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High Drama For Penn State's Shayne Van Ness at NCAA Wrestling Championships

Watch the undefeated Nittany Lion clinch a dramatic victory at NCAAs.
Mark Wogenrich|
Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Shayne Van Ness reacts after a win during the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena.
Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Shayne Van Ness reacts after a win during the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena. | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

CLEVELAND | Penn State wrestled a perfect round Friday in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships, sending eight wrestlers to the semifinals. The afternoon certainly carried some drama, particularly from redshirt junior Shayne Van Ness.

Penn State's No. 1 seed at 149 pounds scored a takedown with 1 second left in sudden victory to clinch a 5-2 victory over Oklahoma State's Casey Swiderski. Van Ness' takedown sent Penn State's fan base through the roof at Rocket Arena, where the Nittany Lions hold an enormous lead in the team standings.

Van Ness (24-0) mustered every move and scramble he could to outlast Swiderski in sudden victory. He and the eighth-seeded wrestler skidded and slid across the mat, trading shots and defense until Van Ness finally caught an exhausted Swiderski from behind by the legs. Van Ness emptied his handbook in those final 15 seconds.

The victory was the most dramatic of Penn State's 8-0 run through the quarterfinals. The Nittany Lions will have eight semifinalists Friday night and a huge lead in the team standings. In fact, Penn State sailed by the Session 3 mark of 90.5 points it took into the semifinals last year in Philadelphia.

With 105.5 team points, Penn State is well on its way to winning its fifth straight NCAA title and breaking its own scoring record for the third consecutive year. The semifinals begin at 8 p.m. ET Friday and will air on ESPN2. ESPN+ will stream each mat live. Check out the full broadcast schedule here.

Semifinals to watch

Penn State’s Marcus Blaze celebrates after his match against Missouri’s Gage Walker at the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Penn State’s Marcus Blaze celebrates after his match against Missouri’s Gage Walker at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena. | Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Friday night offers some electric prospects, beginning with Luke Lilledahl vs. Oklahoma State's Troy Spratley at 125. Lilledahl, the unbeaten top seed, needed riding time in the tiebreaker to win his quarterfinal. Spratley, the fifth seed, defeated Lehigh's Sheldon Seymour 8-2. Seymour beat Lilledahl in the 2025 tournament.

Both semifinals at 133 are must-see. Penn State's Marcus Blaze meets Ohio State's Ben Davino in a rematch of the Big Ten final, which Davino won 2-1 in the tiebreaker. In the other semi, superb freshmen Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) and Aaron Seidel (Virginia Tech) renew their rivalry.

Van Ness gets upset-minded Chance Lamer of Oklahoma, the 20th seed. Lamer has won three straight as an underdog, including a 3-1 decision over Nebraska's fourth-seeded Collin Gaj. Rocco Welsh, the top seed at 184, gets a rematch with fifth-seeded Brock Mantanona of Michigan. Welsh needed a sudden-victory takedown to beat Mantanona at Big Tens.

Highlights of a frantic round

Penn State's quarterfinal round included two overtime wins, two technical falls, an injury default and a stretcher (not for a Nittany Lion). A whiparound of the action.

Top-seeded Luke Lilledahl (125) got dragged to overtime for the third time this season. He moved to 3-0 in those bouts with a 2-1 win via riding time over Iowa's Dean Peterson. The Hawkeye wrestled away from Lilledahl, getting just one stall warning, but could not escape quick enough in the second tiebreaker. Lilledahl made the semifinals for the first time.

PJ Duke (157) continues to look unstoppable, adding a quarterfinal technical fall. Levi Haines (174) did the same to become a four-time All-American. And Josh Barr (197) scored his fifth technical fall of the postseason.

Freshman Marcus Blaze (133) recorded a nervy 5-3 decision over Iowa's Drake Ayala, and Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) wrestled a strange match. His opponent, Bryce Hepner of North Carolina, took injury period after the first period as part of the concussion protocol. At one point, medical personnel brought a stretcher onto the mat.

But Hepner said no and continued wrestling. He became the first wrestler this season not to allow Mesenbrink bonus points. The 165-pound defending champ hit four back points in the second period of a 6-0 victory.

Noteworthy

Penn State (105.5 points) holds a commanding lead over second-place Nebraska (66) in the team race. Oklahoma State (64.5) is third, followed by Iowa (50.5) and Ohio State (44).

However, Penn State won't repeat with 10 All-Americans. Braeden Davis (141) lost in the consolation round to two-time All-American CJ Composto of Penn and was eliminated. And heavyweight Cole Mirasola fell to Wyoming's Christian Carroll, who beat him during the regular season.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

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