Penn State wrestlers cruise to season-opening 41-3 victory over Drexel

From an all-star match Saturday to a dual meet on Sunday, Penn State was dominant in each, capping off the weekend with a 41-3 win over Drexel after having four of its five wrestlers capture NWCA All-Star Classic bouts on Saturday.

Three of the Saturday night all-star participants opted to take the day off but NCAA champs Levi Haines and Carter Starocci, both at new weights, put their names in the scorebook, much to the delight of another Rec Hall sellout crowd of 6,426 that watched a pre-match 2024 NCAA title banner-raising ceremony.

While the Dragons (0-4) were able to keep up competively in the lighter weights, they could not match up in the upperweights as Penn State sailed to its 57th consecutive victory and 123rd win in the last 125 matches while working to a 25-4 advantage in takedowns as well.

Led by technical fall victories by Haines and Starocci and a first-period fall by heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet, the top-ranked Lions won seven straight bouts beginning with Connor Pierce at 149.

"Some of our guys got chances to wrestle that haven't had a lot of opportunities in the past, so I think it's a great experience for them, but it's just the first week of the season for us and we just compete and try to get better," Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said.

Fans were itching to see Penn State freshman Luke Lilledahl make his debut but all they saw was his arm raised by the referee signifying a Drexel forfeit because of the Dragons' 125-pounders were injured.

"Luke's been awesome for the program," Sanderson said. "He brings in a very positive energy and it doesn't take a lot to make him smile. He's obviously an incredible wrestler and we're super happy he's in our program.

Sophomore Braeden Davis, up from 125 where he was Big Ten champ as a freshman, opened the actual wrestling action against Drexel's Kyle Waterman and opened a 6-1 lead before tweaking his right knee and stopping the match.

Action resumed but Davis was cautious the rest of the way and nearly gave up a takedown in the waning seconds. Drexel challenged the non-call and it was a lengthy discussion between the officials watching the replay but the call stood and Davis prevailed 7-5.

"I think he'll be fine," Sanderson said about Davis. "If you're able to finish the match, he just had to kind of wrestle through that. We'll take care of it and give him the time he needs to get back to full speed if he's not full speed soon."

Freshman Cael Nasdeo of Williamsport subbed for NCAA runner-up Beau Bartlett at 141; Bartlett lost 4-1 to Ohio State's Jesse Mendez in Saturday's all-star meet. Nasdeo, who won a PIAA title for the Millionaires, came out strong against Drexel's Jordan Soriano with a quick three-pointer but Soriano was in it to mix it up.

Soriano gave up a counter takedown on a great roll-through by Nasdeo but then converted on two takedowns of his own to mold an 8-8 tie into the third period with Nasdeo on top. Soriano quickly reversed and built a riding time point and the former New York state champ clipped Nasdeo 11-8.

Connor Pierce filled in for all-star All-America Shayne Van Ness at 149 and opened with a takedown and a 1:20 ride but Dom Findora's third-period takedown closed it to 5-4 and Pierce had to hang on to fend off Findora's late shot to pull out a 6-4 victory.

Penn State's Alex Facundo came off his Olympic redshirt year eight pounds lighter at 157 and used a takedown and two reversals to seal an 8-6 win over Luke Nichter of Chambersburg, a PIAA champ at 160 pounds in 2020.

NCAA runner-up Mitchell Mesenbrink made his sophomore season debut in convincing fashion, turning four first-period takedowns into a springboard toward his 21-4 technical fall victory in 5:19 over Drexel's Cody Walsh.

NCAA champ Levi Haines opted to turn down an off day and instead went off on Drexel's Jack Janda with two takedowns and three nearfalls en route to a 16-0 technical fall in 4:03.

"There was no doubt for me," Haines said about wrestling on Sunday. "I think it's a great opportunity to get two weigh-ins back-to-back, like a tournament setting, so I just wanted to make the most of that opportunity and just use it as a practice."

Four-time NCAA champ Carter Starocci also chose to go on Sunday, much to the chagrin of Drexel's Guiseppe Hoose, who was on the other end of a six-takedown Starocci effort that ended the bout by tech fall at the 5:37 mark (19-3).

"I agree with Levi," Starocci said. "I think training is fun but I think competing is the most fun. I'd rather do this any day than wrestling Levi or any of those guys at practice. And it's just fun, too, because we get to experience our fans and go compete. Your best training is when you're competing, so it's hard to mimic that whole feel; it always good getting out there."

Lucas Cochran won the 197-pound job and showed his typical aggressiveness, opening a 14-1 first-period lead on Ethan Wilson and ending the bout shortly after with a single-leg takedown for an 18-1 tech fall in just 3:27.

"He's been really good for a long time," Sanderson said about Cochran. "You just want him wrestle with confidence and enthusiasm and he went out on fire and did what he's capable of doing. It's fun to see him do that."

Heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet also didn't stay on the mat long, pinning former Hershey High wrestler Tanner Updegraff in just 1:40 after running an arm bar and forcing Updegraff to his back.