Penn State Wrestling Completes 5th Straight Undefeated Season With 71st Straight Win

The No. 1 Penn State wrestling punctuated its fifth consecutive undefeated season with a 50-3 win over American University on Friday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions, who clinched the Big Ten regular season title last weekend at Illinois, totaled five pins and four technical falls in cruising to their 15th win of the season.

Penn State concluded the season with its 71st consecutive victory, extending the second-longest win streak in NCAA Division I men’s wrestling history. Penn State will begin the 2025-26 season six wins shy of breaking Oklahoma State’s record of 76 consecutive victories. The unbeaten season was Penn State’s ninth in the past 10 years, a stretch in which the Nittany Lions have combined for a record of 136-2.

Penn State’s top-ranked Tyler Kasak returned to the lineup after missing three matches, as did Greg Kerkvliet who missed two. Kerkvliet, Carter Starocci and Beau Bartlett wrestled for the last time at Rec Hall.

Penn State vs. American Bout by Bout

125: No. 9 Luke Lilledahl (PS) technical fall Cole Bainey 20-3 in 5:11: The Penn State freshman (15-2) completed his ninth technical fall of the season early in the third period. Lilledahl hit six takedowns, three in the opening period, using a variety of attacks. After getting caught in a cradle and pinned at Ohio State, Lilledahl has scored a pair of technical falls by combined scores of 39-6.

133: Raymond Lopez (A) dec. Kysion Garcia (PS) 9-7: Garcia wrestled in place of starter Braeden Davis, who missed his fourth match in Penn State’s last six. A redshirt freshman from Utah, Garcia led the bout 7-6 in the final 10 seconds, but Lopez (18-10) hit a takedown in the waning moments for the decision. Garcia, who wrestled in his third dual match of the season, fell to 2-3 overall.

141: No. 1 Beau Bartlett (PS) technical fall Elijah White 21-5 in 3:19: Bartlett, who ascended this week to No. 1 nationally at the weight class, bid farewell to Rec Hall with a decisive win. Bartlett scored seven takedowns, six in the first period and two in the first 30 seconds, and finished the bout 41 seconds into the second period. Bartlett (18-0) closed the regular season with nine bonus-point victories.

149: No. 2 Shayne Van Ness (PS) technical fall Gage Owen 16-1 in 5:51: Van Ness (17-1) scored Penn State’s third technical fall of the match but nearly hit an early pin. Van Ness had Owen on his back late in the first period but couldn’t finish, earning four near-fall points instead. Van Ness began the second period on bottom and needed about a minute to get out from Owen’s control but did so with a reversal to take a 12-1 lead. After a stalling point, Van Ness clinched the technial with a quick third-period takedown.

157: No. 1 Tyler Kasak (PS) pin Devon Capato 2:19: Kasak returned to Penn State’s lineup with some energy, scoring his third period of the season. Kasak (14-1) had not wrestled since taking an injury default against Maryland’s Ethen Miller on Feb. 9. Kasak went into concussion protocol after the bout and wore padded head gear Friday. But he looked sharp otherwise, hitting a takedown within 30 seconds and turning his second into the fall.

165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PS) technical fall Kaden Milheim 19-2 in 5:20: It wasn’t surprising that Mesenbrink (19-0) scored the 15th technical fall of his season. It was, however, that he nearly gave up the first takedown of his season. Milheim had Mesenbrink in a precarious spot in the first period but could not establish control, and a stalemate was called. Mesenbrink responded with a takedown on the restart, one of five in the bout, to increase his nation-leading total of technical falls.

174: No. 2 Levi Haines (PS) pin Caleb Campos 3:41: Haines flipped Campos onto his back after a takedown early in the second period, which he turned into his seventh pin of the year. Haines (17-1) delivered his 11th bonus-point win of the year

184: No. 1 Carter Starocci (PS) pin Lucas White 2:22: Starocci bid farewell to Rec Hall triumphantly with his 20th career pin and, more important, no injuries. A year ago, Starocci was hurt in Penn State’s regular-season finale vs. Binghamton, causing him to forfeit out of the Big Ten Tournament. Starocci, of course, returned to win his fourth NCAA title. Starocci on Friday concluded his Penn State dual-match career with a 60-1 record. He lost his first bout as a freshman and then won 60 straight.

197: No. 2 Josh Barr (PS) pin Liam Volk-Klos 1:09: Barr (15-1) didn’t let Starocci’s pin linger much in Rec Hall, as he pressed Volk-Klos quickly. Barr scored a pair of takedowns, got near-fall points with the first and finished the fall on the second. The pin was Barr’s seventh of the year.

285: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet (PS) pin Emmanuel Ulrich 2:47: Kerkvliet (16-0) capped the night with Penn State’s fourth consecutive pin, hitting a second-period throw for his sixth fall of the season. Kerkvliet returned after missing last week’s road trip to Ohio State and Illinois with an illness.

Up Next

Penn State seeks to claim its third consecutive Big Ten Tournament title March 8-9 at Northwestern.