Penn State Wrestling Session IV Recap: PSU Goes 3-for-7 in Semis

Philadelphia— Penn State wrestling fans were even more confident than usual after Thursday night.

The team won all 20 of its matches on Night One of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships, which as far as any reporters know hadn’t been done before.

Friday didn’t go as well.

There were certainly bright spots: The main one being the team landing 10 All-Americans, the first to accomplish that feat since Minnesota in 2001 and just the second overall. But the fact that Penn State only has three in the finals is going to seem strange to a lot of people.

Last year’s team, for context, had six finalists and four champions.

But at the end of the day, Penn State still has a commanding lead in the team standings.

HOW IT ALL WENT DOWN

8:15 p.m. – Luke Lilledahl is an All-American. He starts the session with a 7-3 win over Wisconsin’s Nicolar Rivera.

8:30 p.m. – Braeden Davis makes it nine All-Americans for Penn State. Davis picked up a 4-2 victory over Iowa State’s Evan Frost. If Tyler Kasak wins his consolation match coming up, the Nittany Lions will have all 10 coming home as All-Americans.

9:05 p.m. – Good news and bad news: The good news is Tyler Kasak is an All-American after beating Penn wrestler and Bellefonte native Jude Swisher, 5-4. That makes it 10 All-Americans for Penn State. The bad news was Beau Bartlett lost on riding time in the semis. It’s the second time today that PSU lost on riding time. That’s tough, but 10 All-Americans is just ridiculous.

9:20 p.m. – Shayne Van Ness got down a little too much after the first period. He trailed 10-0 against Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett after the first period, and battled back, but it was too little too late as Van Ness lost, 14-8. Penn State is still searching for their first finalist on Saturday night.

9:52 p.m. – The Lions finally have their first finalist as Mitchell Mesenbrink put up an easy 13-2 major decision on Nebraska’s Christopher Minto. It will be Mesenbrink’s second straight NCAA finals appearance.

10:08 p.m. – Another one goes down in a tough day for PSU wrestling. This time, it’s Levi Haines falling to Oklahoma State’s Dean Hamiti, 4-2.

10:30 – Another day for Carter Starocci. He will wrestle for his fifth NCAA title tomorrow night after beating Oklahoma State’s Dustin Plott, 9-3, in the 184-pound semis. He will wrestle Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen, who won a thriller over Minnesota’s Max McEnelly in the other semi.

10:45 p.m. – Not bad for a guy that it wasn’t positive how favorable his health was at the start of the weekend. Josh Barr is going to the NCAA finals after knocking off top-seed Jacob Cardenas of Michigan, 5-3. He’s going to face Iowa’s Stephen Buchanan for the 197-pound title.

11:05 p.m. – Greg Kerkvliet was visibly hurting in his semifinal match with Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson. He fell to Hendrickson, 8-2.

11:08 p.m. – At the end of the night, Penn State leads the team standings at 135.5 points. Nebraska follows in second with 101.5 points, while Oklahoma State is third with 91. See you tomorrow!