No. 1 Penn State wrestling (15-0, 8-0 Big Ten) mauled American (10-10, 1-4 EIWA) 50-3 in the Nittany Lions’ last dual meet of the season on Friday night at Rec Hall. Penn State’s unblemished record is not only the best in the Big Ten conference but the entire NCAA heading into the postseason.
Senior Night was highlighted by five pins from Tyler Kasak, Levi Haines, Josh Barr and seniors Carter Starocci and Greg Kerkvliet and four tech falls from Luke Lilledahl, Shayne Van Ness, Mitchell Mesenbrink and senior Beau Bartlett. The Nittany Lions secured 50 out of a maximum 60 points against the Eagles.
How It Happened
125 Pounds
No. 9 Luke Lilledahl took the lead early against and American’s Coen Bailey with a takedown in the first 20 seconds. The Nittany Lion freshman recorded two more takedowns by the end of the first to lead 9-2. After a lightning fast escape to start the second, Lilledahl secured his fourth takedown of the match, picked up a stall point and ended the period with another takedown to extend his lead to 17-3 with nearly three minutes of riding time. After a neutral start to the third, Lilledahl got his sixth takedown to beat Bailey by tech fall 20-3 at the 5:11 mark.
133 Pounds
Kyison Garcia filled in for Braeden Davis to face American’s Raymond Lopez. After a scoreless first, Lopez broke the tie with a quick escape to start the second period. Garcia then capitalized on a single leg shot to take the lead 3-1 with under a minute to go in the second. Lopez escaped and managed to take down the Nittany Lion before the buzzer to seize the lead 5-3 heading into the final two minutes. Garcia escaped quickly to start the third and secured his second takedown of the match to once again regain the lead 7-6 with under a minute left. Lopez, however, countered a Garcia shot with 10 seconds remaining for a takedown to defeat Garcia 9-7.
Penn State was up 5-3 after the first two matches.
141 Pounds
No. 1 Beau Bartlett struck first against Elijah White with two takedowns within the first 30 seconds and secured four more before the period ended to lead 18-5. After starting in neutral position for the second period, Bartlett ended the match with a seventh takedown to win by tech fall 21-5 at the 3:19 mark.
149 Pounds
No. 2 Shayne Van Ness got on the board against Gage Owen with a takedown midway through the first period. Shortly after an escape, Van Ness got in for another takedown to stretch his lead to 6-1 and turned Owen for four near fall points as the first period ended. Leading 10-1 to start the second, Van Ness finally rolled through from bottom position for a reversal at the 30-second mark to take a 12-1 lead into the third. After a neutral start to the third period, the two wrestlers engaged in a scramble situation where Van Ness eventually picked up another takedown to beat Owen by tech fall 16-1 at 5:51.
157 Pounds
No. 1 Tyler Kasak returned to the mat after sitting out last weekend’s two duals to wrestle Devon Capato. Kasak was quick to takedown Capato, securing a three-point advantage within 30 seconds of the first period. After racking up more than a 90 seconds of riding time, Kasak cut Capato loose. The Nittany Lion then quickly took Capato to his back for a pin at the 2:19 mark.
Penn State led American 21-3 at the intermission.
165 Pounds
No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink exploded off the whistle with a takedown of American’s Kaden Millheim and two near-fall points within the first minute of the match. The Nittany Lion secured his second and third takedown before the end of the first period to lead Millheim 11-2 with 1:45 of riding time. To start the second, Mesenbrink escaped and took the Eagle down with another two near-fall points to extend his lead to 16-2. Mesenbrink started in neutral position in the third period, taking Millheim down to secure the 19-2 tech fall at the 5:20 mark after building up 3:30 in riding time.
Mesenbrink leads the nation with 15 tech falls on the season.
174 Pounds
No. 2 Levi Haines made a statement against American’s Breon Phifer with a quick takedown to take an instant 3-0 lead. Phifer escaped after close to two minutes of riding time from the Nittany Lion. It didn’t take long for Haines to get another takedown to lead Phifer 6-1 heading into the second period. Haines escaped to start the period, securing a third takedown then turning Phifer for the fall at 3:41.
Penn State extended its lead to 32-3 after seven matches.
184 Pounds
Next, No. 1 Carter Starocci struck first with back-to-back takedowns of Lucas White a minute into the match. The Nittany Lion scored a third takedown and eventually turned White to his back for a first-period pin at 2:22.
197 Pounds
No. 2 Josh Barr came out fast against Liam Volk-Klos with a takedown and four near-fall points within the first minute of the match. After an escape, Barr struck again and pinned his opponent at 1:09.
285 Pounds
No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet t secured his first takedown Emmanuel Ulrich early in the first period. After an escape, Kerkvliet slammed Ulrich for a second takedown and quickly pinned his opponent to end the match at 2:47
Penn State beat American University 50-3.
What’s Next?
Penn State will aim to capitalize on its dominant regular season in the Big Ten Championships hosted by Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois, on March 8 and 9.
