Penn State wrestling results at Army Black Knight Invitational: 3 takeaways

Penn State wrestling sent 22 competitors to the Army Black Knight Invitational on Sunday in West Point, N.Y. The Nittany Lions rolled as expected. Head coach Cael Sanderson’s team won or shared nine of the 10 weight class titles. That might sound odd, but there is a simple explanation: As PSU shared in its event news release, “under recent NCAA rules, when teammates wrestle each other now in an NCAA event, the results do NOT count as wins or losses, or towards NCAA qualification metrics.” That meant the Lions, who would have competed against each other in the final three weight classes, elected to make those finals a no contest.

Here are the top three things we learned from the tournament. And, full results are below.

Data points gained at 125, 157, and 197 pounds

Penn State sent two wrestlers to the Black Knight Invite at 125 and 157 pounds and three at 197. Sanderson said earlier this week that, if any of his Nittany Lions met at West Poin, it would give the program data points to use toward any ongoing starting spot battles. And, they were gained in these three weight classes.

At 125, freshman Luke Lilldahl made his mat debut in blue and white after earning a forfeit last week against Drexel. He won his first match by technical fall before beating the only other 125-pound roster member, Kurt McHenry, by decision, 8-2, in the semifinals. Lilledahl then won the title by beating No. 21 Charlie Fisher of Army by technical fall, 19-4, in 5:13. This starting spot, as expected, is his.

At 157, Penn State entered Tyler Kasak and Alex Facundo. The former had a dominating win at the NWCA All-Star Classic and the latter a convincing victory against Drexel. Both cruised to the finals before Kasak beat Facundo 5-2 in the title bout. This battle will continue. But, Kasak seems to have a leg up after today.

Moving on to 197, Penn State entered Lucash Cochran, Josh Barr, and Connor Mirasola. The latter is a shoo-in to redshirt and finished third. He lost to Barr by major decision, 11-0, in the semis before topping Michigan State’s No. 27 Remy Cotton 8-4 in the third place match.

As for the other two, Barr had two falls and Cochran one en route to the finals. Barr won that match by major decision, 10-1, in the title bout. He’s the leader in the clubhouse for that job.

Freshmen results

Numerous Penn State freshmen made their debuts at the Black Knight Invite. Connor Mirasola was third at 197, and brother Cole made it to the finals after securing tech fall and a win by fall before he and Nittany Lions start Greg Kerkvliet elected not to wrestle the final due to the rules. The same happened at 184. Zack Ryder won by fall in round one, beat Rutgers’ No. 21 Brian Soldano 4-2, then beat the Scarlet Knights’ other 184-pound entry, Shane Cartegena-Walsh, 4-1 in the semis. His final with Carter Starocci was then a no contest. Lilledahl won the 125-pound bracket, of course. And, Ty Watson and Cael Nasdeo went 1-2 at 165 pounds and 141 pounds, respectively.

Full Penn State results

The list below is courtesy of Penn State Athletics:

125: #33 Luke Lilledahl, Fr.

Rd. 1: bye

Qtr.: Jeffrey Jacome, Gardner Webb – W, 19-4 (TF; 5:38)

Semi: Kurt McHenry, Penn State – W, 8-2 dec.

Final: #21 Charlie Farmer, Army – W, 19-4 (TF; 5:13)

125: Kurt McHenry, Sr.+

Rd. 1: bye

Qtr.: Sulayman Bah, Columbia – W, 11-7 dec.

Semi: #33 Luke Lilledahl, Penn State – L, 2-8 dec.

3^rd: Caleb Weiand, Michigan State – W, 13-1 maj. dec.

133: Kyison Garcia, R-Fr.

Rd. 1: #25 Ethan Berginc, Army – L, 1-4 dec.

Cn. 2: Jared Chuquilin, LIU – W, 17-2 (TF; 3:43)

Cn. 3: Gary Steen, Penn State – W, 14-4 maj. dec.

5^th: Tim Levine, Penn State – L, 1-4 (sv) dec.

133: Timothy Levine, Sr.

Rd. 1: Tyler Lamon, Gardner Webb – W, 4-0 dec.

Qtr.: Boris Witmer, Columbia – L, 2-14 maj. dec.

Cn. 2: bye

Cn. 3: Andrew Hampton, Michigan State – WBF (5:15)

5^th: Kyison Garcia, Penn State – W, 4-1 (sv) dec.

133: Gary Steen, Jr.

Rd. 1: bye

Qtr.: Takeo Davis, Gardner, Webb – L, 5-8 dec.

Cn. 2: Tyler Lamon, Gardner Webb – W, 11-1 maj. dec.

Cn. 3: Kyison Garcia, Penn State – L, 4-14 maj. dec.

141: #3 Beau Bartlett, Sr.+

Rd. 1: Charlie Sly, Gardner Webb – W, 16-1 (TF; 3:32)
Qtr.: Joe Fangaro, Rutgers – W, 4-1 (sv)

Semi: Rich Treanor, Army – W, 18-3 (TF; 4:44)

Final: #28 Todd Carter, Gardner Webb – WBF (5:57)

141: Cael Nasdeo, Fr.

Rd. 1: Ty Edwards, Garnder Webb – W, 15-0 (TF; 1:41)

Qtr.: #29 Braden Basile, Army – L, 4-9 dec.

Cn. 2: Devin Matthews, LIU – L, 2-5 dec.

149: #2 Shayne Van Ness, So.

Rd. 1: bye

Rd. 2: Yanni Vines, Columbia – W, 18-1 (TF; 4:14)

Qtr: Joey Giordano, Gardner Webb – W, 15-2 maj. dec.

Semi: Richard Fedalen, Columbia – W, 5-0

Final: Andrew Clark, Rutgers – W, 19-4 (TF; 7:00)

149: Connor Pierce, So.

Rd. 1: bye

Rd. 2: #28 Trae McDaniel, Army – W, 16-7 maj. dec.

Qtr: #33 Michael Cetta, Rutgers – L, 1-8 dec.

Cn. 2: Mason Barvitskie, Columbia – W, 8-5 dec.

Cn. 3: Ivan Garcia, Binghamton – L, 4-10 dec.

157: #4 Tyler Kasak, So.

Rd. 1: bye

Rd. 2: Rawson Iwanicki, Columbia – W, 19-4 (TF; 6:50)

Qtr: Jordan Brown, Binghamton – W, 19-3 (TF; 3:55)

Semi: Dakota Morris, Army – W, 18-5 maj. dec.

Final: Alex Facundo, Penn State – W, 5-2 dec.

157: Alex Facundo, So.

Rd. 1: Mason Stewart, Michigan State – W, 19-4 (TF; 3:42)

Rd. 2: Jake Wacha, Columbia – W, 21-6 (TF; 3:35)

Qtr.: Fin Nadeau, Binghamton – W, 17-2 (TF; 7:00)

Semi: Drew Pepin, Gardner Webb – W, 24-8 (TF; 6:17)

Final: #4 Tyler Kasak, Penn State – L, 2-5 dec.

165: #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, So.

Rd. 1: Carter Baer, Binghamton – W, 18-3 (TF; 5:37)

Qtr.: Cam Adams, Michigan State – W, 18-1 (TF; 4:01)

Semi: #32 Tony White, Rutgers – W, 19-4 (TF; 5:46)

Final: #14 Gunner Filiopowicz, Army – W, 17-2 (TF; 4:50)

165: Ty Watson, Fr.

Rd. 1: #14 Gunner Filipowicz, Army – L, 2-12 maj. dec.

Cn. 2: Cam Adams, Michigan State – WBF (4:10)

Cn. 3: Cesar Alvin, Columbia – L, 4-11 dec.

174: #2 Levi Haines, Jr.

Rd. 1: Marty Larkin, Michigan State – WBF (4:29)

Qtr.: Matt Romanelli, Columbia – WBF (3:36)

Semi: Cooper Haase, Army – W, 17-1 (TF; 5:13)

Final: Matt Lee, Penn State – No contest

174: Matt Lee, Sr.

Rd. 1: bye

Qtr.: Andrew Wilson, Gardner Webb – W, 17-2 (TF; 6:04)

Semi: #31 Dalton Harkins, Army – W, 5-4 dec.

Final: #2 Levi Haines, Penn State – No contest

184: #1 Carter Starocci, Gr.

Rd. 1: Spencer Fine, Columbia – WBF (1:37)

Qtr: Cole Karpinski, Army – W, 20-3 (TF; 3:00)

Semi: Lucas Daily, Michigan State – WBF (4:23)

Final: Zack Ryder, Penn State – No contest

184: Zack Ryder, Fr.

Rd. 1: Cory Thomas, Michigan State – WBF (3:43)

Qtr.: #21 Brian Soldano, Rutgers – W, 4-2 dec.

Semi: Shane Cartegena-Walsh, Rutgers – W, 4-1 dec.

Final: #1 Carter Starocci, Penn State – No contest

197: #23 Josh Barr, R-Fr.

Rd. 1: Jack Bernik, Columbia – WBF (2:26)

Qtr.: Josh McCutcheon, Gardner Webb – WBF (2:53)

Semi: Connor Mirasola, Penn State – W, 11-0 maj. dec.

Final: Lucas Cochran, Penn State – W, 10-1 maj. dec.

197: Lucas Cochran, Jr.

Rd. 1: Mason Rebulk, Bloomsburg – WBF (3:58)

Qtr: Chris Murphy, Army – W, 15-0 (TF; 7:00)

Semi: #27 Remy Cotton, Michigan State – W, 11-1 maj. dec.

Final: #23 Josh Barr, Penn State – L, 1-10 maj. dec.

197: Connor Mirasola, Fr.

Rd. 1: Reid Schroeder, Army – W, 14-5 maj. dec.

Qtr.: Kael Wisler, Michigan State – WBF (5:33)

Semi: #23 Josh Barr, Penn State – L, 0-11 maj. dec.

3^rd: #27 Remy Cotton, Michigan State – W, 8-4 dec.

285: #2 Greg Kerkvliet, Sr.

Rd. 1: Tristen Hitchcock, Army – WBF (2:31)

Qtr.: Billy McChesney, Columbia – WBF (1:29)

Semi: Brady Colbert, Army – W, 15-0 (TF; 5:10)

Final: Cole Mirasola, Penn State – No contest

285: Cole Mirasola, Fr.

Rd. 1: bye

Qtr.: Sam Sorenson, Army – W, 19-4 (TF; 3:28)

Semi: Max Vanadia, Michigan State – WBF (0:32)

Final: #1 Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State – No contest