohio State’s Brandon Cannon, who upset the No. 1 seed in Maryland’s Ethen Miller, on his way to the finals as the No. 8 seed.
“A big match when we just had two tough losses. You want to go out there and score points like he did,” Sanderson said of the semifinals pin. “It was great to see. Tyler beast-moded it.”
165 pounds: Mitchell Mesenbrink
Record for day: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Thanks to one opponent’s injury default, Mesenbrink wrestled just one match on the day, which was his semifinals bout with Michigan’s Beau Mantanona.
Mantanona cruised to the semifinals with a pair of pins as Mesenbrink made it when he received an injury default from Ohio State’s Paddy Gallagher.
In the semifinals, Mesenbrink racked up a 25-8 technical fall in 6:29 after holding off his opponent early. Mantanona scored first with a quick takedown of Mesenbrink, but it was more like a wake-up call for the Nittany Lion. From that point on, the Wolverines’ wrestler recorded six escapes.
Mesenbrink rattled off six takedowns — three apiece in the second and third periods, collected two stall points and had an escape to rack up the tech fall.
Mesenbrink takes on Iowa’s Mikey Caliendo in the finals.
174 pounds: Levi Haines
Record for day: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: The two-time defending Big Ten champ is well on his way to a third conference crown.
He opened by pinning Purdue’s Brody Baumann in 5:58 of their quarterfinals bout.
The semifinals saw Haines face off with Iowa’s Patrick Kennedy, whom he beat 10-3. It was a bout that the Penn State wrestler controlled from the start.
Haines got a takedown in the first period, but Kennedy escaped to make it 3-1 after one period. The second period saw Haines extend his lead to 7-2 thanks to another takedown and escape.
In the third period, Haines tacked on a last-second takedown to set up his 10-3 victory. He’ll face Nebraska’s Lenny Pinto in the finals.
184 pounds: Carter Starocci
Record for day: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Starocci wasn’t able to compete in last year’s Big Ten championships due to an injury he suffered.
He made up for lost time this year.
In the semifinals, Starocci took on Maryland’s Jaxon Smith, who topped Iowa’s Gabe Arnold in the quarterfinals to keep a matchup from happening that college wrestling fans want to see. Starocci finished with bonus points over Smith in a 12-2 major decision.
After a scoreless first period against Smith, Starocci held a 4-0 advantage after the second period thanks to a takedown and escape. The third period saw the four-time NCAA champ counter a couple of Smith shots for takedowns of his own in the 12-2 major decision.
Starocci faces Minnesota’s Max McEnelly, who is undefeated on the year, in the finals.
In the quarterfinals, Starocci hung an 18-1 technical fall on Indiana’s Donnell Washington in 4:54.
197 pounds: Josh Barr
Record for day: 1-1
Current round: Consolation semifinals
Recap: Barr was participating in his first Big Ten championships. He was able to make the semifinals after a bye to the quarterfinals, but Saturday didn’t exactly go as planned.
He faced off with Michigan’s Jacob Cardenas in the semifinals. Although last month Barr edged Cardenas using a late reversal in ultimate tiebreaker, history didn’t repeat itself.
The pair had to put in extra work on Saturday night. But, after they traded escapes in the second and third period, and the bout went to sudden victory, Cardenas got the needed points this time around with a takedown with 51 seconds left in the period. Barr punched his fist to the mat because he knew he made a mistake in the 4-1 loss.
“It’s a tough match. The kid is hard to wrestle. He’s obviously really good and experienced guy,” Sanderson said. “It’s a frustrating match, but Josh is going to be fine. All of our guys are just going to keep getting better. Our best days are still ahead.”
Barr’s debut was a solid one, though, earlier in the day as he racked up a 17-2 technical fall on Nebraska’s Camden McDanel in 4:05.
285 pounds: Greg Kerkvliet
Record for day: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Kerkvliet was one of eight Nittany Lions to receive a bye into the quarterfinals thanks to being seeded in the top two of his respective weight.
He was able to secure bonus points in both of his victories to set up an epic finals match with Minnesota’s Gable Steveson.
The defending Big Ten champ opened his defense by pinning Iowa’s Ben Kueter in 1:53. Kerkvliet then took on Michigan’s Josh Heindselman for a spot in the finals.
The match looked very similar to the dual bout and ended in a 9-1 major decision for Kerkvliet.
The Penn State wrestler got an early takedown in the first period to have a 3-1 lead. In the second period, Kerkvliet had an escape and takedown to lead 7-1.
The NCAA champ then rode Heindselman for the entire third period to amass 4:27 in riding time through the entire bout for the 9-1 major decision.
Big Ten championships
Saturday at Evanston, Ill.
Team key: Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Iowa (I), Maryland (M), Michigan (MI), Michigan State (MSU), Minnesota (MN), Nebraska (N), Northwestern (NW), Ohio State (OSU), Penn State (PSU), Purdue (P), Rutgers (R), Wisconsin (W)
Team scores: 1. Penn State 145, 2. Nebraska 118.5, 3. Iowa 98, 4. Minnesota 88.5, 5. Illinois 81.5, 6. Ohio State 76, 7. Michigan 56, 8. Maryland 47.5, 9. Rutgers 46, 10. Purdue 33.5
Semifinals
125: Luke Lilledahl, PSU, major dec. Matt Ramos, P, 12-4; 141: Vance Vombaur, MN, dec. Beau Bartlett, PSU, 5-3; 149: Kannon Webster, IL, dec. Shayne Van Ness, PSU, 4-2; 157: Tyler Kasak, PSU, pinned Antrell Taylor, N, 1:17; 165: Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, tech. fall Beau Mantanona, MI, 25-8 (6:29); 174: Levi Haines, PSU, dec. Patrick Kennedy, I, 10-3; 184: Carter Starocci, PSU, major dec. Jaxon Smith, MD, 12-2; 197: Jacob Cardenas, MI, dec. Josh Barr, PSU, 4-1 (SV); 285: Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, major dec. Josh Heindselman, MI, 9-1
Consolation Quarterfinals
133: Braeden Davis, PSU, dec. Angelo Rini, IN, 10-5
Consolation Second Round
133: Davis, PSU, tech. fall Dustin Norris, P, 17-2 (2:03)
Quarterfinals
125: Lilledahl, PSU, major dec. Joey Cruz, I, 11-1; 133: Dylan Shawver, R, dec. Davis, PSU, 3-1; 141: Bartlett, PSU, major dec. Greyson Clark, P, 13-3; 149: Van Ness, PSU, major dec. Kal Miller, M, 12-2; 157: Kasak, PSU, dec. Trevor Chumbley, NW, 7-3; 165: Mesenbrink, PSU, injury def. Paddy Gallagher, OSU, :01; 174: Haines, PSU, pinned Brody Baumann, P, 5:58; 184: Starocci, PSU, tech. fall Donnell Washington, IN, 18-1 (4:54); 197: Barr, PSU, tech. fall Camden McDanel, N, 17-2 (4:05); 285: Kerkvliet, PSU, pinned Ben Kueter, I, 1:53
First Round
125: Lilledahl, PSU, pinned Caelen Riley, IL, 4:09; 133: Davis, PSU, major dec. Andrew Hampton, MSU, 11-2
