Penn State wrestling rolls in session one: NCAA Championship team score, injury notes, more

PHILADELPHIA — Penn State wrestling rolled through the opening session of the 2025 NCAA Championships. The Nittany Lions racked up nine bonus point wins. Four came by technical fall, three by fall, and Braedan Davis secured a major decision at 133 pounds. Beau Bartlett, then, won his opener by decision at 141, as head coach Cael Sanderson’s team went a perfect 10-0.

Find full results, the latest team race score, and takeaways below. Session 2, which includes championship bracket round two action, starts at 7 p.m. ET.

Penn State injury notes

One wrestler being listed in this section will be a surprise. The other will not be.

Let’s start with Josh Barr. The 197-pound redshirt freshman hurt his left leg and needed helped off the mat at Big Tens. There, he ultimately medically defaulted to sixth place, and went on to earn the fourth seed at nationals. The Nittany Lion took the mat with some kind of a wrap underneath his singlet that covered his hamstring/thigh area. It did not appear to impact his movement or effort. The Penn State wrestler beat No. 29 Tucker Hogan of Lehigh by major decision, 9-1. He’ll face No. 13 Trey Munoz of Oregon State in the second round tonight.

At heavyweight, senior Greg Kerkvliet strolled out onto the Wells Fargo Center floor with a sleeve covering what looked to be a brace or wrap over his left knee. “He got a little dinged up in practice last week,” Jeff Byers said on The Penn State Sports Network. It did not stop the Nittany Lion from dominating. He beat No. 30 Sam Mitchell of Wyoming by technical fall, 15-0, in 5:31. He’ll face No. 14 Gavin Hoffman of Lock Haven tonight.

Davis’ surprise major decision a help in the team race

It did not appear that Penn State 133-pound sophomore Braeden Davis would earn bonus points at the end of the second period of his first round match with No. 25 Kurt Phipps of Bucknell. The Nittany Lion trailed 3-2 after the first period but used a beautiful single leg shot in the second to take his first lead, at 5-4, after five minutes of wrestling. He took neutral with the choice in the third period, electing not to start from the bottom position with plans of escaping for a point. It worked. Davis set up a shot and finished it before rocking Phipps for four near fall points to finish with a 12-4 major decision.

The number eight seed, he now faces No. 9 Braxton Brown of Maryland in the second round tonight. He just beat the Terrapin 9-7 at Big Tens.

Updated team race score

Penn State leads with 24 points. Oklahoma State is second with 15.5. Michigan is third with 12. Nebraska is fourth with 11.5. And, Ohio State rounds out the top five with 11.5. Iowa and Northern Iowa are tied for sixth with 10.5.

See the full list of team scores here.

Full Penn State first round results

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, Lock Haven, 9-1

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

Second round matchups for each Nittany Lion

125 pounds: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl, PSU vs. No. 16 Blake West, Northern Illinois

133 pounds: No. 8 Braeden Davis, Penn State vs. No. 9 Braxton Brown, Maryland

141 pounds: No. 2 Beau Bartlett, PSU vs. No. 16 Julian Tagg, SDSU

149 pounds: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State vs. No. 19 Andrew Clark, Rutgers

157 pounds: No. 1 Tyler Kasak, PSU vs. No. 16 Cody Chittum, Iowa State

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

174 pounds: No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU vs. No. 18 Gavin Sax, Oklahoma

184 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci, Penn State vs. No. 16 Shane Cartagena-Walsh, Rutgers

197 pounds: No. 4 Josh Barr, PSU vs. No. 13 Trey Munoz, Oregon State

285 pounds: No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State vs. No. 14 Gavin Hoffman, Lock Haven