Penn State wrestling earns 4 top seeds for NCAA championships, with 5 others in top 4
The brackets were set Wednesday night for the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships — and, to no one’s surprise, Penn State again turned in an impressive showing.
Four Nittany Lions earned top seeds in their respective weight classes, while another five earned top-4 seeds and none finished lower than the No. 8 seed. Penn State’s No. 1 seeds included Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds), Tyler Kasak (157), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) and Carter Starocci (184).
All 10 Penn State starters will compete in the NCAA championships, which will take place from March 20-22 in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center.
Here’s an overview of Penn State’s seeded wrestlers:
- 1-seed: Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds)
- 1-seed: Tyler Kasak (157)
- 1-seed: Mitchell Mesenbrink (165)
- 1-seed: Carter Starocci (184)
- 2-seed: Beau Bartlett (141)
- 2-seed: Levi Haines (174)
- 3-seed: Shayne Van Ness (149)
- 3-seed: Greg Kerkvliet (285)
- 4-seed: Josh Barr (197)
- 8-seed: Braeden Davis (133)
- Two former Centre County wrestlers will also compete at nationals. Bellefonte grad Jude Swisher will represent Penn as the No. 14 seed at 157 pounds, while Penns Valley alum and George Mason wrestler Malachi DuVall qualified as the No. 21 seed at 184 pounds.
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Penn’s Jude Swisher, who is a Bellefonte graduate, looks for back points on Army’s Oscar Aranda in their 157-pound bout of the 2023 Journeymen Collegiate Classic at Freedom High School in Bethlehem. Jennie Tate For the CDT
Given all of Penn State’s high seeds, the more anticipated matches for fans of the blue and white likely won’t come until later in the tournament. But there are quite a few potential bouts that would draw a lot of eyes — such as Mesenbrink potentially taking on a former teammate in the semifinals in Utah Valley’s Terrell Barraclough or Haines possibly taking on Oklahoma State’s Dean Hamiti in the semis in their first-ever meeting.
(And let’s not forget some dream finals matches, such as a rematch of the Big Ten title bout between Kerkvliet and Minnesota’s Gable Steveson, or Starocci taking on Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen, whom Carter needed sudden victory to beat in November.)
