Recap: Penn State sends seven to the semifinals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships
PHILADELPHIA — The second day of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships starts at Noon ET. Penn State has what is believed to be a record-setting 10 quarterfinalists in Friday’s first session. Each Nittany Lion who wins his opening bout will compete in tonight’s semifinal round for a spot in Saturday night’s finals. Any member of Cael Sanderson’s team who drops his quarterfinal match will have a consolation bracket match this afternoon to either keep his tournament going with a win or end it with a loss. This is your home for live updates as the action unfolds. Note: This page does not update automatically. So, please refresh your browser often for the latest information.
MORE: Where is Penn State wrestling in its quest for 10 All-Americans and another team title?
Penn State goes 7-3 in session three
03/21/2025 01:56:02 PMPenn State has seven semifinalists in action tonight for a shot at the finals. Beau Bartlett (141 pounds), Shayne Van Ness (149), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174), Carter Starocci (184), Josh Barr (197), and Greg Kerkvliet (285) are all alive in the championship bracket. Three Nittany Lions are now into the consolation bracket. Luke Lilledahl and Tyler Kasak, the top seeds at 125 and 157 pounds, respectively, were upset in their quarterfinal bouts. And, sophomore Braeden Davis fell in his to 133-pound top seed Lucas Byrd of Illinois.
Session four starts at 8 p.m. ET with semifinal and consolation bracket action.
Find full session three results, all of which were quarterfinal bouts, below:
125 pounds: No. 8 Sheldon Seymour, Lehigh d. No. 1 Luke Lilledahl, PSU, TB-3 (RT) 2-2
133 pounds: No. 1 Lucas Byrd, Illinois md. No. 8 Braeden Davis, Penn State, 12-1
141 pounds: No. 2 Beau Bartlett, PSU d. No. 10 CJ Composto, Penn, 5-0
149 pounds: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State d. No. 6 Lachlan McNeil, North Carolina, 7-2
157 pounds: No. 8 Joey Blaze, Purdue d. No. 1 Tyler Kasak, PSU, 5-4
165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State d. No. 8 Cameron Amine, Oklahoma State, 5-0
174 pounds: No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU d. No. 7 Danny Wask, Navy, 7-2
184 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci, Penn State md. No. 8 Jaxon Smith, Maryland, 9-1
197 pounds: No. 4 Josh Barr, PSU md. No. 5 Michael Beard, Lehigh, 14-3
285 pounds: No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State d. No. 6 Josh Heindselman, Michigan, 5-0
Greg Kerkvliet is the Lions’ seventh semifinalist
03/21/2025 01:54:25 PMPenn State heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet took out Michigan’s No. 6 Josh Heindselman by decision, 5-0, to punch his ticket to the semifinals.
Josh Barr is heading to the semifinals
03/21/2025 01:38:35 PMPenn State redshirt freshman Josh Barr is the Lions’ sixth semifinalist. He picked up a bonus point in the team race by beating former Nittany Lion Michael Beard of Lehigh by major decision, 14-3, in a 197-pound quarterfinal.
Carter Starocci is the Lions’ fifth semifinalist
03/21/2025 01:17:22 PMPenn State 184-pound graduate senior and top seed Carter Starocci took out Maryland eight-seed Jaxon Smith 9-1 in the quarterfinals. He scored a late takedown for the major decision and a bonus point in the team race. His quest for an historic fifth NCAA title continues in the semifinals tonight. He is joined in the championship bracket for that session by Beau Bartlett (141 pounds), Shayne Van Ness (149), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), and Levi Haines (174) so far.
Latest team scores
03/21/2025 01:08:21 PMAs of 2:08 p.m. ET:
Team Scores
1. Penn State: 67.5
2. Nebraska: 62.0
3. Oklahoma State : 45.0
4. Iowa : 33.0
5. Ohio State: 32.5
6. Illinois 28.5
7. Northern Iowa: 28.0
8. Cornell: 26.5
Updated Penn State results 125-174 pounds
03/21/2025 01:07:41 PM125 pounds: No. 8 Sheldon Seymour, Lehigh d. No. 1 Luke Lilledahl, PSU, TB-3 (RT) 2-2
133 pounds: No. 1 Lucas Byrd, Illinois md. No. 8 Braeden Davis, Penn State, 12-1
141 pounds: No. 2 Beau Bartlett, PSU d. No. 10 CJ Composto, Penn, 5-0
149 pounds: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State d. No. 6 Lachlan McNeil, North Carolina, 7-2
157 pounds: No. 8 Joey Blaze, Purdue d. No. 1 Tyler Kasak, PSU, 5-4
165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State d. No. 8 Cameron Amine, Oklahoma State, 5-0
174 pounds: No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU d. No. 7 Danny Wask, Navy, 7-2
Levi Haines gives Penn State four semifinalists
03/21/2025 01:00:56 PMPenn State junior Levi Haines opened up his 174-pound quarterfinal match with No. 7 Dannty Wask of Navy with a late takedown to win, 7-2, and move on to the semifinals. He is the Lions’ fourth semifinalist of the tournament.
Mitchell Mesenbrink is the third semifinalist for Penn State
03/21/2025 12:43:11 PMNo. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State was slowed down but not stopped by No. 8 Cameron Amine of Oklahoma State en route to a 5-0 victory in a 165-round quarterfinal. He is the Nittany Lions’ third semifinalist.
Tyler Kasak falls in the quarterfinals
03/21/2025 12:31:32 PMTop seed Tyler Kasak of Penn State gave up a third period takedown to lose to No. 8 Joey Blaze of Purdue in a 157-pound quarterfinal by decision, 5-4. It’s the second No. 1 seed for the Nittany Lions to go down in this session after Luke Lilledahl did earlier. PSU is now 2-3 in this session.
First four bout results for Penn State and updated team scores
03/21/2025 12:12:48 PMPenn State leads the team race 53.5 to 46 over Nebraska after four weight classes. Oklahoma State (36.5), Ohio State (32), and Illinois (27) round out the top five as of 1:13 p.m. ET.
First four Penn State results:
125 pounds: No. 8 Sheldon Seymour, Lehigh d. No. 1 Luke Lilledahl, PSU, TB-3 (RT) 2-2
133 pounds: No. 1 Lucas Byrd, Illinois md. No. 8 Braeden Davis, Penn State, 12-1
141 pounds: No. 2 Beau Bartlett, PSU d. No. 10 CJ Composto, Penn, 5-0
149 pounds: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State d. No. 6 Lachlan McNeil, North Carolina, 7-2
Shayne Van Ness is the Lions’ second semifinalist
03/21/2025 12:07:56 PMIn a 149-pound quarterfinal between No. 3 Shayne Van Ness of Penn State and North Carolina’s No. 6 Lachlan McNeil, the two traded escapes to make it 1-1 early in the third. About 30 seconds into it, Van Ness lined up and finished a beautiful shot for a 4-1 lead. The Nittany Lion tacked on a late takedown after a McNeill escape to win, 7-2. He’s the Lions’ second semifinalist.
Beau Bartlett is the Lions’ first semifinalist
03/21/2025 11:47:40 AMAfter a scoreless first period, Penn State 141-pound senior Beau Bartlett took down to start the second. He escaped and then took down Penn’s CJ Composoto for a 4-0 lead and rode out the second period. The third period started neutral and there was no more scoring. Penn State has its first semifinalists as Bartlett wins 5-0 with a riding time point.
We’ll get Beau Bartlett vs. Jesse Mendez yet again, this time in the semifinals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships tonight.
Penn State is 0-2 to start session three
03/21/2025 11:29:47 AMAs expected, No. 1 Lucas Byrd of Illinois dominated No. 8 Braeden Davis in a 133-pound quarterfinal. The Fighting Illini wrestler took a 4-1 lead after one and used a big throw to swell it to 11-1 after five minutes of wrestling. The final was 12-1 in favor of Byrd.
Lilledahl suffers the Lions’ first loss
03/21/2025 11:18:23 AMAfter a scoreless first period in a 125-pound quarterfinal between No. 1 Luke Lilledahl and No. 8 Sheldon Seymour of Lehigh, Seymour tool down and escaped for a 1-0 lead. That was the score after two. Lilledahl took down to start the third and quickly escaped to tie the match at one. It went to sudden victory at 1-1. Lilledahl shot first a long scramble ensued that ended with no points. The extra period ended with no scoring. It went to two tiebreaker ride out periods from there. Seymour was down first. He got out in 12 seconds. Lilledahl did not escape, but Seymour was called for stalling. But, it wasn’t enough to make a difference. Seymour wins in tiebreaker and Lilledahl is off to the consolation bracket.
The action starts now
03/21/2025 11:03:02 AMLilledahl vs. Seymour is on mat 3 in moments.
Early mat assignments are in; Lilledahl will lead off
03/21/2025 09:31:45 AMPenn State will have back to back matches on mat 3 to start day two of the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Luke Lilledahl leads off opposite Sheldon Seymour of Lehigh in a 125-pound quarterfinal, then Braeden Davis follows opposite top seed Lucas Byrd of Illinois at 133.
Other initial mat assignments:
Tyler Kasak will be the fifth match on mat 3.
Shayne Van Ness is the fourth match on mat 5.
Beay Bartlett is match three on mat 6.
Here is the Penn State quarterfinal lineup
03/21/2025 09:30:38 AMPenn State starts the day with an 11.5-point lead in the team race. Here’s who each Nittany Lion will face in the 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
