As the newly minted 2024 NCAA national championship banner hung high over the resilite in Rec Hall, No. 1 Penn State wrestling (1-0) defeated Drexel (0-1) in nine matches of a dual meet on Saturday, amassing a total score of 41-3 in the 2024-25 season opener.

The dual was highlighted by tech falls from Mitchell Mesenbrink, Levi Haines, Carter Starocci, and Lucas Cochran, as well as a fall from Greg Kerkvliet.

How It Happened

125 Pounds

The Nittany Lions kicked off the dual with the freshman Luke Lilledahl, who won by forfeit, as Drexel elected not to wrestle a wrestler at that weight. This gave the Nittany Lions an early 6-0 lead.

133 Pounds

Rec Hall saw its first action when No. 7 Braeden Davis took on Kyle Waterman. Davis immediately found the bout’s first takedown, securing an early 3-1 lead in his debut match at 133 pounds. After a brief scare as Davis went down on the mat with an apparent knee injury, the sophomore continued the bout quickly shooting for a double-leg takedown to increase his lead to 6-2. Waterman fought hard on the bottom and secured a reversal, cutting into Davis’ lead reading 6-4 as the bout entered the second period.

A quick escape from Waterman started the middle period, beginning a long stand-up grappling effort that lasted for the remainder of the second with Davis still leading 6-5.

In complementary fashion, Davis escaped easily to start the final period, increasing his lead to 7-5 with almost the entirety of the final two minutes remaining. The bout was briefly stopped for blood time near the 45-second mark, shortly thereafter, Waterman quickly pounced on Davis as the wrestlers scrambled for position, leading to Drexel throwing their challenge brick on the mat claiming that Waterman secured a last-second takedown over the Nittany Lion. Upon further review, the no-takedown ruling was confirmed, granting Davis the 7-5 victory over Waterman in his first match at the new weight class.

The win increased the Nittany Lions lead to 9-0 after two bouts.

141 Pounds

Competing next was Cael Nasdeo facing off against Jordan Soriano. Nasdeo struck first with an opening takedown early in the period, riding out Soriano for over 30 seconds before his eventual escape. Nasdeo then grabbed a second takedown, countered by a late takedown from Soriano with the score reading 7-5 in favor of the Nittany Lion after a last-second escape.

Soriano struck first in the second period, tying up the bout 8-8 heading into the third with just over 30 seconds of riding time awarded to the Drexel wrestler.

Soriano was in the bottom position to start the final two minutes, rolling out for a reversal over the Nittany Lion to extend his lead to 10-8. Nasdeo didn’t escape in the remainder of the third, handing Soriano the 11-8 win after riding time.

The Dragons cut into Penn State’s lead 9-3.

149 Pounds

After the loss, Penn State sent out Connor Pierce to battle against Dom Findora. Peirce secured the bout’s first takedown near the one-minute mark of the first period, riding out Findora for the remainder of the first three minutes.

The second period began with Findora in bottom position, escaping after a quick 15 seconds to bring the bout score to 3-1 in favor of Pierce. The escape proved to be the only point scored in the second as the action entered the final two minutes of competition.

This time, Pierce started in the bottom position, escaping in a similar fashion in the first 20 seconds of the period. A takedown from Findora briefly tied up the bout at 4-4 before another quick escape from Pierce to regain the narrow lead. The third period concluded with Pierce in a troubling position, however strong defense from the Nittany Lion prevented a takedown, securing a 5-4 decision victory, bringing the dual score to 12-3.

157 Pounds

Returning to Rec Hall after his Olympic redshirt last season, Alex Facundo stepped onto the mat to take on Luke Nichter. Facundo secured the match’s first takedown, followed by an escape from Nichter, giving the Nittany Lion a 3-1 lead after the first.

Starting in bottom position, Facundo spun for a quick reversal, extending his lead to 5-1. After falling victim to Nichter’s first takedown of the bout, Facundo freed his head and scored his second reversal of the period, keeping the lead 7-5 heading into the final two minutes.

Facundo began the third in top position, riding out Nichter for the first minute of the third, taking the eventual 7-6 decision victory in his return to collegiate wrestling.

As the dual headed into intermission, the Nittany Lions remained in front 15-3 over Drexel.

165 Pounds

After the intermission, No. 1 Mesenbrink took on Cody Walsh. Mesenbink hauled in four takedowns in the first period, giving the defending national champion an early 12-3 lead. A reversal from bottom position and an additional takedown from Mesenbrink in the second increased his lead to 17-4 heading into the final two minutes.

Mesenbrink secured his fifth takedown of the bout early into the third period, earning a 21-4 tech fall at 5:01 for his first victory in his returning bout after his national championship appearance.

174 Pounds

Following up the tech fall, another defending national champion in No. 2 Haines squared off against Jack Janda. A quick takedown and two sets of near-fall points gave Haines a 9-0 lead heading into the second with well over 120 seconds of riding time.

An additional takedown and another four-second near-fall gave Haines a 16-0 tech fall over Janda at 4:04, extending the Nittany Lion lead to 25-3.

184 Pounds

Looking to keep the bonus point streak going, No. 1 Starocci took to the mat to face off against Giuseppe Hoose. The four-time national champion grabbed three takedowns in the first period pushing him in front 9-2 after one.

Another two takedowns in the middle period increased Starocci’s lead to 16-3, paired with a final takedown in the third, giving the Nittany Lion a 19-3 tech fall at 5:37.

197 Pounds

In the penultimate match of the dual, Cochran stepped to the mat against Ethan Wilson. Three takedowns and a slew of near-fall points granted Cochran a quick 14-1 lead after the first.

A final takedown from Cochran made it the fourth tech fall in a row for the Nittany Lions, winning 18-1 at 3:27.

The dual score was now 35-3 heading into the final bout of the night.

Heavyweight

Finishing off the dual was No. 1 Kerkvliet taking on Tanner Updegraff. Kerkvliet quickly took care of business, scoring the duals first and only fall early in the first period.

Penn State won its season opener 41-3 over Drexel.

What’s Next?

Penn State wrestling will be in action next when it travels to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to take on Lehigh at 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 8.