In front of the biggest crowd in Nebraska history, Penn State wrestling won its 64th consecutive dual meet and like most of the previous 63, this one wasn’t close.
PSU had three bonus-point wins in the first four bouts, and the train just kept rolling from there.
Perhaps the story of the night was true freshman Luke Lilledahl.
The newcomer, who came in ranked No. 12, upset veteran Caleb Smith, ranked sixth, 4-2.
Safe to say, Lilledahl will be in the top ten come Tuesday.
Since Lilledahl competes at 125, those who didn’t watch the dual meet probably assume he stared the night. The bout actually started at 174, where No. 2 Levi Haines took care of No. 15 Lenny Pinto 9-2. After that, it was time for four-time national champ Carter Starocci to go to work. He did just that with an 11-2 major decision win over Silas Allred. At 197, redshirt freshamn and fourth-ranked Josh Barr continued to dominate, tech-falling No. 22 Camden McDanel. Two-time defending national champ Greg Kerkvliet kept it going by techfalling No. 24 Harley Andrews, leading into Lilledahl’s win.
Penn State’s hopes of a shutout ended in the first bout, when No. 5 Braeden Davis was upset by No. 16 Jacob Van Dee 13-7 at 133. But the team rolled the rest of the way
Here are the full results.
174: 2 Levi Haines 9, No. 15 Lenny Pinto 2 (3-0 Penn State wrestling)
184: No. 1 Carter Starocci 11, No. 7 Silas Allred 2 (7-0 PSU)
197: No. 4 Josh Barr 19, No. 22 Camden McDanel 4 (12-0 PSU
Heavyweight: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet 20, No. 24 Harley Andrews 2 (PSU 17, Nebraska 0)
125: No. 12 Luke Lilledahl 4, No. 6 Caleb Smith 2 (PSU 20, Nebraska 0)
133: No. 16 Jacob Van Dee 13, No. 5 Braeden Davis 7 (PSU 20, Nebraska 3)
141: No. 3 Beau Bartlett 8, No. 6 Brock Hardy 7 (PSU 23, Nebraska 3)
149: No. 4 Ridge Lovett 10, No. 2 Shayne Van Ness 2 (PSU 23, Nebraska 7)
157: No. 3 Tyler Kasak 8, No. 5 Antrell Taylor 3 (Penn State 26, Nebraska 7
165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink 20, No. 7 Bubba Wilson 3 (Penn State 31, Nebraska 7)
