An insane Penn State wrestling stat, team race scores, and more takeaways from Day 1 of the NCAA Championships

PHILADELPHIA — Penn State wrestling has a commanding lead in the team race following Day 1 of the NCAA Wrestling Championships. After going 10-0 in the opening session, the No. 1 Nittany Lions went 10-0 again in round two, which means they will have 10 quarterfinalists in Friday afternoon’s first session. It starts at Noon on ESPNU. It’s the first time in school history that the Lions both went 20-0 on day one and also have 10 in the quarters.

Head coach Cael Sanderson’s team was its usual dominant self. It scored points almost at will throughout Thursday and surrendered very few.

“Yeah, good day,” Lions coach Cael Sanderson told reporters. “Obviously, a lot of tough matches and just being ready to go. It’s the national tournament, right? I mean, you got to just stay focused and ready. But I think our guys wrestled well, wrestled some good kids. Day two is always a fun day. So that’s the one you look forward to.

“If you want to win the national tournament, you got to score points. So, you know, it’s good to see our guys getting out there and scoring points.”

Here are our top takeaways, full round two results, and first day two matchups.

Penn State wrestled well in the first five weights

From a seeding perspective, Penn State was expected to qualify all of its first five wrestlers. The Lions did that. And, they did so fairly impressively.

Luke Lilledahl was 2-0 at 125 pounds, earning back-to-back technical falls. Braeden Davis won his opener by major decision before scoring a 5-3 decision over Maryland’s Braxton Brown. Beau Bartlett was his usual low-scoring but win anyway self. He had perhaps the scramble of the day for Penn State to secure a 4-1 decision over South Dakota State’s Julian Tagg in the round of 16 after winning his first match by decision. At 149, Shayne Van Ness won by fall and then major decision over a familiar foe in Andrew Clark of Rutgers. And, top 157-pound seed Tyler Kasak won by fall and then decision.

Is there room for improvement from all five? Yes. But will the Lions take the day they had? Absolutely.

Mesenbrink continues to hammer his opponents

We have to give a special shoutout to Mitchell Mesenbrink. He continues to be the most fun Penn State wrestler to watch. The top seed at 165 pounds and second-year Nittany Lion scored his nation-leading 17th and 18th technical falls of the season to cruise into the semifinals. His tournament so far includes combined wins by a score of 38-6 in seven minutes and 48 seconds. Just one match can last seven minutes in regulation, of course. Mesenbrink continues to impress.

The Lions’ final five thrived as usual

After Mesenbrink, Penn State rolled. The closest match came at 197 pounds. Redshirt freshman Josh Barr was in deep on two shots but couldn’t finish either, leading his match with Trey Munoz of Oregon State to go to sudden victory. There, the Nittany Lion finally did complete a connecting shot to win, 5-2.

Greg Kerkvliet won 4-0 at heavyweight with an astonishing five minutes in riding time. Levi Haines won by a commanding decision at 174. At 184, Carter Starocci picked up a technical fall triumph.

Team score update

Penn State has 39.5 points to lead the team race after day one. Nebraska is second with 28. Oklahoma State is third with 24. Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio State are all tied for fifth with 18. Illinois has 16.5 and is in eighth with Michigan. Northern Iowa’s 15.5. rounds out the top 10.

Here’s an insane stat

Penn State 133-pound sophomore Braeden Davis was the first Nittany Lion on the mat. He surrendered a takedown early but ultimately won his opener. After that, Penn State did not surrender a single takedown from there, meaning they allowed just one on the day over 20 matches. It’s as astonishing as having 10 quarterfinalists. But, both are true.

Full Penn State Day 1 results

First round matchups

125 pounds: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl, PSU TF. No. 32 Marcelli Milani, Cornell, 19-4 (4:24)

133 pounds: No. 8 Braeden Davis, Penn State md. No. 25 Kurt Phipps, Bucknell, 12-4

141 pounds: No. 2 Beau Bartlett, PSU d. No. 31 Jordan Titus, West Virginia, 4-2

149 pounds: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State F No. 30 Gabe Willochell, Wyoming, 4:11

157 pounds: No. 1 Tyler Kasak, PSU F No. 32 Landon Johnson, Northern Illinois, 1:38

165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State TF No. 33 Chandler Amaker, Central Michigan, 16-0 (3:32)

174 pounds: No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU F No. 31 Branson John, Maryland (2:46)

184 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci, Penn State TF No. 32 Caden Rogers, Lehigh, 18-2 (6:19)

197 pounds: No. 4 Josh Barr, PSU md. No. 29 Tucker Hogan, Lehigh, 9-1

285 pounds: No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State TF No. 30 Sam Mitchell, Wyoming, 15-0 (5:31)

Second round matchups

125 pounds: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl, PSU TF No. 16 Blake West, Northern Illinois, 19-3 (6:52)

133 pounds: No. 8 Braeden Davis, Penn State d. No. 9 Braxton Brown, Maryland, 5-3

141 pounds: No. 2 Beau Bartlett, PSU d. No. 16 Julian Tagg, SDSU, 4-1

149 pounds: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State md. No. 19 Andrew Clark, Rutgers, 11-1

157 pounds: No. 1 Tyler Kasak, PSU d. No. 16 Cody Chittum, Iowa State, 8-3

165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State vs. No. 16 Kyle Mosher, Hofstra

174 pounds: No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU d. No. 18 Gavin Sax, Oklahoma, 4-0

184 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci, Penn State TF. No. 16 Shane Cartagena-Walsh, Rutgers, 15-0 (4:23)

197 pounds: No. 4 Josh Barr, PSU d. No. 13 Trey Munoz, Oregon State, 5-2 (SV)

285 pounds: No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State d. No. 14 Gavin Hoffman, Lock Haven, 4-0

Penn State quarterfinal matchups

Third round matchups

All are championship quarterfinals:

125 pounds: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl, PSU vs. No. 8 Sheldon Seymour, Lehigh

133 pounds: No. 8 Braeden Davis, Penn State vs. No. 1 Lucas Byrd, Illinois

141 pounds: No. 2 Beau Bartlett, PSU vs. No. 10 CJ Composto, Penn

149 pounds: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State vs. No. 6 Lachlan McNeil, North Carolina

157 pounds: No. 1 Tyler Kasak, PSU vs. No. 8 Joey Blaze, Purdue

165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State vs. No. 8 Cameron Amine, Oklahoma State

174 pounds: No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU vs. No. 7 Danny Wask, Navy

184 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci, Penn State vs. No. 8 Jaxon Smith, Maryland

197 pounds: No. 4 Josh Barr, PSU vs. No. 5 Michael Beard, Lehigh

285 pounds: No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State vs. No. 6 Josh Heindselman, Michigan