Penn State senior Greg Kerkvliet medically defaults out of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships
PHILADELPHIA — Penn State senior Greg Kerkvliet’s final NCAA Championships is ending early. The Nittany Lion is medically defaulting out of his medal round matches. Kerkvliet entered the tournament with a knee injury that he suffered in practice last week. He won his first two matches before losing a semifinal bout to Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson by decision, 8-2. He clearly didn’t look right at the end of that match Friday night. On Saturday morning, the brackets reflected his decision to end his time on the mat at the Wells Fargo Center.
“The knee is not in good shape,” Jeff Byers said on the Penn State Sports Network.
Penn State did not need any more points from Kerkvliet to ensure it will win its fourth straight team title at some point today. He adds the sixth place finish in 2025 to a heavyweight title in 2024, a second place finish in 2023, a fourth place finish in 2022, and a seventh place finish in 2021. That all makes him a five-time All-American, of course.
The Nittany Lions are the second team to ever have 10 All-Americans. They join the 2001 Minnesota team. The starters can finish no worse than sixth place. That means Penn State is the first team in college wrestling history to ever ave 10 top six finishers at the national tournament.
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More Penn State wrestling updates
Where each Nittany Lion finishes has yet to be determined. After Kerkvliet’s decision to medically default, six Penn State wrestlers now remain in the consolation semifinals. They can finish as low as sixth or as high as third. Click here for live updates on how each does this morning. The other three starters for head coach Cael Sanderson’s team go for titles tonight.
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NCAA Wrestling Championships finals bout order
Penn State will lead things off. No. 1 Carter Starocci takes on No. 2 Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa in the 184-pound title in the first of 10 championship bouts. Starocci seeks a record-setting fifth individual title. Keckeisen, meanwhile, aims to defend his title from a year ago. Here’s the full finals bout order:
184 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
125 pounds: No. 4 Vince Robinson (NC State) vs. No. 7 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State)
133 pounds: No. 1 Lucas Byrd (Illinois) vs. No. 2 Drake Ayala (Iowa)
141 pounds: No. 1 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) vs. No. 3 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State)
149 pounds: No. 1 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 2 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska)
157 pounds: No. 3 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) vs. No. 8 Joey Blaze (Purdue)
165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Mikey Caliendo (Iowa)
174 pounds: No. 1 Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) vs. No. 3 Dean Hamiti (Oklahoma State)
197 pounds: No. 2 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa) vs. No. 4 Josh Barr (Penn State)
285 pounds: No. 1 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) vs. No. 2 Wyatt Hendrickson (Oklahoma State)
