No. 1 Penn State wrestling (13-0, 7-0 Big Ten) powered through No. 13 Illinois (9-3, 4-3 Big Ten) 29-9 in Champaign, Illinois, after defeating No. 8 Ohio State in Columbus on Friday. With these wins, Penn State has now solidified its fifth straight undefeated Big Ten record and captured the Big Ten record for most consecutive dual wins with 70. The streak is good enough for second all-time as the Nittany Lions are just six dual wins shy of surpassing the 1937-51 Oklahoma State Cowboys record.

Highlighting the dual was Luke Lilledahl’s bounce-back tech fall win and Carter Starocci’s disqualification win as he forced six stalls from his opponent to get a six-point bonus point win in Champaign.

How It Happened

125 Pounds

Up first, No. 7 Luke Lilledahl took on Caelan Riley. After a tough loss against Ohio State’s Brendan McCrone on Friday. Lilledahl came out quickly with three straight first-period takedowns, leading Riley 12-3 going into the second. It didn’t take long for “Lightning” to score another seven points and beat Riley by way of a 19-3 tech fall.

133 Pounds

Up next, No. 8 Braeden Davis faced No. 4 Lucas Byrd. Davis, who has been dealing with an undisclosed injury did not fare well against the highly ranked opponent. To start, Davis was taken down in the first period to go down 3-0 after the first period. Byrd escaped to start the second and scored his second takedown of the match to go up 7-0 heading into the third period. Davis escaped but was unable to record a takedown, dropping a 7-1 decision to Lucas Byrd.

Penn State lead Illinois 5-3 after two matches.

141 Pounds

Next, No. 3 Beau Bartlett took on No. 17 Danny Pucino. The Nittany Lion struck first with a single-leg takedown in the last 30 seconds of the first period. Bartlett secured an additional two near-fall points to close out the first period with a lead of 5-0. Bartlett escaped to extend his lead to six after the second period.

Pucino escaped only to get taken down shortly after to make the match 9-1 in favor of Bartlett. Pucino escaped again at the one-minute mark. Beau Bartlett won the bout 9-2 against Danny Pucino.

149 Pounds

Next, No. 2 Shayne Van Ness faced No. 14 Kannon Webster. Van Ness got the opening takedown with 1:30 left in the first period. Webster went on to escape after 46 seconds of riding time by the Nittany Lion. Van Ness led Webster 3-1 to end the first.

The Nittany Lion got another two takedowns in the second period to lead Webster 10-3 going into the third period. Van Ness escaped to start the period and took Webster down once more to win by a major decision 15-4.

157 Pounds

The next matchup was Joe Sealey and No. 30 Jason Kraisser. Sealey, who is a former top recruit for the Nittany Lions, looked to avenge his Penn State debut on Friday. The two wrestlers did not record a point in the first period. In the only score of the second period, Kraisser escaped to take the lead. In the third period, Kraisser rode Sealey for well over a minute before Sealey escaped and narrowly missed the winning takedown with less than 15 seconds left in the match. Sealey is yet to get his first win in a Penn State singlet.

Penn State maintained a 12-6 lead heading into the intermission.

165 Pounds

Next, No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink faced No. 14 Braeden Scoles. To start the match, Mesenbrink scored an opening single-leg takedown while forcing two stalling points out of Scoles. Mesenbrink lead 5-0 with close to two minutes in riding time after one.

The second period started quickly with a Mesenbrink escape followed by another takedown. Mesenbrink lead the match 9-0 going into the third period. Scoles escaped to get on the scoreboard. The match ends at 9-1 as Scoles does an impressive job of defending Mesenbrink’s offensive advances.

174 Pounds

In the next matchup, No. 2 Levi Haines took on No. 23 Danny Braunagel. Haines secured the opening takedown in the waning moments of the first period to take the lead. In the second, Haines escaped quickly to stretch his lead. Braunagel escaped to score a point before the match ended, but Haines won by a score of 5-1.

Penn State lead Illinois 19-6 at this point.

184 Pounds

Next, No. 1 Carter Starocci faced No. 12 Edmond Ruth. Starocci got straight to it with two takedowns to start the match. He lead Ruth 7-1 going into the second period. Starocci secured his third takedown to stretch his lead heading to the third. The Nittany Lion escaped quickly and then scored a fourth takedown. Starocci lead 17-4 after two stalling points with 30 seconds left. After a sixth stalling call, Ruth is disqualified giving Penn State a six-point bonus point win.

197 Pounds

In the next match, No. 3 Josh Barr took on No. 17 Zac Braunagel. Barr struck first with a takedown in the first minute of the first period and then again at the end of the period. After escaping to start the second, Barr scored another takedown to take a 10-1 lead. Barr secured his fourth takedown late in the third period to win by a major decision 15-4.

Heavyweight

In the last match of the afternoon, Cole Mirasola took on No. 10 Luke Luffman. The two wrestlers remained scoreless after the first period. Mirasola got docked for stalling followed by a Luffman takedown to go down 4-0 in the second period. The wrestlers didn’t score another point.

Penn State won the match 29-9 to extend its dual winning streak to 70 in a row.

What’s Next?

Penn State will be back in action for its regular season finale against American University at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 21 in Rec Hall. The match can be streamed on Big Ten+.