Penn State wrestling kept its momentum rolling during the first session of day two in Cleveland. All ten Nittany Lion wrestlers competed, with eight securing a spot in the semifinal round later tonight, while also becoming All-Americans.

Penn State went undefeated in the championship bracket, with PJ Duke, Levi Haines, and Josh Barr all winning by tech fall. In the consolation bracket, both Braeden Davis and Cole Mirasola went 1-1, with their seasons ending in the third round.

The Nittany Lions are in a class of their own with 105.5 team points so far. Nebraska is second with 66.

Championship Bracket: Quarterfinals

125 Pounds

No. 1 Luke Lilledahl got the day started for the Nittany Lions, as he wrestled No. 8 Dean Peterson of Iowa for the third time this season. The match started slowly, with no points being scored in the first period. Peterson escaped quickly to start the second. That would be all the points scored going into the third, as both wrestlers continued to feel each other out with little offensive action.

Lilledahl also escaped quickly after starting on the bottom in the third period. The Nittany Lion got hold of Peterson’s leg but was unable to convert for a takedown. Peterson continued to show great scrambling, keeping the match at 1-1 going into sudden victory.

Lilledahl controlled most of the sudden victory, having a hold of the Hawkeye’s right leg for most of the period. There was a review to see if Lilledahl scored a takedown as time expired, but it wasn’t awarded.

In the tiebreakers, Lilldahl escaped in just 11 seconds and held on top for the entire 30 seconds to move on to the semifinals with a 2-1 decision win. Lilledahl also becomes an All-American for the second time.

133 Pounds

Another Penn State-Iowa matchup took place at 133 pounds, with No. 3 Marcus Blaze taking on No. 6 Drake Ayala. The first period was mostly defensive, with few shots taken, sending the bout into the second period scoreless.

Blaze was quick to escape, starting the second, before landing the match’s first takedown. Ayala escaped to make it 4-1 after two. Blaze had a great showing on top in the third period, not allowing Ayala to escape until there were 30 seconds left in the match. Despite relentless pressure by the Hawkeye, Blaze held on while getting a stalling call to make it a 5-3 decision win for the Nittany Lion.

149 Pounds

No. 1 Shayne Van Ness was next up, as he took on No. 8 Casey Swiderski of Oklahoma State. No offensive action occurred in the first period, and it was scoreless after one. After 46 seconds of riding time by Van Ness, Swiderski opened up scoring with an escape. The 1-0 score would hold going into the third.

Van Ness kicked off the third period with a reversal, giving him the lead. Swiderski escaped late to tie it and send the bout to sudden victory. After plenty of strikes by both wrestlers, Van Ness would be the one to land the takedown, scoring with just one second left to take the match 5-2. Van Ness becomes a three-time All-American.

157 Pounds

Next to the hit the mat for the Nittany Lions was No. 1 PJ Duke as he went up against No. 8 Brandon Cannon of Ohio State. Duke wasted no time, starting the match with a quick takedown, before an escape by Cannon. Duke struck again, scoring a second takedown. Another Cannon escape, and a Duke takedown made it 9-2 after the first period.

After starting on bottom, Cannon got his third escape before yet another takedown by Duke. It would be made 15-5 with a fourth and fifth Cannon escape after a Duke takedown. The Nittany Lion would secure one more takedown before the end of the period. Duke would end the bout after starting the third in neutral and tallying his seventh takedown to roll to a 21-5 tech fall at 5:23 for Penn State’s first bonus point victory of the day.

165 Pounds

Then, No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink faced No. 9, Bryce Hepner of North Carolina. It was scoreless after one, with Hepner taking an extended injury timeout but later returning. Mesenbrink landed four near-fall points to take the lead near the start of the second, where the score would stay going into the final period. An escape by Mesenbrink started the third, and the Nittany Lion held on to take the match 6-0. It’s the first non-bonus point win of the season for Mesenbrink; still, it makes him a three-time All-American.

174 Pounds

174 pounds, was No. 1 Levi Haines, as he wrestled the nine seed in Michigan’s Beau Mantanona. Haines got on the board first, landing a first-period takedown. He would remain on top for the rest of the period, where he’d land two near-fall points late to take a 5-0 lead into the second.

After the second started in neutral, Haines would extend his lead to eight with another takedown. Mantanona scored a point with an escape before being taken down by Haines again. Haines kept his momentum in the third, racking up two more takedowns. That, combined with over three minutes of riding time, led to an 18-3 tech fall for the Nittany Lion, who becomes a four-time All-American.

184 Pounds

Soon after, No. 1 Rocco Welsh battled against No. 8 Silas Allred of Nebraska. After a scoreless first, Welsh got on the board first with an escape at the beginning of the second. The Nittany Lion would follow it up with a takedown. An Allred escape gave way for another takedown by Welsh late in the second to make it 7-1. Early in the third, Allred suffered an injury and would be unable to return, allowing Welsh to move on via injury default. Welsh is now a two-time All-American.

197 Pounds

Cleaning up the championship bracket for the Nittany Lions was No. 1 Josh Barr, who faced No. 9 Angelo Posada of Stanford. Barr started strong with an early takedown. He then landed four near-fall points to take a 7-0 lead with over two and a half minutes of riding time after one. Barr kept up the pressure in the second, scoring four takedowns to roll to a 19-3 tech fall at 4:50. Barr is now a two-time All-American.

Consolation Bracket

141 Pounds

After losing in the second round yesterday, No. 14 Braeden Davis wrestled in the consolation bracket against No. 29 Jordan Titus of West Virginia. The Mountaineer appeared to strike first with a takedown in the opening minute. Still, after review, it was ruled a Davis takedown with a Titus reversal, giving the Nittany Lion a 3-2 lead early. A Davis escape, followed by a Titus takedown with yet another escape by Davis, made it 5-5 after one.

Davis started the second period with his third escape and followed it up with another takedown, to give him a four-point lead heading into the final period. Davis stayed on top for the entire third period to secure the 10-6 win.

In his second match of the session, Davis faced No. 11 CJ Composto of UPenn. After a scoreless first, Composto started the second with a reversal. After an escape by Davis, Composto scored the bout’s first takedown to take a 5-1 lead going into the third. Davis got within three with an escape at the start of the third but was unable to secure a takedown. The final match of Davis’s season ends in a 5-2 decision loss.

Heavyweight

In the Heavyweight consolation bracket, No. 9 Cole Mirasola stepped up against No. 23 Stephan Monchery of Appalachian State. Mirasola kicked things off with three first-period takedowns, amassing over two minutes of riding time as he took a 9-2 lead into the second. Mirasola started the second in neutral and secured another takedown. He remained on top for the rest of the period. Two more takedowns in the third allowed Mirasola to roll to an 18-3 tech fall at 6:03.

In his second bout, Mirasola took on No. 18 Christian Carroll of Wyoming. The first point didn’t come until the second period, where Mirasola made it 1-0 with an escape. The first takedown belonged to Carroll, but before long, Mirasola escaped and got a takedown of his own. A Carroll escape made the score 5-4 after two. Carroll tied it with an escape in the third. Mirasola gave up a stall point and was then taken down by Carroll. Mirasola came within three with an escape late, but couldn’t complete the comeback. His season ends with a 9-6 decision in the third round of the consolation bracket.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will be back in action later tonight for Session IV, starting at 8 p.m. Eight Penn Staters will compete for a spot in the championship. The session will be broadcast live on ESPN2.