Philadelphia– Two of Penn State wrestling’s youngest starters are one win away from reaching All-America status for the first time.
At 125, Luke Lilldahl kept on keeping on.
The true freshman took the Big Ten by storm earlier this month, winning the Big Ten Championship.
So far, nationals have been more of the same. In the first round, Lilledahl picked up a tech fall over the No. 32 seed in Cornellโs Marcello Milani, winning 19-4. Lilledahl was slightly better in the next out, pounding the No. 2 seed in Northern Illinois’ Blake West, 19-3.
The year Lilledahl took the Big Ten by storm at 125, Braeden Davis did the same, winning the whole thing. But Davis didn’t follow up on that as well as he would have liked to at nationals, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual national champ Richard Figueroa (Arizona State) and then not becoming an All-American.
Both Lilledahl and Davis will be looking to avoid that type of feat this year.ย ย
To do that, they’ll have to win in the quarters, scheduled for Friday afternoon. To do that, Lilledahl will have to beat Lehigh’s Sheldon Seymour. Davis will have to beat Illinois Lucas Byrd, who beat him, 7-1, in the regular season.
It’s a chance at revenge.
