Penn State wrestling earns 4 top seeds for NCAA championships, with 5 others in top 4

The brackets were set Wednesday night for the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships — and, to no one’s surprise, Penn State again turned in an impressive showing.

Four Nittany Lions earned top seeds in their respective weight classes, while another five earned top-4 seeds and none finished lower than the No. 8 seed. Penn State’s No. 1 seeds included Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds), Tyler Kasak (157), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) and Carter Starocci (184).

All 10 Penn State starters will compete in the NCAA championships, which will take place from March 20-22 in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center.

Here’s an overview of Penn State’s seeded wrestlers:

• 1-seed: Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds)
• 1-seed: Tyler Kasak (157)
• 1-seed: Mitchell Mesenbrink (165)
• 1-seed: Carter Starocci (184)
• 2-seed: Beau Bartlett (141)
• 2-seed: Levi Haines (174)
• 3-seed: Shayne Van Ness (149)
• 3-seed: Greg Kerkvliet (285)
• 4-seed: Josh Barr (197)
• 8-seed: Braeden Davis (133)

Two former Centre County wrestlers will also compete at nationals. Bellefonte grad Jude Swisher will represent Penn as the No. 14 seed at 157 pounds, while Penns Valley alum and George Mason wrestler Malachi DuVall qualified as the No. 21 seed at 184 pounds.

Given all of Penn State’s high seeds, the more anticipated matches for fans of the blue and white likely won’t come until later in the tournament. But there are quite a few potential bouts that would draw a lot of eyes — such as Mesenbrink potentially taking on a former teammate in the semifinals in Utah Valley’s Terrell Barraclough or Haines possibly taking on Oklahoma State’s Dean Hamiti in the semis in their first-ever meeting.

(And let’s not forget some dream finals matches, such as a rematch of the Big Ten title bout between Kerkvliet and Minnesota’s Gable Steveson, or Starocci taking on Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen, whom Carter needed sudden victory to beat in November.)

But, for those bouts to happen, Penn State’s wrestlers first need to take care of business in the opening rounds. Here’s a look at the first matches the Nittany Lions will see in Philadelphia:

125 pounds: 1-seed Luke Lilledahl, PSU vs. (Winner of 33-seed Caleb Weiand, Michigan State vs. 32-seed Marcello Milani, Cornell)

133: 8-seed Braeden Davis, PSU vs. 25-seed Kurt Phipps, Bucknell

141: 2-seed Beau Bartlett, PSU vs. 31-seed Jordan Titus, West Virginia

149: 3-seed Shayne Van Ness, PSU vs. 30-seed Gabe Willochell, Wyoming

157: 1-seed Tyler Kasak, PSU vs. (Winner of 33-seed Richard Fedalen, Columbia vs. 32-seed Landen Johnson, Northern Illinois)

165: 1-seed Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU vs. (Winner of 33-seed Chandler Amaker, Central Michigan vs. 32-seed Jared Keslar, Pittsburgh)

174: 2-seed Levi Haines, PSU vs. 31-seed Avery Bassett, Lock Haven

184: 1-seed Carter Starocci, PSU vs. (Winner of 33-seed TJ McDonnell, Oregon State vs. 32-seed Caden Rogers, Lehigh)

197: 4-seed Josh Barr, PSU vs. 29-seed Tucker Hogan, Lock Haven

285: 3-seed Greg Kerkvliet, PSU vs. 30-seed Sam Mitchell, Wyoming

This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 9:53 PM.

Josh Moyer

Centre Daily Times

Josh Moyer earned his B.A. in journalism from Penn State and his M.S. from Columbia. He’s been involved in sports and news writing for more than 20 years. He counts the best athlete he’s ever seen as Tecmo Super Bowl’s Bo Jackson.