Cleveland, Ohio — Luke Lilledahl solved a longstanding problem for Penn State wrestling Saturday night.
For all of the program’s success under head coach Cael Sanderson, including five straight NCAA team championships, 125 pounds had remained an unusual trouble spot. It had been 10 years since Penn State last crowned a national champion at the weight.
Lilledahl changed that.
The Penn State sophomore stayed undefeated at 25-0 and captured his first NCAA title with a hard-fought win over Princeton’s Marc-Anthony McGowan, the No. 10 seed, Saturday night.
In a bout that was just like their previous match back where Lilledahl forced McGowan into five stalls, winning by disqualification at the 6:54 mark to put Penn State on top 6-0 back on February 20, the Rocket Arena crowd got restless during similar tactics.
Lilledahl secured a key second period escape and was given the deciding point in the third period on a stall by McGowan to win 2-1.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.In doing so, he became Penn State’s first national champion at 125 pounds since Nico Megaludis in 2016.
Lilledahl’s victory also gave Penn State its fourth individual title of the evening, joining Mitchell Mesenbrink at 165 pounds, Levi Haines at 174 and Josh Barr at 197. It pushed the Nittany Lions even further beyond their NCAA team scoring record to 181.5 points.
The title was the payoff for a season in which Lilledahl steadily built toward this moment.
After winning the Big Ten title and putting together another dominant regular season, Lilledahl entered nationals looking to finish what he started a year ago, when he went 25-3 and placed third at his first NCAA Championships after a quarterfinal loss.
Lilledahl controlled a tense, defensive bout against McGowan, whom he had beaten in bizarre fashion during the final regular-season dual when McGowan was disqualified after five stalling penalties. This time, there was no disqualification needed; it was only the composure and consistency that have defined Lilledahl’s rise.
