Here’s where Penn State’s wrestlers stand after Day 1 of the NCAA Championships
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After the first day of the NCAA Wrestling Championships, Penn State sits in its expected spot at the top of the team race leaderboard.
The Nittany Lions had 10 wrestlers competing on Thursday for the first time since 2013. Eight of those 10 wrestlers had perfect days to secure themselves a spot in Friday morning’s quarterfinals.
The pair that lost Thursday afternoon rebounded in the evening session to give Penn State a perfect 10-0 mark.
“It’s the national tournament, a lot of really good kids. The way they seed it, you’re going to run into good guys right away,” Nittany Lions coach Cael Sanderson said. “The guys wrestled well.”
As for that team race, Penn State has 34.5 points, which is a 10-point lead over both Iowa and Iowa State. Michigan and North Carolina State are tied with 22 points to round out the top five.
Here’s a look at how things ended on day one:
125 Pounds: Braeden Davis
Record after day one: 2-0
Current Round: Quarterfinals
Recap: Davis started his day by waiting on his first round opponent, which turned out to be Michigan State’s Tristan Lujan. It was the third time this year that the pair squared off.
For the third time, Davis came away with an 8-1 win, but appeared to injure his left hand in the process.
The true freshman seemed unfazed in his second round match against Cornell’s Brett Ungar as he battled his way to a 2-1 win.
Davis got an escape in the second period. The third period he rode Ungar for nearly the entire period to amass 1:41 in riding time for the winning point.
“He’s doing great. He’s a tough kid and battling. Every match is tough, kids are good,” Sanderson said, “and we just got to go scrap. He goes and competes, so we’re proud of him.”
He’ll face Arizona State’s Richie Figueroa in the quarterfinals for a shot to secure a podium and semifinals spot.
133 Pounds: Aaron Nagao
Record after day: 1-1
Current Round: Consolation Second Round
Recap: The day didn’t start off well for Nagao, but he was able to close it out with a win.
He opened his day against Virginia’s Marlon Yarborough, who snapped off several counter takedowns on Nagao. The Nittany Lion had no defense for Yarborough’s offense as he dropped a 13-5 loss.
But Nagao had no problems rebounding against Missouri’s Kade Moore. He collected a pair of takedowns in the first period and put Moore to his back for nearfall.
In the second period, Nagao had an escape, a third takedown and four more nearfall points for the 16-1 technical fall in 5:00.
141 Pounds: Beau Bartlett
Record after day: 2-0
Current Round: Quarterfinals
Recap: Bartlett seems to have found his offense, which is what he needs to do if he wants to win his first NCAA title.
His day began against Maryland’s Kal Miller as a wrestler had to withdraw from the bracket, which caused wrestlers to move up in seedings. Bartlett tallied the first points of the match with an escape in the second period.
The third period saw Miller tie it up roughly 30 seconds in, but Bartlett earned a takedown and nearfall points for a 6-1 win.
The same thing happened in Bartlett’s second round match with Rutgers’ Mitch Moore. However, Bartlett slapped a cradle on Moore and pinned him in 5:49.
The senior faces Minnesota’s Vance Vombaur, who is the No. 26 seed, in the quarterfinals.
149 Pounds: Tyler Kasak
Record after day: 1-1
Current Round: Consolation Second Round
Recap: Like Nagao, Kasak didn’t have a friendly start to the day.
He was in deep on several shot attempts on Stanford’s Jaden Abas, but was unable to finish any off. The veteran in Abas had a second period takedown hold up in a 4-2 win to send the freshman to the consolation bracket.
Kasak responded with a scoring spree against Minnesota’s Drew Roberts recording 10 first period points with a takedown and two sets of nearfall points. He added a reversal and an escape, plus had a riding time point for a 14-5 major decision.
157 Pounds: Levi Haines
Record after day: 2-0
Current Round: Quarterfinals
Recap: All Haines did was come out and pile up the points on the first day of his tournament.
In his opener against Ohio State’s Isaac Wilcox, the two-time Big Ten champion rattled off 17 points in seven minutes of wrestling for a 17-2 technical fall.
The second round saw Haines rack up a 19-4 technical fall of Oklahoma State’s Teague Travis in 6:41.
The sophomore faces Nebraska’s Peyton Robb Friday morning in the quarterfinals.
165 Pounds: Mitchell Mesenbrink
Record after day: 2-0
Current Round: Quarterfinals
Recap: Mesenbrink did nothing but tally bonus points in his first NCAA tournament.
The redshirt freshman racked up an 18-2 technical fall of Northwestern’s Maxx Mayfield in 5:33. Mesenbrink had five total takedowns in the bout — three alone in the first period.
In the second round, the Nittany Lion had two first period takedowns of Binghamton’s Brevin Cassella to lead 6-1 after one period. Mesenbrink opened the second period with a reversal and added another takedown to lead 11-3.
Cassella then rode Mesenbrink out for the entire third period for the 11-3 final score. Mesenbrink now faces Michigan’s Cameron Amine, who he nearly stalled out in the January dual.
174 Pounds: Carter Starocci
Record after day: 2-0
Current Round: Quarterfinals
Recap: College wrestling fans got to see Starocci, who sported a full leg brace on his right leg, after he didn’t compete in the Big Ten Championships.
He opened against Minnesota’s Andrew Sparks, who was to be Starocci’s first opponent at the Big Tens. Sparks collected the first takedown of the match, and Starocci quickly responded with a takedown and nearfall points.
The three-time NCAA champ added a takedown in the second period to lead 11-4. A riding time point at the end of the bout gave Starocci a 12-6 win.
The second round saw Starocci again give up a first period takedown to Cal Poly’s Adam Kemp. He quickly escaped and got his own takedown to lead 4-3 after one period. An escape in the second period for Starocci was the final points of the match in a 5-3 win.
“He did what he needed to do to move on. I think that’s kind of what he’s thinking,” Sanderson said. “When he needed to score, he scored fast.”
He’ll face Virginia Tech’s Mehki Lewis Friday morning in one of the most anticipated matches.
184 Pounds: Bernie Truax
Record after day: 2-0
Current Round: Quarterfinals
Recap: Truax came out and looked to feed off what his other teammates did before him.
He was one of five Penn State wrestlers to secure a technical fall in the first round. Truax took down Clarion’s Cameron Pine nine seconds into their bout and put him toward his back for nearfall points.
He added one more takedown before the period ended to lead 9-1. Truax had two second period takedowns to extend his lead to 15-3.
Ten seconds into the third period, Truax had his fifth takedown to finish off the 18-3 technical fall in 5:10.
In the second round, Truax had a second period takedown stand up in a 4-2 win over Missouri’s Colton Hawks.
“He just did his thing. He went and got his takedown, and won the match,” Sanderson said. “The plan is just to wrestle better every match. We’ll see how that plays out.”
Truax now faces Oklahoma State’s Dustin Plott.
197 Pounds: Aaron Brooks
Record after day: 2-0
Current Round: Quarterfinals
Recap: Brooks was one of four Nittany Lions to be able secure bonus points in both of their victories.
He opened his final NCAA Championships by racking up a 19-4 technical fall of Northwestern’s Evan Bates in 5:25. Brooks recorded six takedowns in the victory with half of them coming in the second period.
In his second round match, the three-time champ took Wyoming’s Joseph Novak down with just under two minutes left in the first period, and toward his back for a fall in 2:21.
Brooks faces Oklahoma’s Stephen Buchanan Friday morning.
285 Pounds: Greg Kerkvliet
Record after day: 2-0
Current Round: Quarterfinals
Recap: Kerkvliet looks like a man on a mission, like he has all season.
He opened his tournament by securing a 19-3 technical fall of Indiana’s Nick Willham in 5:17. Kerkvliet did a bulk of his damage in the second period with four second period takedowns.
In his second round match with Navy’s Grady Griess, the senior collected a takedown 19 seconds in. His constant top pressure forced Griess to give up a stall point in the first period for a 4-0 lead.
The second period was all Kerkvliet as he had an escape and a takedown to double his lead. The third period saw Griess escape, but Kerkviet had enough built up riding time for a 9-1 major decision.
Kerkvliet now gets Ohio State’s Nick Feldman, who he’s beaten twice now this season.
NCAA Championships
Thursday at Kansas City, Mo.
Team key: Air Force (AF), American (A), Appalachian State (APP), Arizona State (ASU), Army West Point (AWP), Binghamton (BT), Brown (B), Bucknell (BK), Buffalo (BF), Cal Poly (CP), California Baptist (CBT), Campbell (CB), Central Michigan (CM), Chattanooga, (CT), Clarion (C), Cleveland State (CSU), Columbia (CL), Cornell (CN), Davidson (D), Franklin & Marshall (F), Gardner-Webb (GW), George Mason (GM), Harvard (H), Hofstra (HF), Illinois (IL), Indiana (ID), Iowa State (ISU), Iowa (I), Kent State (K), Lehigh (L), Little Rock (LR), Long Island University (LIU), Lock Haven (LH), Maryland (MD), Michigan State (MSU), Michigan (M), Minnesota (MN), Missouri (MS), Navy (N), Nebraska (NEB), North Carolina State (NCS), North Carolina (NC), North Dakota State (NDS), Northern Colorado (NCO), Northern Illinois (NI), Northern Iowa (NIU), Northwestern (NW), Ohio State (OSU), Ohio (O), Oklahoma State (OKS), Oklahoma (OK), Oregon State (OS), Penn State (PSU), Pennsylvania (P), Pittsburgh (PT), Princeton (PN), Purdue (PD), Rider (RD), Rutgers (R), SIU Edwardsville (SE), South Dakota State (SD), Stanford (S), The Citadel (T), Utah Valley (U), Virginia Tech (VT), Virginia (V), VMI (VMI), West Virginia (WV), Wisconsin (W), Wyoming (WY)
Team scores: 1. Penn State 34.5, T2. Iowa State 24.5, T2. Iowa 24.5, T4. Michigan 22, T4. North Carolina State 22, 6. Nebraska 21, 7. Ohio State 20.5, 8. Cornell 18.5, 9. Virginia Tech 17.5, 10. Missouri 14
Second Round
125: Braeden Davis, PSU, dec. Brett Ungar, C, 2-1; 141: Beau Bartlett, PSU, pinned Mitch Moore, R, 5:49; 157: Levi Haines, PSU, tech. fall Teague Travis, OKS, 19-4 (6:41); 165: Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, major dec. Brevin Cassella, BT, 11-3; 174: Carter Starocci, PSU, dec. Adam Kemp, CP, 5-3; 184: Bernie Truax, PSU, dec. Colton Hawks, MS, 4-2; 197: Aaron Brooks, PSU, pinned Joseph Novak, WY, 2:20; 285: Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, major dec. Grady Griess, N, 9-1
Consolation First Round
133: Aaron Nagao, PSU, tech. fall Kade Moore, MS, 16-1 (5:00); 149: Tyler Kasak, PSU, major dec. Drew Roberts, MN, 14-5; Joseph Zargo, W, major dec. Jude Swisher, P, 13-3; 184: Chris Foca, C, tech. fall Malachi DuVall, GM, 15-0 (5:00); 197: Cole Urbas, P, major dec. Benjamin Smith, CSU, 12-3
Consolation Preliminary Round
149: Swisher, P, major dec. Jeffrey Boyd, T, 11-1; 184: DuVall, GM, pinned Tomas Brooker, APP, 1:22
First Round
125: Davis, PSU, dec. Tristan Lujan, MSU, 8-1; 133: Marlon Yarborough, V, major dec. Nagao, PSU, 13-5; 141: Bartlett, PSU, dec. Kal Miller, MD, 4-1; 149: Jaden Abas, S, dec. Kasak, PSU, 4-2; Jackson Arrington, NCS, major dec. Swisher, P, 11-3; 157: Haines, PSU, tech. fall Isaac Wilcox, OSU, 17-2 (7:00); 165: Mesenbrink, PSU, tech. fall Maxx Mayfield, NW, 18-2 (5:32); 174: Starocci, PSU, dec. Andrew Sparks, MN, 12-6; 184: Truax, PSU, tech. fall Cameron Pine, C, 18-3 (5:10); Dustin Plott, OKS, tech. fall DuVall, GM, 18-2 (5:00); 197: Brooks, PSU, tech. fall Evan Bates, NW, 19-4 (5:24); Stephen Little, LR, tech. fall Urbas, P, 22-3 (4:59); 285: Kerkvliet, PSU, tech. fall Nick Willham, ID, 19-3 (5:16)
