No. 1 Penn State wrestling (6-0) traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to take on North Dakota State and No. 23 Stanford in the Journeymen Collegiate Duals. The Nittany Lions combined for a 20-0 record in 20 bouts across the two duals, amassing a total score differential of 88-0, winning 46-0 and 42-0, respectively.

The two wins mark a new Division I record as the Nittany Lions have now won 77-straight duals, surpassing the 1937-51 Oklahoma State Cowboys record of 76.

Highlighting the duals were upset victories by Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke as they beat Stanford wrestlers ranked No. 6 and No. 5 in the country, respectively.

How It Happened

125 Pounds

No. 2 Luke Lilledahl took on No. 31 Ezekiel Witt of North Dakota State in his first matchup of the night. The Nittany Lion was taken down early in the match to go down 3-0 within the first 10 seconds of the match. Lilledahl rallied to get a takedown of his own shortly after. The two wrestlers exchanged escape points, but Lilledahl would come out on top 6-5 with a riding-time point.

Lilledahl wrestled against No. 12 Nico Provo in his second matchup. Lilledahl would go up with a takedown in the first. The Nittany Lion would hold on and win 4-2 after a late surge by Provo.

133 Pounds

No. 10 Marcus Blaze faced No. 29 Tristan Daugherty in his first match. The Nittany Lion started slow, but eventually hit his first and second takedown in the second period. Blaze picked up his third takedown in the final frame to win 11-3.

Blaze would go against No. 6 Tyler Knox in the second match of the night. Blaze secured the bout’s first point with a takedown with less than a minute left in the first. The Nittany Lion would add a second takedown late in the second period. Blaze added to his lead with two more takedowns and pinned his opponent.

141 Pounds

Nate Desmond faced off against Michael Olson to start his night. The Nittany Lion secured an escape point in the second period to take the lead. Olson answered with an escape of his own in the third, but Desmond would hit a takedown with less than 30 seconds remaining to take the 4-1 decision victory.

Desmond went against Lain Yapoujian in his second matchup. The two wrestlers did not score any offensive points until the third period; however, Desmond rode out the entire second period while securing two stall points. Desmond scored an escape and a takedown in the final frame to win in a 9-0 famous decision.

149 Pounds

No. 1 Shayne Van Ness wrestled No. 24 Maxwell Petersen in his first match. Van Ness would start quickly with a takedown to take the lead. The Nittany Lion would get two more takedowns, including four near-fall points. After two more takedowns, Van Ness would pick up the 19-2 technical fall.

Van Ness went up against No. 14 Aden Valencia in his second matchup. Van Ness would score the first two takedowns in the second period. He would get a third takedown to extend his lead in the final period and beat Valencia in a 10-4 decision.

157 Pounds

No. 8 PJ Duke took on No. 21 Gavin Drexler in his first match. Duke secured three takedowns in the first, one in the second, and one in the third to win by a 16-5 major decision.

Duke faced No. 5 Daniel Cardenas in his second matchup of the night. The Nittany Lion earned a stall point and an escape in the second period to take the lead. Duke got the bout’s first takedown in the third period to beat Cardenas 5-2.

165 Pounds

No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink faced Boeden Greenley in the opening dual. Mensenbrink rolled to another win, securing a second-period technical fall by a score of 18-1.

Mesenbrink went against EJ Parco in his second matchup of the night. Mesenbrink secured three takedowns and four near-fall points in the first period. He would finish the matchup with a takedown and pinning combination to win by fall.

174 Pounds

No. 1 Levi Haines took on Tyler Secoy in his first match. The Nittany Lion would secure the first-period pin and increase Penn State’s lead.

Haines went against Lorenzo Norman in his second matchup of the night. The Nittany Lion secured the first points with two takedowns in the first. The Nittany Lion would get taken down in the second but return the favor to go up big after two. The Nittany Lion would win in a 14-4 major decision.

184 Pounds

No. 4 Rocco Welsh faced Andrew McMonagle. Welsh got two takedowns in the first period, one in the second, and three in the third period to pick up the 19-4 technical fall.

Welsh wrestled Abraham Wojcikiewicz in his second matchup of the night. The Nittany Lion scored the first points with a takedown late in the first period. Welsh would pick up the 5-1 decision victory.

197 Pounds

Josh Barr made his season debut against Devin Wasley. Barr nearly pinned his opponent in the first period but had to settle for the 19-3 technical fall in the second period.

Barr faced No. 19 Angelo Posada in his second match of the night. The Nittany Lion would score first with two takedowns in the first period, with his second one coming with four near-fall points. Barr would extend his lead to 19-3, earning a technical fall.

Heavyweight

No. 13 Cole Mirasola faced Drew Blackburn-Forest in the first match. Mirasola would secure two takedowns and a first-period pin in just over 30 seconds.

Mirasola wrestled Luke Duthie in the final matchup of the night. The Nittany Lion scored quickly with three takedowns in the first minute of the opening frame. Mirasola would go on to score four more takedowns and secure the 21-6 technical fall.

What’s Next?

Top-ranked Penn State will be back in action on January 10 when the Nittany Lions take on No. 19 Rutgers in Rec Hall at 4 p.m. Penn State will be chasing more history, as a win against the Scarlet Knights will mark 78-straight dual wins, an NCAA record. The match will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.