Penn State's Greg Kerkvliet in session one at the 2025 NCAA DI National Championships in Philadelphia, Pa.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Penn State leads the team race after the first session of action at the 2025 NCAA DI National Championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Wells Fargo Center.
Age-group World Champions Luke Lilledahl (125), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) and Greg Kerkvliet (285), and age-group World medalists Beau Bartlett (141), Tyler Kasak (157), Carter Starocci (184) and Josh Barr (197) all advanced to the next round for the Nittany Lions.
Lilledahl, one of 12 age-group World Champions in the field, advanced with a 19-4 technical fall over Marcello Milani of Cornell at 125 pounds. In the next round, Lilledahl meets Blake West of Northern Illinois, who took out 2024 U23 World Team member Max Gallagher of Penn in a close 6-5 decision.
Starocci is on a mission this weekend, competing to win his fifth NCAA title. Kerkvliet, the returning national champion at heavyweight, picked up a 15-0 technical fall in his opening match.
There are a total of 12 age-group/Senior World Champions in the field, with six at 285 pounds. In addition to Lilledahl of Penn State, Matt Ramos of Purdue and Marc-Anthony McGowan of Princeton advanced at 125 pounds. At 157 pounds, Meyer Shapiro of Cornell made his way to the next round with a 20-2 technical fall over Noah Castillo of Chattanooga.
Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole pinned Rider’s Michael Wilson in just over four minutes, pushing himself into the next round. O’Toole, a two-time age-group World Champion, is also a two-time NCAA national champion for the Tigers.
At 285 pounds, top seed Gable Steveson of Minnesota, a 2021 Tokyo Olympic champion, worked his way into the next round with a first period fall. Greco-Roman Senior National Team member Cohlton Schultz, a four-time All-American for Arizona State, picked up a major decision over Nolan Neves of North Carolina.
U23 World Champions Wyatt Hendrickson of Oklahoma State and Isaac Trumble of NC State both advanced. Iowa’s Ben Kueter, a U20 World Champion, advanced with a 6-0 decision over Daniel Herrera of Iowa State.
Sitting second in the team race after session one is Oklahoma State, with 15.5 points. Michigan sits in third place with 12 points. Nebraska and Ohio State are tied for fourth with 11.5 points apiece.
In this session, all 330 wrestlers in the tournament had at least one match. At 157 pounds No. 29 Jack Gioffre of Virginia defeated No. 4 Paniro Johnson of Iowa State, 5-2.
The next session in Philadelphia begins at 7 p.m. ET. The second round on the championship side and the first consolation round will be wrestled in the next session. Thursday night’s action will be live on ESPN, and also on ESPN+ MatCast.
2025 NCAA DIV. I CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Philadelphia, Pa., March 20
Team Standings
1 Penn State, 24.0
2 Oklahoma State, 15.5
3 Michigan, 12.0
4 Nebraska, 11.5
4 Ohio State, 11.5
6 Iowa, 10.5
6 Northern Iowa, 10.5
8 Cornell, 10.0
9 Illinois, 9.0
10 Minnesota, 8.5
11 Pennsylvania, 8.0
12 Lehigh, 7.0
13 Iowa State, 6.5
13 NC State, 6.5
15 Little Rock, 6.0
15 Northern Colorado, 6.0
15 Virginia Tech, 6.0
Session One upsets (lower seed beats higher seed)
125 pounds
No. 18 Jacob Moran (Indiana) dec. No. 15 Maximo Renteria (Oregon State), 7-6
133 pounds
No. 21 Angelo Rini (Indiana) dec. No. 12 Ethan Oakley (North Carolina), 7-1
No. 23 Sean Spidle (Central Michigan) dec. No. 10 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers), 4-1
No. 18 Julian Farber (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 15 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven), 9-8
141 pounds
No. 20 Joshua Saunders (Cornell) dec. No. 13 Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) 8-2
No. 18 Julian Tagg (South Dakota State) maj. dec. No. 15 Joseph Olivieri (Rutgers), 13-3
No. 21 Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) dec. No. 12 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech), 7-4
149 pounds
No. 17 Jaden Abas (Stanford) dec. No. 16 Trae McDaniel (Army), 11-7
No. 29 Jack Gioffre (Virginia) def. No. 4 Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) TB 5-2
No. 19 Andrew Clark (Rutgers) dec. No. 14 Chance Lamer (Cal Poly), 8-3
157 pounds
No. 20 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) dec. No. 13 Jared Hill (Wyoming), 2-0
No. 23 Chase Saldate (Michigan) pin No. 10 Ethen Miller (Maryland), 6:50
165 pounds
No. 19 at 165 pounds Jack Thomsen (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 14 Drake Rhodes (South Dakota State), 13-8
No. 18 at 165 pounds Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern) dec. No. 15 Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State), 7-6
174 pounds
No. 25 Dalton Harkins (Army) dec. No. 8 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska), 6-1
No. 24 Lennox Wolak (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 9 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State), 4-2
No. 21 Joshua Ogunsanya (North Carolina) def. No. 12 Myles Takats (Bucknell), SV 4-1
No. 23 MJ Gaitan (Iowa State) maj. dec. No. 10 Alex Cramer (Central Michigan), 13-2
No. 18 Gaven Sax (Oklahoma) dec. No. 15 Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh), 5-0
184 pounds
No. 20 Nick Fine (Columbia) pin No. 13 Evan Bockman (Iowa State), 6:49
197 pounds
No. 24 Gabe Sollars (Indiana) dec. No. 9 Zac Braunagel (Illinois), 6-5
No. 25 Patrick Brophy (The Citadel) maj. dec. No. 8 Luke Surber (Oklahoma State), 18-7
No. 19 Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 14 Zach Glazier (South Dakota State), 4-2
No. 26 Brock Zurawski (Rider) dec. No. 7 Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa), 5-2
No. 23 Seth Shumate (Ohio State) dec. No. 10 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota), 2-0
285 pounds
No. 22 Brady Colbert (Army) dec. No. 11 Jimmy Mullen (Virginia Tech), 8-1
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