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By Andy Elder
For the Mirror
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Penn State wrestling team shrugged off two early losses and did what it has usually done under head coach Cael Sanderson on the first day of the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Thursday at the T-Mobile Center -- excel.
Eight Nittany Lions advanced to the quarterfinals and all 10 are still alive as Penn State stands atop the team race after the first day of competition with 34.5 points. Iowa State and Iowa are tied for second with 24.5 points each. Michigan and North Carolina State are tied for third with 22 points each.
Braeden Davis (125), Beau Bartlett (141), Levi Haines (157), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Carter Starocci (174), Bernie Truax (184), Aaron Brooks (197) and Greg Kerkvliet (285) all advanced to this afternoon's quarterfinal round. Aaron Nagao (133) and Tyler Kasak (149) both lost first-round bouts but bounced back with first-round wrestleback wins.
"It's the national tournament. There are a lot of really good kids. The way they seed it you're going to run into good guys right away," Sanderson said. "The guys wrestled well."
Davis was solid in his 8-1 first-round win over Michigan State's Tristan Lujan, the Nittany Lion freshman's third win over the Spartan this year. In the Round of 16 against Cornell No. 17 seed Brett Ungar, Davis made 1:41 in riding time advantage stand up in a tense 2-1 decision. Davis will meet Arizona State's Richard Figueroa, the No. 8 seed, in Friday morning's quarterfinal round.
"He's doing great. Tough kid. (He's) battling. Every match is tough. The kids are good. You just gotta go scrap. He goes and he competes."
Bartlett needed some last-minute dramatics to advance to the Round of 16. Tied 1-1 with Maryland No 31 seed Kai Miller, the Nittany Lion No. 2 seed scored a takedown and two nearfall points in the waning seconds to earn a 6-1 win. Then, against Rutgers' Mitch Moore, he was locked in a 1-1 tie but got in on a single, worked it into a near cradle and got the fall in 5:49. That sets up a showdown with surprise quarterfinalist Vance Vombaur of Minnesota, the No. 26 seed.
Haines had no problem rolling past Ohio State's Isaac Wilcox, a pigtail winner and the No 32 seed, 17-2 in seven minutes. In the next round, Haines faced Oklahoma State's Teague Travis, the No. 16 seed. Haines did it again against Travis, rolling to a 19-4 in 6:41 to stroll into the quarterfinals where he will meet Nebraska's Peyton Robb.
Mesenbrink, as usual, was ultra aggressive in his 18-2 technical fall win over Northwestern's Maxx Mayfield, the No. 31 seed. The second-seeded Nittany Lion then took on Binghamton's 15th-seeded Brevin Cassella in the round of 16. Mesenbrink followed that up with an 11-3 major decision over Cassella to set up a quarterfinal bout with Michigan's Cam Amine.
Starocci, the No. 9 seed at 174, answered a burning question early in his first-round match against Minnesota's Andrew Sparks, the 24 seed. The Nittany Lion three-time NCAA champion shook off an early takedown by Sparks, built an 8-3 lead through one period and cruised to a 12-6 win. Against Ca Poly's Adam Kemp, the No. 8 seed, in the next round, Starocci gutted out a 5-3 win as he looked cautious and a bit limited with a bulky brace on his right knee. Starocci faces a much-anticipated remated with Virginia Tech No. 1 seed Mecki Lewis in the quarterfinals.
"He did what he needed to do to move on," Sanderson said. "I think that's what he's thinking. When he needed to score he scored fast."
Three-time All-American Bernie Truax showed his experience as he opened with an 18-3 technical fall in 5:10 over Clarion's 27th-seeded Cameron Pine. Then against No. 11 seed Colton Hawks of Missouri, he scored a key takedown in second period and hung on for a 4-2 decision. Truax will faced third-seeded Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals.
Top-seeded Brooks and Kerkvliet closed out the session for the Nittany Lions with very similar dominating technical fall wins. Brooks needed 5:25 for his 19-4 win over No. 33 seed Evan Bates of Northwestern. Kerkvliet took 5:17 to pile up a 19-3 technical fall over No. 32 seed Nick Willham of Indiana.
Next up for Brooks was No. 17 seed Joseph Novak of Wyoming. Brooks wasted little time in scoring a takedown and turning Novak for a 5-0 lead before stacking him up and getting the fall in 2:20. Brooks will face Oklahoma No. 8 seed Stephen Buchanan in the quarterfinals.
In the Round of 16, Kerkvliet faced No. 17 seed Grady Griess of Navy. Kerkvliet built up 4:30 in riding time and dominated in a 9-1 major decision. Kerkvliet faces a rematch with Ohio State's Nick Feldman, the No. 9 seed.
Nagao was seemingly defenseless against Marlon Yarbrough's leg attacks. The Virginia No. 23 seed scored four takedowns against Nagao in a 13-5 first-round major decision. That dropped him into a wrestleback match with Missouri's Kade Moore, where Nagao returned to previous form in a 16-1 technical fall in 5 minutes. He will meet Arizona State's Julia Chlebove in the second round of wrestlebacks.
Kasak was just never able to finish a takdown on four-time NCAA qualifier Jaden Abas of Stanford in the first round. Abas was able to convert one takedown and it was the difference in a 4-2 win. In the wrestlebacks, Kasak faced Minnesota No. 23 seed Drew Roberts. Kasak opened a 10-0 lead after one period and coasted to a 14-5 major decision. He will meet Cornell's Ethan Fernandez in the second round of wrestlebacks.
"Obviously, their (Nagao and Kasak) goals were to win the nationals and right away that's not an option. There's a lot of honor in battling back. Those are the things that are just as important in life to be able to land like a cat and go compete."
Penn State stumbled out of the gate in the first round, going 2-2 in its first four bouts. But, by the end of the round, the Nittany Lions had improved that record to 8-2 and climbed their way to the top of the leaderboard with 15.5 points, ahead of second-place Nebraska with 14 and Michigan in third with 13.5.