Twenty-two Penn State wrestlers traveled to West Point, New York, to participate in the Black Knight Invitational hosted by Army on Sunday.

Luke Lilledahl, Beau Bartlett, Shayne Van Ness, Tyler Kasak, Alex Facundo, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Levi Haines, Matt Lee, Carter Starocci, Zach Ryder, Josh Barr, Connor Mirasola, Greg Kerkvliet, Cole Mirasola, and Lucas Cochran all made it to the finals.

Additionally, per NCAA rules, any contests against teammates do not count towards wins, losses, or other NCAA metrics.

How It Happened

125 Pounds

Lilledahl took first place at 125 pounds when he beat Jeffrey Jacome of Gardner-Webb 19-4, teammate Kurt McHenry 8-2, and Charlie Farmer of Army 19-4.

McHenry started the day with a win against Sulayman Bah of Columbia 11-7 before falling to Lilledahl. He took third place when he beat Caleb Weiand of Michigan State 13-1.

133 Pounds

No Penn State winner was crowned at 133 pounds, but Nittany Lions Kyison Garcia, Timothy Levine, and Gary Steen all took to the mat. Garcia took the highest place at fifth after taking down Levine 4-1 in sudden victory.

141 Pounds

Bartlett defeated Gardner-Webb’s Todd Carter by fall to take the title at 141 pounds. En route to the podium, he took out Charlie Sly of Gardner-Webb 16-1, Joe Fongaro of Rutgers 4-1, and Rich Treanor of Army 18-3.

Cael Nasdeo also competed but was beaten by Gardner-Webb’s Ty Edwards 15-0 in round one and lost two straight in the consolation bracket.

149 Pounds

Van Ness won by large margins before a 19-4 tech fall win against Rutger’s Andrew Clark in the finals. He also beat Columbia’s Yanni Vines 18-1, Gardner-Webb’s Joey Giordano 15-2, and Columbia’s Richard Fedalen 5-0.

Also at 149 pounds, Connor Pierce won in the second round against Army’s Trae McDaniel 16-7 before losing to Rutger’s Michael Cetta 8-1. He lost in the consolation bracket.

157 Pounds

No. 4 Kasak smashed Columbia’s Rawson Iwanicki 19-4, Binghamton’s Jordan Brown 19-3, and Army’s Dakota Morris 18-5. Kasak finished up against teammate Facundo, winning 5-2 in the finals.

Facundo also had a dominant day, taking down Michigan State’s Mason Stewart 19-4, Columbia’s Jake Wacha 21-6, Binghamton’s Fin Nadeau 17-2, and Gardner-Webb’s Drew Pepin 24-8 before the loss to Kasak.

165 pounds

No. 1 Mesenbrink won the day after going 4-0 and was named the 2024 Black Knight Invitational Outstanding Wrestler. He defeated Carter Baer of Binghamton 18-3, Cam Adams of Michigan State 18-1, Anthony White of Rutgers 19-4, and Gunner Filipowicz of Army 17-2.

Nittany Lion Ty Watson also competed and lost to Filiopowicz 12-2. Watson pinned Adams before losing to Cesar Alvin of Columbia 11-4.

174 Pounds

No. 2 Haines started with pins against Michigan State’s Marty Larkin and Columbia’s Matt Romanello. He added a tech fall 17-1 win against Army’s Cooper Haase before a no-contest against teammate Matt Lee.

Lee also found success with a 17-2 tech fall against Gardner-Webb’s Andrew Wilson and a 5-4 win against Army’s Dalton Harkins before the matchup with Haines.

184 pounds

No. 1 Starocci recorded pins against Columbia’s Spencer Fine and Michigan State’s Lucas Daly alongside a 20-3 tech fall against Army’s Cole Karpinski. The final ended with a no-contest against teammate Zach Ryder.

Ryder had a pin on Michigan State’s Cory Thomas and decision wins against Brian Soldano of Rutgers 4-2 and Shane Cartagena-Walsh of Rutgers 4-1 before the no-contest.

197 Pounds

Continuing at 197 pounds, No. 23 Barr secured two pins against Jack Bernik of Columbia and Josh McCutchen of Gardner-Webb. Most notably, Barr defeated teammates Connor Mirasola 11-0 in the semifinals and Cochran 10-1 in the final.

Cochran started his day pinning Bloomsburg’s Mason Rebulk before a tech fall of Army’s Chris Murphy 15-0. He handled Michigan State’s Remy Cotton 11-1 before losing to Barr.

Connor Mirasola registered a win against Army’s Reid Schroder 14-5 and a fall against Michigan State’s Kael Wisler before losing to Barr in the semifinals. He finished the day in third with a win against Cotton 8-4.

285 Pounds

No. 2 Kerkvliet dominated the day with two pins against Army’s Tristen Hitchcock and Columbia’s Billy McChesney and a tech fall 15-0 against Army’s Brady Colbert. He ended the invitational with a no-contest against Cole Mirasola.

Cole Mirasola also had a big day with a tech fall against Army’s Sam Sorenson 19-4 and a pin against Michigan State’s Max Vanadia before the final no-contest against Kerkvliet.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will have their second dual of the season against Lehigh at 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 8. The dual can be streamed on FloWrestling.