NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For enthusiasts, a Penn State wrestling tripleheader had to put them in holiday heaven. The top-ranked and undefeated Nittany Lions made short work of the competition at the Journeymen Collegiate Duals in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, dominating all three matches.

The Nittany Lions blanked Binghamton and Little Rock, 52-0 and 44-0, before closing out the duals with a convincing 41-3 victory over No. 8 Missouri.

The only blemish on the day was a loss by junior Levi Haines, ranked second at 174 pounds, to top-ranked Keegan O’Toole, of Missouri, who topped the Nittany Lion wrestler with a controversial takedown in a 4-1 sudden victory.

PENN STATE 52, BINGHAMTON 0: In dominating Binghamton (1-2), Penn State (6-0) won all 10 matches, nine for bonus and notched its second-straight shutout win.

At 125 pounds, Penn State’s true freshman Luke Lilledahl, ranked No. 12, dominated No. 33 Carson Wagner. Lilledahl used six takedowns and an escape to post a 19-4 technical fall (5:37). Sophomore Braeden Davis, ranked No. 10 at 133, followed that up with a 6-0 shutout win over Binghamton’s Micah Roes to give the Nittany Lions an early 8-0 lead.

Senior Beau Bartlett, ranked No. 3 at 141, turned four takedowns into a strong 14-2 major over Binghamton’s Nate Lucier. Sophomore Shayne Van Ness, ranked No. 2 at 149, picked up Penn State’s first pin of the day, getting a late first period fall over Caleb Sweet in 2:49. Sophomore Tyler Kasak, ranked No. 4 at 157, pinned Jordan Brown early in the second period, getting the fall at 3:31, to give Penn State a 24-0 lead at the midway point.

Sophomore Mitchell Mesenbrink, ranked No. 1 at 165, received a forfeit win to put Penn State up 30-0. Haines used two takedowns, and three four-point turns to roll to an 18-0 tech fall (5:00) over Roberto Padilla. Graduate Carter Starocci, ranked No. 1 at 184, dominated No. 23 Will Ebert, using a first period takedowns and two reversals to open up a big lead before pinning the Bearcat at the 5:55 mark to give the Nittany Lions a 41-0 lead.

Redshirt freshman Josh Barr, ranked No. 7 at 197, exploded for five first period takedowns against Andrew Bailey. Barr finished off the first period tech fall with four back points, winning 19-4 at the 2:40 mark. Senior Greg Kerkvliet, ranked No. 2 at 285, ended the dual with a first-period pin of his own, getting the fall call over Charlie Tibbits at the 1:33 mark. Penn State owned a 25-0 lead in takedowns in the dual.

PENN STATE 44, LITTLE ROCK 0: The Nittany Lions dominated the Little Rock Trojans (6-1) in its second of three duals, 44-0, the third straight shutout win for the Nittany Lions.

At 125, Lilledahl opened with a strong 9-3 win over Little Rock’s Jaden Carson. At 133, Davis thrilled the partisan Penn State crowd by using a second-period escape to post a thrilling 1-0 win over No. 5 Nassir Bailey, putting Penn State up 6-0. At 141, Bartlett gave the Nittany Lions a 12-0 lead by pinning Cole Minnick at 5:23.

Van Ness came back from an early first period deficit against No. 16 Jordan Williams to pin the Trojan at the 4:39 mark of the second period, upping the Nittany Lion lead to 18-0. Kasak used a first period takedown to post a hard-fought 4-2 win over No. 20 Matty Bianchi. Penn State led Little Rock 21-0 at the midway point.

At 165, Mesenbrink continued Penn State’s scoreboard assault, scoring four takedowns and a turn to roll to a 17-1 tech fall over No. 21 Joey Bianchi at 5:27. Haines followed that up with another tech, using a couple takedowns and three turns to beat Kodiak Kennedy 18-2 (5:33), giving the Nittany Lions a 31-0 lead.

Starocci dominated Tristan Wills in the next match, taking him down three times and turning him twice before posting the 17-1 tech fall at 5:37 in the third period. Barr thrilled the Penn State faithful in his match-up against No. 5 Stephen Little, battling Little into extra time before ending the match with a takedown in sudden victory, winning 4-1 with just :17 on the clock.

Kerkvliet ended the dual meet with a 15-0 technical fall (1:40) over Little Rock’s Keith Miley. The Nittany Lions owned an 18-2 lead in takedowns.

PENN STATE 41, MISSOURI 3: Lilledahl opened up Penn State’s final dual of the day with a 5-4 win over Gage Walker. Davis then built up over 4:00 in riding time during a convincing 14-3 major over Missouri’s Kade Moore to give the Nittany Lions an early 7-0 lead.

Bartlett had to use extra time to beat No. 16 Josh Edmond at 141. Bartlett scored early in the extra period to post the 4-1 sudden victory.

At 149, Van Ness continued Penn State’s hot streak as he turned a first-period takedown into a pin at the 1:57 mark, it was Van Ness’ third pin of the day and gave the Lions a 16-0 lead. Kasak controlled James Conway for three periods and rolled to an 11-3 major decision to give Penn State a 20-0 lead at the midway point.

Mesenbrink won by forfeit as Penn State led 26-0. Haines took on O’Toole in a much-anticipated match-up. The duo battled through regulation even. A wild scramble in sudden victory ended with an O’Toole takedown, with Haines dropping the thriller.

At 184, Starocci dominated No. 10 Colton Hawks in another top 10 match-up. Starocci used a six-point third period to roll to a 10-1 major with over two minutes of riding time to put Penn State up 30-3. Barr blitzed Tiger Jesse Cassatt, opening up an 11-0 lead before pinning Cassatt at the 1:45 mark. Kerkvliet finished Penn State’s day with a final technical fall. Kerkvliet rolled to a 15-0 tech fall at the 5:57 mark over Missouri’s Jarrett Stoner.

Penn State owned a 15-2 takedown advantage.

UP NEXT

The Nittany Lions host Michigan State at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 10 in Rec Hall.