PHILADELPHIA — Despite an unparalleled run of success under coach Cael Sanderson, the Penn State wrestling team continues to etch its name into the NCAA record books.

The Nittany Lions did it again Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center on the second day of the 2025 NCAA Division I wrestling championships, becoming the second team in the sport’s history to earn 10 All-Americans in a championship. Penn State joins Minnesota, which did it in 2001.

While Penn State grabbed a substantial lead in the team race, the Nittany Lions’ usual semifinal prowess didn’t materialize. Penn State went 3-4 in the finals.

Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Carter Starocci (184) and Josh Barr (197) advanced to the finals.

Beau Bartlett (141), Shayne Van Ness (149), Levi Haines (174) and Greg Kerkvliet (285) dropped their semifinal bouts.

Luke Lilledahl (125), Braeden Davis (133) and Tyler Kasak (157) lost their quarterfinals, but all three bounced back with wins in their first consolation bouts and earned All-America status then won again and will wrestle in today’s consolation semifinals.

Penn State stands in first with 135.5 points. Nebraska is second with 101.5. Oklahoma State is third with 84.

On the heels of Penn State’s historic 20-0 day on Thursday, the Nittany Lions started Friday’s competition with hope of making more history and they delivered.

Two other teams in NCAA history advanced 10 wrestlers to the quarterfinals: Iowa State in 1965 and Iowa in 1992. Each of those teams went 6-4 in the quarterfinals and each crowned nine All-Americans. Penn State went one better, going 7-3.

Mesenbrink earned his second trip to the finals on the heels of two semifinal losses from his teammates. Nebraska’s Christopher Minto was just no match for the Nittany Lion, who scored a takedown in each period, coaxed two stall points and added another for 4:13 in riding time for a 13-2 major decision.

Oklahoma State’s Cam Amine did everything he could to slow down Mesenbrink in the quarterfinals. But after a scoreless first, Mesenbrink escaped and finally converted on a takedown. He rode the Cowboy the entire third for 2:03 in riding time advantage to earn another point in a 5-0 win.

He will meet a familiar foe in the finals, Iowa’s Mikey Caliendo, who has never defeated Mesenbrink.

Starocci made it three convincing wins over Maryland’s Jaxon Smith this year with his 9-1 major decision in the quarterfinals. Two takedowns and then points for an escape, stalling and riding time settled the decision.

Starocci mounted an early lead Oklahoma State’s Dustin Plott in the semifinals, scoring two first-period takedowns. He added a reversal in the second and a point for 1:57 in riding time for a 9-3 decision.

He will meet defending champ Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa in tonight’s final in a battle of undefeated wrestlers. Starocci scored a takedown in overtime to defeat Keckeisen 4-1 in the NWCA All-Star Classic in November. The bout didn’t count toward official records.

Barr made it three finalists for the Nittany Lions with a 5-3 win over Michigan No. 1 seed Jacob Cardenas. Barr’s counter takedown on a Cardenas single leg attempt in the first period gave him an early lead. He added an escape and riding time point, countered by two escapes and a stall point for the Wolverine.

Barr repeated his major decision of Lehigh’s Michael Beard with another, more dominating win in the quarterfinals. Barr racked up four takedowns in a stifling 14-3 win. Barr will meet Iowa’s Stephen Buchanan in Saturday’s championship final.

Bartlett used an escape and a takedown on Penn’s CJ Composto and then earned a riding time point for a 5-0 decision. He then met Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez for the eighth time in his career in the semifinals, a rematch of last year’s final. This one was as tight as the others. It was tied 1-1 through regulation and the sudden victory period. Mendez escape with just seconds left in the first tiebreaker and Bartlett was unable to get away and was dealt a 2-1 loss. Bartlett will face Navy’s Josh Koderhandt in the consolation semifinals.

Haines was able to convert takedowns in the first and third periods and added an escape to control Navy’s Danny Wask 7-0. Against Oklahoma State’s Dean Hamiti, he could never get his offense going. Hamiti converted a slick takedown in the first period and he added an escape to nip Haines 4-2. Haines and Cornell’s Simon Ruiz will meet in a consolation semifinal bout.

Kerkvliet earned his trip to the semifinals with a controlling 5-0 win over Michigan’s Josh Heindselman. Kerkvliet used a first-period takedown, stall point and riding time point to earn the decision. In the semifinals against Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson, Kerkvliet’s limited mobility was no match for the Cowboy’s athleticism. Hendrickson was able to score takedowns in the first and third, added an escape and riding time point for a convincing 8-2 win. Kerkvliet meets Arizona State’s Cohlton Schultz today in the consolation semifinals.

Van Ness posted a solid win over North Carolina’s Lachlan McNeil, erasing a 1-0 deficit after two periods with an escape and two takedowns in the third for a 7-2 win. Against Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett in the semifinals, Van Ness was almost immediately blitzed. Lovett scored a takedown 13 seconds in and turned the Nittany Lion twice to open a 10-0 lead after a period. Van Ness was able to score two takedowns in the second, nearly turning Lovett on one, but other than two stall points in the third, couldn’t get any closer in dropping a 14-8 decision. Van Ness is paired with Oregon State’s Ethan Stiles in the consolation semifinals.

After that perfect Thursday, Friday’s start was anything but.

The first chink in Penn State’s armor appeared right out of the gate in the quarterfinals. Lehigh’s Sheldon Seymour did a masterful job of slowing down Lilledahl’s offense and the match went into sudden victory tied 1-1. Neither wrestler scored in the sudden victory period and in the tiebreaker, Seymour escaped and, despite giving up a stall point, rode Lilledahl the entire period to build a 14-second advantage in riding time to claim the win.

Lilledahl rebounded with a 7-3 win over Wisconsin’s Nicolar Rivera to earn All-America status. He converted the initial takedown and then gave up two penalty points to lead 3-2 after one. He rode Rivera the entire second and then took neutral, scored another takedown and tacked on a riding time point for the 7-3 final. He then nipped Northern Colorado’s Stevo Poulin 3-0 in the next round to set up a consolation semifinal bout with Virginia Tech’s Eddie Ventresca today.

Top-seeded Lucas Byrd from Illinois followed up his 7-1 regular-season win over Davis with a thoroughly dominating 12-1 major decision in the quarterfinals. Davis, too, bounced back and earned All-American status in his next bout. He made a first-period takedown and escape in the second hold up for a 4-2 win. He stacked another win, against Nebraska’s Jacob Van Dee in the next round, 4-2 to set up a consolation semifinal bout with Wisconsin’s Zan Fugitt.

Kasak grabbed a lead in the first period with a takedown and Purdue’s Joey Blaze earned escapes in the first and second. Kasak escaped to start the third but Blaze converted a takedown and then rode Kasak out for a 5-4 win. Kasak hung on for a 5-4 win over Penn’s Jude Swisher, the Bellefonte graduate in the All-American round. He meets Cornell’s Meyer Shapiro in the consolation semifinals.

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LOCK HAVEN

Anthony Noto (133), Wyatt Henson (141), Gavin Hoffman (285) were all eliminated from medal contention on Friday.

Hoffman, a Montoursville graduate, rebounded from his loss Thursday night with a 14-5 major decision over Cornell’s Ashton Davis. He followed with a 4-1 win against Indiana’s Jacob Bullock. In the All-America round, though, he fell to Arizona State’s Cohlton Schultz 15-5.

Noto stayed alive with a 9-5 second-round consolation win over Penn’s Ryan Miller. In the next round, though, his match with Rutgers’ Dylan Shawver went to overtime. In the tiebreakers, Shawer quickly escaped in the first period. In the second, Noto took neutral, looking for a winning takedown but instead if was Shawver scoring one and a 9-5 win to sideline Noto.

Henson couldn’t rebound from his second-loss as he was defeated by Rutgers’ Joseph Olivieri 5-2 in the second round of consolations.

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BUCKNELL

Kurt Phipps (133), Dylan Chappell (141), Dillon Bechtold (197) all fell short of All-America status.

Chappell kept his All-America hopes alive with an 8-5 win over Purdue’s Greyson Clark. Then, in the third round, he was trailing Oklahoma’s Mosha Schwartz 14-6 with less than a minute to go when Chappell took the Sooner down to his back and pinned him in 6:18. In the All-America round against Penn’s CJ Composto, Chappell fell one win short of All-America status as he dropped a 4-0 decision.

Bechtold took another step toward All-America status with his 4-1 second-round consolation win over Northwestern’s Evan Bates. In the next round, though, Northern Iowa’s Wyatt Voelker eliminated the Bison with an 8-6 decision.

Central Michigan’s Sean Spidle wrote an end to Phipps’ tournament with a 3-0 win in the second round of consolations.