Wrestling Postview: Penn State 39, Michigan 0

Penn State 39, Michigan 0 Recap (Nat)

Penn State hosted its record 3rd dual in a season in the Bryce Jordan Center Friday night, inviting an outmatched but well coached Michigan lineup, who seemed generally content to minimize damage and avoid scoring situations. The Nittany Lions extended their program record dual meet win streak to 67.

125 - #7 Luke Lilledahl, Penn State PINS Christian Tanefeu, Michigan

Scott Pilutik, Black Shoe Diaries

1st

After trading collar ties, Luke reshot a Tanefeu reach and scrambled for the takedown. Tanefeu cleared his hips and escaped on a restart. Lilledahl snapped, faked, and took measured shots, but Tanefeu held good position. 3-1.

2nd

The freshman Wolverine chose bottom and escaped before snapping and shooting on Luke, who fed him hips for the stalemate. Lilledahl darted in on a single and cracked down for the score. Luke then broke Tanefeu down and rode out the period with 1:23 in riding time advantage. 6-2.

3rd

Lilledahl controlled hands and escaped easily. He then pressed in, attempted a duck, drew a stall warning, finished a double leg takedown, pressed the head, and baited Tanefeu into a nearside cradle for his first NCAA Fall in 5:38.

Penn State 6, Michigan 0

133 - Kyison Garcia, Penn State DEC Nolan Wertanen, Michigan, 4-1

1st

Garcia snapped some collar ties, looked for a slide-by, and snagged an ankle, but Wertanen kicked free.

2nd

Kyison chose bottom and rolled through for an escape. He kept snapping, bringing Wertanen to his knees with a front headlock, before shucking him by at the edge for the takedown in short time, 4-0.

3rd

Wertanen escaped, and Garcia snapped him hard, nearly cutting the corner on a go-behind attempt. Wertanen reached for straight shots, and drew a stall warning on Garcia, but couldn’t break his position to score, 4-1 Decision.

Penn State 9, Michigan 0

141 - #3 Beau Bartlett, Penn State DEC #12 Sergio Lemley, Michigan, 3-2

Scott Pilutik, Black Shoe Diaries

1st

The wrestlers clubbed each other and hand fought in the center of the mat for two and a half minutes, when the referee issued the rare double-stall warning. 0-0.

2nd

Lemley chose bottom and Bartlett controlled his wrists for 39 seconds, then Lemley escaped. Lemley faked and tried to shoot, but Bartlett stayed clear. 1-0.

3rd

Bartlett stood off the whistle, caught and elevated Lemley’s leg, and tossed him overhead for a reversal, forcing Lemley to turn away from potential near fall points. Beau used a tight waste to drive riding time to 1:10 before letting Lemley escape, then fending off his late attacks. 3-2 Decision.

Penn State 12, Michigan 0

149 - #3 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State DEC Dylan Gilcher, Michigan, 7-1

Scott Pilutik, Black Shoe Diaries

1st

Shayne pressed in with alternating collar ties and underhooks, taking Gilcher to the edge several times. Van Ness kept the pressure on, earning a stall warning before swinging to a single and patiently working to drive the Wolverine to his hip for the takedown before the period ended, 3-0.

2nd

Van Ness escaped from his choice of bottom and again drove Gilcher to the edge, then reached inside for an ankle, finishing the takedown with a double-leg.

3rd

Shayne conceded an escapee to Gilcher, walked him to the edge, and nearly whipped him over with a half, but ended out of bounds. Van Ness kept active, catching a leg, but Gilcher whizzered it to a stalemate. 7-1 Decision.

Penn State 15, Michigan 0

157 - #1 Tyler Kasak, Penn State DEC Zach Mattin, Michigan, 7-2

Scott Pilutik, Black Shoe Diaries

1st

Kasak swam for a single and swept Mattin’s foot for the early takedown. Mattin escaped on a restart and the two hand-fought in the center of the mat, with Kasak stepping in for attacks and eventually dropping for a low double and the takedown. He rode Mattin to 1:10 in riding time and earned a stall warning. 6-1.

2nd

At Cody’s advice, Kasak chose neutral, but Mattin was content to tie up and slow down the pace and there was no scoring. 6-1.

3rd

Mattin chose bottom and Kasak secured the riding time point before giving up the escape. Kasak stalked him, but then collided his head with Mattin’s shoulder before backing off the mat for a stall warning, and then a brief concussion evaluation from trainer Dan Monthley. Cleared to resume soon after, Kasak was unable to score further. 7-2 Decision.

Penn State 18, Michigan, 0

165 - #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State MD #10 Beau Mantanona, Michigan, 18-4

Scott Pilutik, Black Shoe Diaries

1st

Mitchell drove into Mantanona, snagged a head outside single, and patiently finished from a crack-down position. Mantanona headhunted, and Mesenbrink conceded the escape to avoid being thrown. Mitchell shot again, but was stymied to a stalemate by some slick scrambling by the Wolverine. 3-1.

2nd

Mesenbrink escaped from bottom and worked to finish a shot that the referee whistled for potentially dangerous. Mesenbrink kept on the attack and earned a stall warning before scoring a takedown from a single leg and riding out the period, taking riding tome to 2:01. 7-1.

3rd

Mitchell conceded the escape before the whistle and quickly scored another takedown, released, and then received a penalty point for Mantanona’s stalling on the edge. Mitchell then harassed the Wolverine’s head and scored 2 more takedowns, but fell just short of the Tech with the 18-4 Major Decision.

Penn State 22, Michigan 0

174 - #2 Levi Haines, Penn State PINS #29 Joseph Walker, Michigan

Scott Pilutik, Black Shoe Diaries

1st

Levi reached for a single and slowly worked to grab a 2nd ankle at the edge for the takedown. Haines rode tough, threading an arm bar before pulling the half-nelson over for the Fall in 2:37.

Penn State 28, Michigan 0

184 - #1 Carter Starocci, Penn State TECH FALL #24 Jaden Bullock, Michigan, 19-4

Scott Pilutik, Black Shoe Diaries

1st

Carter snatched a single and doubled off for the quick takedown. He tried to tilt Bullock but had just exited the cylinder. He worked a hammer lock and again tried to tilt the Wolverine before cutting him for the escape. Bullock lingered on the edge and was warned for stalling, then Starocci cooly worked behind for a takedown in short time, 6-1.

2nd

Carter stood for an escape and pounced on a single, finishing with precision and power, He then cut Bullock and repeated the same takedown, nearly securing a bottom-leg turk. Starocci conceded a final escape, but couldn’t finish a takedown before the end of the period, 13-3.

3rd

Bullock chose bottom and Carter went back to looking for a turn, and earned another stall warning on Bullock for a penalty point. Carter then cut him and dropped in on a low single to score the takedown and lock up the Technical Fall in 7:00.

Penn State 33, Michigan 0

197 #4 Josh Barr, Penn State DEC #2 Jacob Cardenas, 3-2 TB2

Scott Pilutik, Black Shoe Diaries

1st

Barr took ground and worked heavy snaps. Cardenas poised low to strike and Barr kept his arms in position to block the threatened cobra-strike of Cardenas’ double. Josh shot late, and nearly found the 2nd leg before Cardenas scrambled away. 0-0.

2nd

Barr stood, sealed his hands, and escaped. The two traded half shots and Barr continued to look for snaps for the remainder of the period. 1-0.

3rd

Cardenas chose bottom and Barr stayed with his ride, driving him out of bounds. Barr had some solid mat returns, flattening Cardenas as he looked to reach for the stage beyond the mat for a restart—to the displeasure of the PSU corner and the BJC crowd. Cardenas switched off the next whistle for the escape with riding time not factoring. Barr looked to snap and go, but Cardenas just evaded. The Wolverine returned to his two-hand-on-the-mat routine, but Barr also stayed low and disciplined to close regulation. 1-1.

Overtime

Cardenas reached for several straight ahead doubles, but Barr held position with heavy hips.

Tie Break 1

Josh deferred his choice for TB2. Cardenas sat out and escaped in just 8 seconds. Cardenas pressed in and, while Josh underhooked him flat to the mat, he was able to get square and avoid the takedown.

Tie Break 2

As the crowd roared in support, Barr looked to escape in under 8 seconds for the criteria needed to win. Cardenas had other plans and stayed in control until the advantage turned in his favor. Barr stood, grabbed a leg, and turned in for the clutch reversal with 3 ticks left to win the 3-2 Decision.

Penn State 36, Michigan 0

285 #2 Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State DEC #8 Josh Heindselman, Michigan, 6-0

Scott Pilutik, Black Shoe Diaries

For you DGK Weightwatchers: Byers reported Greg down to 245.4 this week, so Kurt McHenry is now gaining on him ;-).

1st

Green caught an ankle early but the Wolverine danced away. Kerkvliet then fired a single and, while Heindselman squared up, he doubled off and drove through for the takedown, 3-0.

2nd

Greg chose bottom, put a foot out, and rolled into take the Michigan heavyweight toward his back for the reversal. Cael threw the brick wanting nearfall, but the referee confirmed his initial no-call. So Greg rode as Greg rides, keeping Heindselman flat, earning a stall warning and driving riding time to 2:27. 5-0.

3rd

Heindselman chose neutral and peppered Kerkvliet with snatch-single attempts that kept him at a distance to run out the period. 6-0 Decision.

Penn State 39, Michigan 0

Executive Summary (Jp)

Michigan joined Wyoming, Binghamton, Little Rock and Sparty in failing to win a single bout against this mighty Lions lineup. But the Wolverines also failed to earn a single takedown. In the Sparty Postview, we wondered:

Like, since when are Takedown Shutouts a thing? Since this year, apparently. Penn State’s got two already—and one against a Big Ten opponent. How many more will they post?

Well, add Michigan to the Takedown Shutout list!

Yes, the Wolverines can still hang their hats on an (extremely relative) stout defensive performance—preventing Bonus Points against Top-3 opponents Bartlett, Van Ness, Kasak & Kerk—and even thwarting Mesenbrink’s pursuit of an entire season of Tech Falls. This is a legitimately nice thing for Michigan and Mantanona fans to include in their narratives.

But offensively, across 10 bouts, Michigan scored only 18 bout points, for a measley 1.8 point average. They join Lehigh, Binghamton, Little Rock and Missouri in failing to score 20 bout points against Penn State.

The Takery (Nat)

The Lions concluded their 5th(!) shutout of the season, this time vs a B1G powerhouse team that, while lessened somewhat in 2024-25, still had disciplined and well-coached athletes from top to bottom. It seemed at times that said coaching aimed to limit bonus points and avoid providing too much material for the PSU coaching brain trust to work on moving forward.

Asked of the topic, Levi had this to say:

You know, I think it’s tough when you’re wrestling guys that are constantly on you. You know, our guys were kind of going out there not letting them breathe. So the referee, it’s ultimately up to him whether he’s going to call stalling or not, but I think rather than focusing on what those guys are doing, we just learn to wrestle through those positions and just use it as an opportunity to make ourselves better in this sport; that’s just part of it sometimes. Guys are a little less offensive than others so being able to go score on those guys is important. It’s good practice moving forward.

Some other thoughts:

• I know Cruz and Tanefeu aren’t the cream of the conference, but all the same, it’s very encouraging to me to see Luke starting to show the elite chain wrestling that made him the #1 high school recruit in the land, against D1 competition. The more wrestling positions he can create, the more he’s going to score against almost everyone. It is a shame we don’t have Purdue on the schedule this year to test him against the infamous funk and scrambling of Matt Ramos before the postseason kicks off.
• Sounds like Cael and Co are still giving Braeden Davis time to feel his best rounding into said postseason. Unless Cael drops the nuclear option and trots Masanosuke Ono out at 133 for B1Gs, it would be nice for Braeden to get some rhythm and confidence going soon.
• How pretty is Scott Pitulik’s pic above of Tyler Kasak’s foot-sweep, the shot of Carter taking his ankle bands off after concluding his last BJC Dual, that shot Luke took? I feel so fortunate to be able to add Scott’s work to my own here, and we should all really appreciate it as much as possible.
• Mitchell seemed kinda down after his match. He wouldn’t admit it, but I think he really wanted to tech everybody this year, so falling a point short seemed to sting a little. He also seemed to be sucking a lot of wind by the end there, so maybe I’m dead wrong and he has a cold or something that tempered his typically electric post-match smile.
• Levi also said (see presser below) he’s been working on staying patient on top this year. It really shows, he’s up to 42% pins this year over 22% last season and I expect that upward trend to continue.
• It’s been said before, but Josh Barr is just a dog. You can’t teach that kind of competitiveness. His path this year highlights that, in this extended season of complete PSU dominance, emerging freshmen are the most consistently delightful experience for we, the spoiled fanbase. For me, anyway. I’m hopeful with his recent top competition “in the barn,” Josh will start to find more ways to score against these other top dogs.

Ridge Riley Winner: Josh Barr

Next Up - @ #4 Ohio State, 7pm Friday, 2/14 (BIG+, Lionvision)