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NittanyCentral delivers expert analysis from veteran reporters and timely updates on Penn State sports, with in-depth coverage of Nittany Lions Football, Wrestling, Basketball, and more.

NittanyCentral

NittanyCentral delivers expert analysis from veteran reporters and timely updates on Penn State sports, with in-depth coverage of Nittany Lions Football, Wrestling, Basketball, and more.

Penn State Wrestling

Penn State Wrestling: Nittany Lions outclass No. 23 Lehigh 36-3

Chris SnyderPenn State Wrestling,

The No. 1 Penn State Wrestling team took care of business on the road against No. 23 Lehigh 36-3.

This dual meet marked the second matchup of the season for the Nittany Lions as they previously downed Drexel 41-3 back on November 17th. However the No. 23 ranked Mountain Hawks proved to be a much tougher opponent than the Dragons. A handful of matches were tight and even a couple went down the very end. In all honesty, the 36-3 final score was much closer than it appears on paper.

But hey, a win is a win, right?

Especially when that win consists of Penn State taking nine of the 10 matches and outscoring a ranked opponent by 33 points.

Penn State Football

Now onto the action!

125-157

The dual started out at 125 where Luke Lilledahl was given his first true test of the season.

There wasn’t a single guy in the 125 bracket of the 2024 Black Knight Invite with as much talent as Lehigh’s Sheldon Seymour.

With the score knotted 1-1 late in the third period, Lilledahl was done playing around. Lightning Luke worked a committed shot into the match winning takedown just as the final seconds melted away. The 4-1 decision gave Lilledahl his first non-forfeit dual meet win and Penn State jumped out to the early 3-0 lead.

Next at 133, Braeden Davis was locked up in a tight one against the No. 1 guy in the nation, Ryan Crookham. And while Davis ultimately dropped a 4-2 decision, I was thoroughly impressed with how he looked.

Did he get to his offense as much as I would like? No, not really. But considering he was dealing with a recent injury and he took one of the best wrestler’s in the nation to the brink. Well, that has to be considered a positive.

Then in the next two bouts, Beau Bartlett and Shayne Van Ness kept the train rolling for Penn State Wrestling.

Beau took a workman-like 5-0 decision and Shayne cruised to a 17-3 major decision. The bonus point win marked Van Ness’ fourth of the season and the Nittany Lions pushed their lead out to 10-3.

Next up at 157 it was Tyler Kasak who got the nod over Alex Facundo. Which was pretty much expected at this point in the season following their wrestle-off at the Black Knight.

And in the match Kasak did about as well as he could against an opponent who wanted no part in actually wrestling. His Lehigh counterpart incurred two stall warnings in the first period alone. But if I was officiating, it would have been a heck of a lot more than that.

Anyway.

Tyler’s 5-2 decision win extended Penn State Wrestling’s lead 13-3 going into the intermission.

165-285

As Penn State Wrestling fans have seen for quite some time, the back half of the lineup is a handful for even the strongest teams. And the dominance of the back-end hammers were on full display Sunday afternoon.

Mitchell Mesenbrink got the scoring party started with an 18-1 technical fall and Levi Haines followed that up with a pin at the 4:12 mark in the match. Additionally, it was Haines’ 11th career fall and the Nittany Lions exploded out to a 24-3 lead over Lehigh.

When the bonus points are flying left and right for Penn State, generally Carter Starocci will also get in on the action.

So not shockingly this proved to be the case.

Starocci completely walked through his opponent as he cruised to the 15-1 major decision. However it wasn’t all sunshine and puppies for the Nittany Lions as they were stripped of a team point for unsportsmanlike.

And logically you would probably be asking yourself “Why did PSU lose a team point?”. Which is a fair question. However at this point I have absolutely no clue why the referees slapped them with the team point.

So moving on.

Next up at 197 was quick possibly the match of the dual meet. At least on paper.

Redshirt freshman Josh Barr was squaring off against former Nittany Lion Michael Beard.

The first period saw plenty of action, but this didn’t lead to any scoring. However that can’t be said about the final two period.

Barr got on the board with the first takedown of the match in the second period. Leading 4-2 going into the third, Josh kept his foot on the pedal as he piled up more takedowns and points on the former All-American.

And when the dust settled it was Josh Barr who took out Michael Beard with the 11-3 major decision. Raise your hand if you saw this outcome happening?

Wow.

Doing what he usually does, Greg Kerkvliet tied a bow on the butt-kicking with a completely one-sided 15-0 technical fall. The win gave the Nittany Lions an impressive 36-3 win over No. 23 Lehigh.

Notes, Next Up for Penn State Wrestling

Penn State is now 2-0 on the season and they extend their dual meet unbeaten streak to 58.

Cael Sanderson ups his career Nittany Lion record to 205-16-2.

Next up for the Penn State Wrestling is a home dual against Wyoming. The wrestling action is slated to start at 1:00pm EST.

Penn State Wrestling vs. Lehigh Full Results

No. 23 Lehigh 3 No. 1 Penn State 36

125 – No. 16 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) dec. over No. 15 Sheldon Seymour (LEH) 4-1, LEH 0 PSU 3
133 – No. 1 Ryan Crookham (LEH) dec. over No. 10 Braeden Davis (PSU) 4-2, LEH 3 PSU 3
141 – No. 3 Beau Bartlett (PSU) dec. over Carter Bailey (LEH) 5-0, LEH 3 PSU 6
149 – No. 2 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) major dec. over Matt Repos (LEH) 17-3, LEH 3 PSU 10
157 – No. 4 Tyler Kasak (PSU) dec. over Logan Rozynski (LEH) 5-2, LEH 3 PSU 13
165 – No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) tech. fall over Thayne Lawrence (LEH) 18-1, LEH 3 PSU 18
174 – No. 2 Levi Haines (PSU) fall over Rylan Rogers (LEH) 4:12, LEH 3 PSU 24
184 – No. 1 Carter Starocci (PSU) major dec. over over Jack Wilt (LEH) 15-1, LEH 3 PSU 27
197 – No. 23 Josh Barr (PSU) major dec. over No. 6 Michael Beard (LEH) 11-3, LEH 3 PSU 31
285 – No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) tech. fall over Calvin Lachman (LEH) 15-0, LEH 3 PSU 36

 

MORE: How Carter Starocci is Chasing History This Season

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