Penn State Wrestling: What to Watch on Day 2 of the NCAA Championships

The Nittany Lions rolled through a perfect first day in Philadelphia. They look for All-Americans on Day 2.

Penn State's Carter Starocci wrestles Caden Rogers of Lehigh during Day 1 of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Opening day of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships could not have gone much better for Penn State. The Nittany Lions went 20-0, scoring bonus points in 13 of those wins and taking a comfortable lead over Nebraska in the early team standings.

Day 2 brings higher stakes and tougher competition. Penn State could complete Friday's action at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center by becoming just the second team in NCAA history to field 10 All-Americans in one tournament. With that in mind, here are Penn State wrestling's top story lines for Friday's quarterfinal round.

Luke Lilledahl establishes himself as the favorite at 125

The Penn State freshman was the most dominant wrestler at 125 on Thursday, scoring a pair of technical falls. He has scored 38 points in two bouts. How does he maintain that pace Friday?

Lilledahl's quarterfinal opponent, Lehigh's eighth-seeded Sheldon Seymour, advanced to the quarterfinals with a pair of decisions. Lilledahl beat Seymour 4-1 in December. He has come a long way since then.

Braeden Davis faces a challenging rematch

Davis, in the quarterfinals for the second straight year, faces top-seeded Lucas Byrd of Illinois at 133 pounds. Davis was a curious No. 8 seed. He has five losses this season, including a 7-1 decision to Byrd in February, but has been in good form in Philadelphia. Davis is looking for that signature win this season. This would represent one.

Step by step for Beau Bartlett

Bartlett leaned on his experience Thursday night, dramatically rolling through a potential takedown attempt to beat South Dakota State's Julian Tagg 4-1. Bartlett doesn't score many takedowns, so they're usually impactful when he does. The win represented another step on his road to a first title.

Bartlett must remain methodical against Penn's CJ Composto in the quarterfinals. Composto, the 10th-seeded Ivy League champ, scored an impressive 6-4 decision over Oklahoma State's Tagen Jamison. If he wins, Bartlett would get either rival Jesse Mendez of Ohio State or Minnesota's Vance VomBaur, to whom he lost at Big Tens, in the semfinals. First things first.

Mitchell Mesenbrink meets a familiar opponent with a new team

Of course Mesenbrink began the NCAA Championships with two technical falls. But his quarterfinal opponent at 165 knows him well. Mesenbrink meets Oklahoma State's Cameron Amine, the No. 8 seed now wrestling for Oklahoma State.

Mesenbrink beat Amine twice last year when Amine wrestled for Michigan. That included a 6-1 decision in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Amine now wrestles for Oklahoma State coach David Taylor, who also knows Mesenbrink well, having trained with him in State College. This should be an interesting bout from a strategic perspective and a unique duel between Taylor and Cael Sanderson.

Josh Barr takes on a former Nittany Lion

Barr wrestled Penn State's most tense bout Thursday night, scoring a sudden-victory takedown for a 5-2 win over Oregon State's Trey Munoz. Barr's leg injury didn't appear to bother him in either match on Day 1, though Munoz did work the leg at one point in the second round.

Now, Barr will take on former Penn State wrestler Michael Beard, a fifth-year senior for Lehigh. Beard began his career at Penn State, where he was a 2021 All-American, before transferring to Lehigh. He placed eighth at 197 last year with the Mountain Hawks. Barr defeated Beard 11-3 at the Penn State-Lehigh dual meet in December.

The quarterfinals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships begin at noon ET Friday. ESPNU has the broadcast, and all bouts can be streamed on ESPN+.