Penn State wrestling rolls vs. No. 20 Lehigh

Penn State wrestling opened the dual season with a dominant 30-10 win over No. 20 Lehigh on Sunday. Fans flocked to Rec Hall for the 67^th consecutive sellout to watch the Nittany Lions begin their national title defense. Here is a breakdown of all the action on the mat for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State wrestling rolls in Rec Hall

Steen falls at 125

The match opened at 125 with Gary Steen dropping a 4-1 decision to Sheldon Seymour. The struggle at 125 continues for the Nittany Lions, although many fans have been clamoring for true freshman Braeden Davis to become the full-time starter. Davis has had a dominant 7-0 start to the season after participating in both the Journeymen Classic and Black Knight Invite.

But it appears Sanderson is planning on redshirting the star freshman. It will still be something to monitor going forward, because Levi Haines was also in the same predicament last season and ended up having a dominant postseason. If Davis does enter the lineup, this team has an even better chance to break the NCAA Tournament points total set record by Iowa in the 90s.

Upset at 133

This was the match to watch coming in, and it delivered for the most part. Lehigh freshman Ryan Crookham took down Penn State’s Aaron Nagao 6-4 after securing two takedowns in the 2^nd period.

Crookham chose the bottom to start the 3^rd period. Nagao showed great control from the top, but wasn’t able to get him turned for any points. Nagao was technically upset, according to the InterMat rankings, but this one seemed to feature two wrestlers who were pretty even in talent. You could potentially see a future matchup down the road in the NCAA Tournament.

Bartlett continues to roll at 141

Beau Bartlett has been a man on a mission to start the season after finishing 3^rd in the NCAA Tournament in 2023. The junior was efficient in his 14-6 major decision and improved to 8-0 on the season. Bartlett has a 75% bonus percentage during his undefeated start to the 2024 season.

True freshman Kasak debuts at 149

True freshman Tyler Kasak made his Penn State wrestling dual debut after moving up and filling in at 149 for No. 2 Shayne Van Ness. Kasak battled for a 7-5 victory over Lehigh’s Drew Munch to give Penn State the lead.

Kasak improves to 4-1 on the season, with his only loss coming to teammate Beau Bartlett at the Black Knight Invitational.

Haines gets strong ranked win at 157

No. 1 Levi Haines picked up a ranked win as he took down Lehigh’s No. 24 Max Brignola 12-6. Haines used two takedowns in the third period to close out the win.

It was surprising that the sophomore wasn’t able to get some bonus points over an inferior opponent, but Brignola held tough through two periods. Haines now moves to 4-0 on the young season. The win did give Penn State a 10-6 lead heading into intermission.

Mesenbrink makes his Rec Hall debut at 165

No. 16 Mitchell Mesenbrink made his Penn State Rec Hall debut and dominated Lehigh’s No. 32 Jake Logan for a 17-2 technical fall at the 6:13 mark.

The 165 weight class is one of just two that Penn State wrestling doesn’t have a top 5 contender. If Mesenbrink wrestled as well as he did against a quality opponent in Logan, he will certainly be rocketing up the rankings. The redshirt freshman improves to 8-0 on the season and has a 75% bonus percentage.

Starocci shows dominance at 174

Carter Starocci has a chance this season to join an elite group and win his 4^th individual national title. You really can see the discrepancy between him and everyone else in the 174-weight class, but it is even more drastic versus an unranked foe.

Starocci took down Thayne Lawrence of Lehigh three times in the first period before ultimately turning him to his back and getting the fall at the 2:07 mark. It really is impressive just how dominant he has been in his time with Penn State wrestling.

Starocci is off to a 3-0 start this season with a 100% bonus percentage. He also improved to 82-2 with a 57.14% bonus percentage in his career. Don’t be surprised if you are watching the greatest wrestler to ever put on the Blue and White when it is all set and done.

Traux flashes at 184

Graduate transfer Bernie Truax entered ranked No. 2 in the nation, and he will retain that ranking after dominating Jack Wilt of Lehigh for a 19-4 tech fall victory. Truax put on an offensive show with 5 takedowns and 3 minutes of riding time.

This shouldn’t be surprising to Penn State wrestling fans, as Truax has an excellent career and finished 4^th nationally in each of the last 3 seasons for Cal Poly. He will look to finally get over the mountaintop and win a national title at Penn State this season. It has been a solid start to the season as the grad transfer who is now 4-0 with a 75% bonus percentage in 2023-24.

Tough loss at 197 for Cochran

No. 1 Aaron Brooks had the afternoon off, and sophomore Lucas Cochran filled in for the defending national champion. He had a tough task against No. 10 Michael Beard, but ultimately fell 20-6 for a major decision.

A tough loss but certainly something that the young wrestler can build on moving forward. Cochran drops to 3-2 on the season.

Impressive win at 285 for Kerkvliet

We finished it off at heavyweight, with No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet picking up an impressive 11-1 major decision over No. 12 Nathan Taylor. Kerkvliet used a 2:22 in riding time and was in control from start to finish.

Kerkvliet has looked dominant to start this season and is 4-0 as he looks to build off the runner up finish in 2023. The heavyweight is the favorite to take home the title this season, given that a certain someone doesn’t make a return for Minnesota.

Nittany Lions got the job done

Penn State wrestling looked solid with plenty of new faces in the lineup and took down No. 20 Lehigh quite easily 30-10. The score could have been more drastic if Van Ness and Brooks had wrestled, but it wasn’t needed as the depth of the Nittany Lions was too much for the Mountain Hawks to overcome.

The Nittany Lions picked up nine bonus points in the match with the pin by Starocci, two tech falls, and two majors. Penn State has a chance to be one of the greatest teams in NCAA wrestling history, and while not overly dominant on Sunday, it is clear the pieces are there. Penn State wrestling will host Hofstra on Sunday at Rec Hall.

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