Philadelphia— Two of Penn State wrestling’s No. 1’s have fallen on Day 2 of the NCAA Championships.
It started early Friday afternoon when Luke Lilledahl, the top-ranked wrestler at 125, fell in sudden victory to Lehigh’s Sheldon Seymour, seeded eighth.
About an hour later, another stunner: Purdue’s Joey Blaze beat No. 1 Tyler Kasak.
Kasak had been a buzzsaw all season for Penn State. He won every regular-season bout aside from the one against Maryland’s Ethan Miller, where he fell by injury default. He cruised to a Big Ten title earlier this month, dominating Ohio State’s Brandon Cannon in a 12-2 major decision to win the finals.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.He got off to a good start in his semifinal match, leading 3-0 over Purdue’s Joey Blaze, seeded eighth. But Blaze hung around, and with Kasak leading 4-2 in the last minute, Blaze got a takedown to go ahead 5-4, which would prove to be the winning score.
Kasak still needs just one more win to be an All-American for the second time already as a true sophomore.
But he was the favorite to win it all and will fall short.
