Recap: Penn State advances 8 of 10 to Round 2 at NCAAs

Penn State put eight of 10 wrestlers into the second round of the championship bracket during session one of the 2024 NCAA Championships.

Blue-White Illustrated has wall-to-wall coverage of the sport’s final postseason event today through Saturday. See what happened in session one below.

Full first-round Penn State results

125 pounds: No. 1 Braeden Davis, Penn State. d. No. 33 Tristan Lujuan, Michigan State, 8-1

133 pounds: No. 23 Marlon Yarbrough, Virginia md. No. 10 Aaron nagao, PSU, 13-5

141 pounds: No. 2 Beau Bartlett, Penn State d. No. 31 Kal Miller, Maryland, 6-1

149 pounds: No. 26 Jaden Abas, Stanford d. No. 7 Tyler Kasak, PSU, 4-2

157 pounds: No. 1 Levi Haines, PSU tf. No. 32 Isaax Wilcox, Ohio State, 17-2 (7:00)

165 pounds: No. 2 Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State tf.,  No. 31 Maxx Mayfield, Northwestern, 18-2 (5:32)

174 pounds: No. 9 Carter Starocci, PSU d.  No. 24 Andrew Sparks, Minnesota, 12-6

184 pounds: No. 6 Bernie Truax, Penn State tf. No. 27 Cameron Pine, Clarion, 18-3 (5:09)

197 pounds: No. 1 Aaron Brooks, PSU tf. No. 33 Evan Bates, Northwestern, 19-4 (5:24)

285 pounds: No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State tf., No. 32 Nick Willham, Indiana, 19-3 (5:17)

See full brackets here.

Recap: Penn State at Session One of the NCAA Championships

3:31 — Greg Kerkvliet closes out session one with another Penn State technical fall. He beats Nick Willham of Indiana 18-2 in 5:17. Penn State has 8 of 10 into Round 2 and leads the team race.

3:04 — Reigning 197-pound champ Aaron Brooks is off and running again at nationals. He beat Evan Bates of Northwestern handily. Numerous takedowns and scoring combinations ended with a 19-4 technical fall win for the Nittany Lion in 5:24.

2:50 — Bernie Truax wrestled like he was shot out of a cannon in his first round match at 184 pounds. He led Cameron Pyne 9-1 after three minutes and had 2:46 of riding time advantage. The Nittany Lion ultimately won by technical fall, 18-3, in 5:09. PSU is now six of eight in round one.

2:31 — Welcome back, Carter Starocci. He wrestled with a brace covered by a sleeve on his right knee. Early against Andrew Sparks of Minnesota, the Nittany Lion found himself in a bad position for that injured knee, so he surrendered a takedown, his first of the year. But, he quickly was up and out and scored one on his own en route to a 12-6 first-round win at 174 pounds. At 165, Mitchell Mesenbrink blasted Maxx Mayfield of Northwestern by technical fall, 18-2, in 5:32. Lions are four for six so far in round one.

1:46 — Levi Haines gives the Lions a pick-me-up with a 17-2 technical fall with a whopping 4:04 in riding time in the opening round at 157 pounds.

1:43 — Penn State suffers another opening-round upset. No. 7 Tyler Kasak drops a 4-2 decision to No. 26 Jaden Abas of Stanford. He was aggressive in the third but could not finish a shot to complete the comeback.

1:28 — The Lions are now 2-for-3 in the first round. Top-seed Beau Bartlett beats No. 32 Kal Miller 6-1 on the strength of a late takedown and two nearfall points at 141 pounds. He moves on to tonight’s second round.

1:17 — Penn State has its first second-round competitor. Big Ten champ and freshman Braeden Davis was the aggressor throughout an 8-1 victory over No. 32 Tristan Lujuan of Michigan State at 125 pounds.

12:15 — The first Penn State match of the tournament ends with a loss. No. 10 Aaron Nagao gave up four takedowns and created no offense of his own until too late en route to an upset defeat at the hands of No. 23 Marlon Yarbrough of Virginia. The final score was 13-5. Nagao now moves into the consolation bracket tonight, where he will attempt to wrestle back for All-American status.

12:28 — We have our first Nittany Lion mat assignment. Aaron Nagao is in the hole on mat six. He should be up in 10-15 minutes from the time of this post. He faces No. 23 Marlon Yarbrough of Virginia.

12:25 — All 10 Penn State first round matchups are set. No. 32 Nick Willham of Indiana will take on top-seeded Greg Kerkvliet at heavyweight.

12:19 — Another pigtail update: No. 33 Evan Bates of Northwestern won and so he will face Aaron Brooks in a 197-pound first round bout.

12:16 — No. 32 Isaax Wilcox, Ohio State will fave Levi Haines in a 157-pound first-round bout after winning a pigtail bout. No. 33 Tristan Lujuan of Michigan State will face Braeden Davis at 125 pounds after also winning a pigtail bout.

Noon ET — Action is underway. But, as we noted, it will be a bit until the first Nittany Lion takes the mat. It appears Aaron Nagao will be on the mat first once 133-pound first-round action begins.

11:40 a.m. — We are now just minutes away from session one starting. However, it will be a little bit until the first Penn State wrestler takes the mat. And, due to the fact that Davis’ opponent must receive a rest window after his pigtail bout, it won’t surprise us if Nagao or Bartlett actually lead the Lions off today.