Four-peat, anyone?

With five Nittany Lions winning again in the consolation semifinals, Penn State wrestling clinched its fourth-straight national title, making it 12 championships in the last 14 years.

As we await Mitchell Mesenbrink, Carter Starocci, and Josh Barr’s championship bouts later tonight, we saw Luke Lilledhal, Braeden Davis, Beau Bartlett, Shayne Van Ness, Tyler Kasak, Levi Haines, and Greg Kerkvliet compete in session V of the 2025 NCAA Championships, which included the consolation semifinals as well as the seventh-, fifth-, and third-place bouts. The group finished a combined 11-3 in the fifth session, including two injury defaults.

Lilledahl, Bartlett, Van Ness, Kasak, and Haines locked up third-place finishes, while Davis secured a fifth-place finish as Kerkvliet ended the tournament in sixth.

How It Happened

125 pounds

No. 1 Lilledahl took on No. 3 Eddie Ventresca of Virginia Tech in his semifinal bout. No points were scored in the first between the two wrestlers as Lilledahl began the second in bottom position. The Nittany Lion escaped midway through the third to go up 1-0 entering the final period. Ventresca escaped just under 30 seconds into the third to tie up the score at 1-1 with 90 seconds remaining in the bout. Despite a stalling warning called against Ventresca, no points were scored in the third as the bout entered sudden victory.

Lilledahl wasted no time in sudden victory to score the bout-winning takedown with a 4-1 decision victory, advancing him into the fourth-place bout later this session.

In the first of five third-place bouts, Lilledahl took on No. 2 Matt Ramos of Purdue. The pair traded takedowns in the first period of action as Lilledahl led 4-3 heading into the second after an early escape. An escape from Lilledahl to start the second was the only point scored in the middle period, increasing his lead to 5-3 after two. Lilledahl finished the bout strong, rolling Ramos onto his back for the Nittany Lion’s second fall of the session.

Lilledahl finished in third place as an All-Ameircan with a 25-3 record in his true freshman season for the blue and white.

133 pounds

No. 8 Davis. battled against No. 14 Zan Fugitt of Wisconsin. Despite initially strong defense from Davis, the Nittany Lion fell victim to a quick opening takedown from Fugitt, escaping to go down 3-1 headed into the second period. Fugitt escaped to start the second, increasing his lead to 4-1 early into the second. Fugitt added another takedown to his bout score, now reading 7-1 after two. The pair started the third period in neutral, however, Davis couldn’t score in the remainder of the bout, dropping the match 7-1.

In his fifth-place bout, Davis took on N. 6 Connor McGonagle of Virginia Tech. Davis grabbed the bout-opening takedown with 60 seconds left to go in the first, following it up with the fall at 2:33 to finish the season with a 17-7 record, taking fifth place and his first All-American distinction.

After the second-to-last session, the Nittany Lions had run away with the team score, sitting in first place with 169.0 points as Nebraska remained in second with 109.0 points and Oklahoma State sat in third with 94.5 points.

141 pounds

Seconds later, No. 2 Bartlett took on No. 4 Josh Koderhandt of Navy. Bartlett and Koderhandt traded takedowns in the first period to keep the score level at 4-4 heading into the second. The only point scored in the second was an escape from Koderhant, taking a 5-4 lead into the final period. A reversal from Bartlett to start the third briefly put the Nittany Lion in front 6-5 until the eventual escape from Koderhandt, tying the bout back up at 6-6 heading into sudden victory.

Bartlett stuffed a double leg attempt from Koderhandt midway through sudden victory, countering the move to finish with a takedown of his own to win the bout 9-6. Bartlett will move on to the third-place bout.

In the next third-place bout for the Nittany Lions, Bartlett matched up with No. 10 CJ Composoto of Pennsylvania. Bartlett took the bout’s first takedown with 60 seconds left in the first to take a lead of 3-1 heading into the second period. After an escape from Composoto, Bartlett snatched his second takedown of the bout and paired it with a four-second near-fall to lead 10-2 entering the third period. An escape from Bartlett to start the third was the lone point scored in the final two minutes, giving Bartlett the 11-2 major decision.

With the third-place finish, Bartlett ended his career as a Nittany Lion with a 100-20 record and as a five-time All-American.

149 pounds

In action simultaneously, No. 3 Van Ness took on No. 12 Ethan Stiles of Oregon State. After a quick takedown, Van Ness put on a tight cradle to roll Stiles onto his back for the quick fall at 1:06.

The fall clinched the team title for the Nittany Lions, advancing Van Ness into the third-place bout later this session.

In his third-place bout, Van Ness took on No. 13 Dylan D’Emilio of Ohio State. A quick takedown in the first put Van Ness up early in the bout, eventually extending his lead to 11-3 entering the final period of action. A final takedown in the third from Van Ness gave the Nittany Lion a 13-4 major decision victory.

The third-place finish capped off a 25-3 season for Van Ness, honoring him with his second All-American distinction.

157 pounds

On the mat next for the Nittany Lions was No. 1 Tyler Kasak taking on No. 2 Meyer Shapiro of Cornell. Kasak took a last-second takedown over Cornell that put the Nittany Lion up 3-0 after being upheld during a short review. Kasak began the second period in bottom position, escaping in the later half of the period to extend his lead to 4-0 after two. Shapiro escaped near the midway mark of the period to score his first point of the bout, however, it would be the only point scored in the third as Kasak secured the 4-1 decision victory, moving him into the third-place bout.

In his third-place bout, Kasak squared off with No. 20 Trevor Chumbly of Northwestern. Kasak’s lone takedown in the first marked the only points scored in the opening three minutes, taking a 3-0 lead into the second. The next point was scored when Kasak escaped to start the second, wrapping up his second takedown of the bout to take the 8-0 major decision victory.

Kasak finished the year with a 23-2 record, taking third place at nationals for the second year in a row as a two-time All-American.

174 pound

At the same time as Kasak, No. 2 Haines battled against No. 5 Simon Ruiz of Cornell. Haines couldn’t finish on an early shot as neither wrestler could score a point in the bout until Ruiz escaped from bottom position to start the second, taking a 1-0 lead early into the middle period. The lead would stand until Haines escaped himself to start the third, tying up the bout at 1-1 with a majority of the final two minutes remaining. Haines showed his quickness, stepping out of an ankle pick to counter for the bout’s first and only takedown, winning the match via a 4-1 decision, moving him into the third-place bout.

In his third-place bout, Haines took on No. 11 Patrick Kennedy of Iowa. Haines got on the board early with a takedown, leading the Hawkeye 3-1 after the first period. An escape and second takedown from Haines in the second extended his lead to 7-2 heading into the final two minutes. After Kennedy escaped from bottom position to start the third, Haines scored his third takedown of the bout to win via an 11-3 major decision after riding time.

After finishing in third place, Haines is now a three-time All-American and wrestled to a 25-2 record this season.

285 pounds

Due to an injury, Kerkvliet defaulted his consolation bouts to finish in sixth place at the 2025 NCAA Championships.

Kerkvliet finished his Penn State career with a 92-13 record as a five-time All-American and National Champion.

What’s Next?

Mesenbrink, Starocci, and Barr will close out the weekend for the Nittany Lions when they compete for national titles in session VI of the NCAA Championships. The session will begin at 7 p.m. with Starocci wrestling first. The session will be broadcast on ESPN.