Penn State wrestling live blog: NCAA Championships opening round

Penn State wrestling begins its pursuit for a national championship Thursday with the start of the 2025 NCAA Championships in Philadelphia. If the Nittany Lions hoist a trophy on Saturday night, it will be the program’s fourth consecutive national title and the 12th of the Cael Sanderson era.

All 10 Nittany Lions qualified for this weekend’s event. Penn State claimed four top seeds in the tournament’s brackets, and no wrestler is seeded lower than No. 8 in their respective weight class.

Multiple records are also in play for Penn State wrestling, including the NCAA team point total and the total number of individual champions. The Nittany Lions could also become the second team ever to have all 10 wrestlers earn All-American honors.

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Live blog: Penn State wrestling begins pursuit of a title at 2025 NCAA Championships

Thursday’s action kicks off with Session 1, which begins at noon. The first round will be broadcast live on ESPNU, and matches from all eight mats will be streamed on ESPN+.

Match-by-match results for Penn State wrestlers can be found below. Please note this page will not update automatically. To see the latest results, please refresh your browser.

Team Standings (As of 4:30 pm ET)

First Round

125: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) def No. 32 Marcello Milani (COR) by 19-4 tech fall

Penn State wrestling 125-pounder Luke Lilledahl © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Luke Lilledahl picked up the match’s first takedown in the opening minute to take control early. After granting the escape Lilledahl quickly went to work again with another takedown to extend his lead to 6-1. It was a match of repetition where Lilledahl continued to use his speed over and over again and held a 9-2 lead after one period.

After opening up the 2nd period with an escape, Lilledahl immediately took down Milani to extend his lead. After some more of the same, the result was an easy 19-4 opening round tech fall for the true freshman’s debut at the NCAA Championships.

133: No. 8 Braeden Davis (PSU) def No. 25 Kurt Phipps (BUCK) by 12-4 major decision

Penn State wrestling 133-pounder Braeden Davis © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Phipps picked up the first takedown of the match with about one minute remaining in the first period. After a whistle Davis was able to get a reversal to cut the lead to 3-2 after one period. Davis road Phipps for about 15 seconds to begin the 2nd period before releasing him pushing the Bucknell wrestlers lead to 4-2. Phipps was once again able to get in on a single leg with about 30 seconds remaining but the referee called stalemate as Davis was able to fight off the attempt. Davis then took his best offensive shot of the match and picked up the takedown with under 5 seconds remaining in the period to take a 5-4 lead heading into the 3rd.

After a few offensive attempts on both sides Davis was able to pickup a takedown and four near fall points to pick up the major decision 12-4. Braeden Davis will next face No. 9 Braxton Brown (MD) in the round of 16.

141: No. 2 Beau Bartlett (PSU) def No. 31 Jordan Titus (WVU) by 4-2 decision

Penn State wrestling 141-pounder Beau Bartlett © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Beau Bartlett opened the scoring with a takedown about halfway through the first period. Titus was granted the escape to cut the lead to 3-1. Bartlett was able to get in on a single leg late in the 1st period but didn’t have enough time to pick up the score.

Titus opened the 2nd period with an escape to cut the lead to 3-2. Neither wrestler was able to get on the board after that and it remained a 1 point match heading into the 3rd. Bartlett attempted to get the reversal after starting the final period on bottom but was unable to. The Nittany Lion was granted a point for the escape but riding time went under one minute. It was a classic Beau Bartlett match where he scored early and then just used his defense to pick up the victory.

149: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) def No. 30 Gabe Willochell (WYO) by Fall (4:11)

Penn State wrestling 149-pounder Shayne Van Ness © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Van Ness scored the first points of the match around the halfway mark of the first period thanks to a single leg takedown. After adding on 53 seconds of riding time Willochell was able to get the escape. Van Ness then picked up another quick takedown and ride out to finish the first period up 6-1 with over a minute of riding time. After starting the 2nd period on top, Van Ness quickly got Willochell to his back and eventually got the fall at the 4:11 mark.

157: No. 1 Tyler Kasak (PSU) def No. 32 Landen Johnson (NIU) by Fall (1:38)

Tyler Kasak opened the scoring with a takedown in opening 10 seconds to take a 3-0 lead. After granting the escape Kasak once again took Johnson down and this time was able to get him to his back for four near fall points and eventually the fall in the opening period at the 1:38 mark.

165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) def No. 33 Chandler Amaker (CMU) by 16-0 tech fall

It was about what you would expect for the national title favorite. Mitchell Mesenbrink opened the scoring with a takedown and four near fall points to open the match with a quick 7-0 lead. After attempting to get the pin in the first period, Mesenbrink eventually shifted his focus to picking up the tech fall in which he did by a 16-0 score at the 3:32 mark.

174: No. 2 Levi Haines (PSU) def No. 31 Branson John (MD) by Fall (2:46)

Penn State wrestling 174-pounder Levi Haines. © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Levi Haines opened the scoring with a takedown and two near fall points before finishing the fall at the 2:46 mark of the first period. It was an easy opening round for Haines as expected who will now turn his attention towards No. 15

184: No. 1 Carter Starocci (PSU) def No. 32 Caden Rogers (LEH) by 18-2 tech fall

Penn State wrestling 184-pounder Carter Starocci © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Carter Starocci pushed the pace early in the match consistently getting Caden Rogers to the edge of the mat, eventually leading to a stall call to break the tie. Starocci picked up his first takedown of the match with about one minute remaining in the 1st period after once again forcing Rogers to the edge of the mat. After another stall call on Rogers the score was extended to 5-0.

Starocci was able to get Rogers to his back for 4 near fall points and take a commanding 9-0 lead heading into the 2nd period. The second period consisted of a series of takedowns and released that resulted in an easy 18-2 tech fall victory for the four time national champion in round one.

197: No. 4 Josh Barr (PSU) def No. 29 Tucker Hogan (LH) by 9-1 major decision

Penn State wrestling 197-pounder Josh Barr. © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Josh Barr opened the scoring with a takedown shortly before the end of the first period to take a 3-0 lead. It looked briefly like the redshirt freshman was going to put Hogan on his back for the pin but he was unable to finish the job. Hogan was able to get the escape in the 2nd period to cut the score to 3-1.

Barr picked up the quick escape to begin the 3rd to extend his lead to 4-1. A stalling call and a takedown seconds after pushed Barr’s lead to 8-1. A brief injury timeout for Hogan after the takedown gave the two wrestlers a breather. Another stalling call on Hogan pushed the score to a 9-1 and that is where the match would end. It was a solid major decision for Barr in his NCAA Tournament debut.

285: No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) def No. 30 Sam Mitchell (WYO) by 15-0 tech fall

Penn State wrestling heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet. © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Greg Kerkvliet opened the scoring with an early takedown for a 3-0 lead. The Penn State heavyweight was content riding out Mitchell the entire first period and even got a late turn for four near fall points to lead 7-0. After starting the 2nd period on top, Kerklvliet once again put Mitchell on his back for 4 more near fall points to extend his lead to 11-0. Kerkvliet escaped quickly to begin the 3rd period and proceeded to takedown Mitchell for the 15-0 tech fall shutout at the 5:31 mark.

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