In its biggest dual of the year, No. 1 Penn State wrestling (10-0, 4-0 Big Ten) took care of business against No. 2 Iowa (9-1, 3-1 Big Ten) 30-8 in the Bryce Jordan Center on Friday night. In a dual consisting of mostly top-10 matches, the Nittany Lions continued their dominant streak without a dual loss since 2020.

The Nittany Lions picked up notable wins from Tyler Kasak, Shayne Van Ness, and Mitchell Mesenbrink.

How It Happened

125 Pounds

No. 7 Luke Lilledahl was first to the mat, marching out to “The Imperial March” to take on No. 26 Joey Cruz. Lilledahl erupted with an early takedown in the first 40 seconds of the match before Cruz took a point from the escape. The match was briefly stopped for an injury timeout for Lilledahl, though the wrestler continued after a trainer taped his left wrist. Lilledahl spent the rest of the first period racking up riding time as the Bryce Jordan Center showed its approval.

Lilledahl, starting in bottom position, earned an escape within a few seconds of the second period. He completed a takedown a minute through the period and spent the rest of the period racking up riding time.

Leading 7-1 at the start of the third period, Lilledahl needed fewer than 15 seconds before notching a takedown and another 10 seconds before recording a second. With 1:15 left in the match, Lilledahl picked up three more points and earned another takedown 40 seconds later as his flurry continued.

With one more takedown, Lilledahl won the match by tech fall 22-6.

133 Pounds

Kurt McHenry came out of the tunnel to take on No. 3 Drake Ayala at 133 pounds. Ayala earned a takedown within a few seconds and picked up another about halfway through the first period, while McHenry picked up an escape point from both. Ayala notched one more takedown before the end of the period and racked up riding time to close it out.

Ayala recorded an escape and takedown to start the second period. With more than a minute left in the second period, Ayala recorded another takedown and took the tech fall victory.

141 Pounds

No. 3 Beau Bartlett took on Cullan Schriever at 141 pounds and quickly notched a takedown to start off the action. Action lulled for some time after two blood timeouts, but Bartlett recorded another takedown and racked up riding time, with another pause for blood timeout.

Leading 6-2 into the second period, Barlett gave up one escape. Then, blood. Barlett started the third period with an escape, but couldn’t do much else. The Penn Stater took the third match of the evening 7-3, giving Penn State an 8-5 lead.

149 Pounds

No. 4 Van Ness took to the mat to face No. 2 Kyle Parco, and Van Ness starkly contrasted Bartlett with a fast start and a takedown. Parco fought his way to a takedown with a minute left in the first period. Parco notched a quick reversal to start the second period, but Van Ness’ escape and takedown gave him an 8-6 lead. He then picked up four near fall points to end the second period.

After just missing a takedown at the outer edge of the mat, Van Ness got the Bryce Jordan Center to explode with a quick takedown at the center. Van Ness wrapped up the match with plenty of riding time, and won by major decision 17-6.

157 Pounds

No. 3 Kasak faced No. 1 Jacori Teemer at 157 pounds next. Neither wrestler made any strong attacks in the first period, which ended 0-0. Kasak picked up a quick escape point to start the second and got a takedown with 1:25 left. Movement stopped with 20 seconds left for an injury timeout to Kasak while trainers bandaged him heavily around the head.

Teemer picked up an escape with around a minute left to make the match 4-2. However, Kasak picked Teemer up and literally walked around the mat with the other wrestler to drain the clock and secure the decision victory.

Penn State led 15-5 going into the intermission.

165 Pounds

No. 1 Mesenbrink faced No. 2 Michael Caliendo and got off with a quick, twitchy start. Caliendo snagged Mesenbrink’s foot to start the period, but Mesenbrink’s defense avoided the takedown. Mesenbrink got a takedown himself halfway through the first period and worked for a tech fall, but earned another takedown instead.

Mesenbrink notched another takedown in the first minute of the second period and picked up a stall point toward the end to lead 10-2 going into the third. Mesenbrink started the third with a reversal and a takedown. He grabbed another takedown and another stall point to win by tech fall 19-4.

174 Pounds

No. 2 Levi Haines was next against No. 6 Patrick Kennedy and, despite plenty of grappling, neither could get an edge early on. Haines looked primed for a takedown in the dying seconds of the period but still couldn’t finish.

Kennedy allowed Haines his escape point to start the second period, and Haines fought his way to a takedown with around 25 seconds left. Kennedy took his escape point to start the third, but Haines grabbed a crucial takedown with a minute left to take a 7-1 lead. Another takedown with 33 seconds left gave Haines a 10-2 lead, and Haines finished with the 10-3 decision victory after Kennedy managed one more escape.

Penn State led 23-5 going into the last three matches.

184 Pounds

No. 1 Carter Starocci faced Angelo Ferrari in a highly-anticipated match after Iowa’s higher-ranked wrestler Gabe Arnold talked up the match against Starocci a week prior. However, Arnold was a no-show in State College on Friday night. Ferrari walked out to the mat to plenty of boos, while the Bryce Jordan Center erupted for Starocci as he walked out to Michael Myers’ theme from “Halloween.”

Ferrari did a good job on defense but didn’t attack much. Still, Starrocci’s only point came from stalling against Ferrari in the first period. Ferrari picked up an escape point in the second period, which was the only action during those two minutes.

Starting in bottom position, Starocci picked up his escape point while still holding a 1:07 edge in riding time. Little happened between the two wrestlers in the third period as Starocci scraped by with a 3-1 decision victory.

197 Pounds

No. 4 Josh Barr worked to keep his hot streak alive against No. 1 Stephen Buchanan next. Buchanan almost got a takedown with 45 seconds left in the first period, but Barr did well to avoid dropping points. Barr picked up his escape point after 1:06 through the second period, which was the only point through five minutes.

Buchanan took his escape point quickly in the third period and led riding time 1:02 with the score tied 1-1. Buchanan notched a takedown with under 30 seconds left and secured a 5-1 decision victory.

285 Pounds

No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet took on No. 11 Ben Kueter to close out the evening, strolling out to some folk music. Kerkvliet earned his first takedown after a minute of wrestling and another to close out the first period. Kerkvliet spent the second period racking up riding time and spent the whole two minutes in top position. Kueter gave Kerkvliet his escape point quickly in the third period, and Kerkvliet took another takedown with 40 seconds left.

Kerkvliet spent the rest of the match earning riding time, closing out a 12-2 major decision victory and giving Penn State a 30-8 win.

What’s Next?

Penn State is back in the Bryce Jordan Center at 6 p.m. on Friday, February 7, to take on No. 22 Michigan. The dual will air the Big Ten Network.