PHILADELPHIA — One thing was certain for the Penn State wrestling team Friday night, the Nittany Lions were on their way to another team title and at least nine of them would return to Happy Valley as All-Americans.

As of the time of this writing, Penn State was comfortably in front of second-place Nebraska in the team race at Wells Fargo Center.

On the heels of Penn State’s historic 20-0 day on Thursday, the Nittany Lions started Friday’s competition with hopes of more historic performances.

Two other teams in NCAA history advanced 10 wrestlers to the quarterfinals: Iowa State in 1965 and Iowa in 1992. Each of those teams went 6-4 in the quarterfinals and each crowned nine All-Americans. Penn State went one better, going 7-3.

Beau Bartlett (141), Shayne Van Ness (149), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174), Carter Starocci (184), Josh Barr (197), Greg Kerkvliet (285) had won their quarterfinal bouts and were awaiting semifinal matchups at press time.

Luke Lilledahl (125), Braeden Davis (133) and Tyler Kasak (157) lost their quarterfinals, but Lilledahl and Davis bounced back with wins in their first consolation bouts and earned All-America status. Kasak awaited his opportunity to do the same.

After that perfect Thursday, Friday’s start was anything but.

The first chink in Penn State’s armor appeared right out of the gate in the quarterfinals. Lehigh’s Sheldon Seymour did a masterful job of slowing down Lilledahl’s offense and the match went into sudden victory tied 1-1. Neither wrestler scored in the sudden victory period and in the tiebreaker, Seymour escaped and, despite giving up a stall point, rode Lilledahl the entire period to build a 14-second advantage in riding time to claim the win.

Lilledahl rebounded with a 7-3 win over Wisconsin’s Nicolar Rivera to earn All-America status. He converted the initial takedown and then gave up two penalty points to lead 3-2 after one. He rode Rivera the entire second and then took neutral, scored another takedown and tacked on a riding time point for the 7-3 final. He was set to meet Northern Colorado’s Stevo Poulin later Friday night in the next round. He can finish as high as third and no lower than eighth.

The second loss came in the very next match. Top-seeded Lucas Byrd from Illinois followed up his 7-1 regular-season win over Davis with a thoroughly dominating 12-1 major decision in the quarterfinals. Davis, too, bounced back and earned All-American status in his next bout. He made a first-period takedown and escape in the second hold up for a 4-2 win. He will meet Nebraska’s Jacob Van Dee in the next round. He, too, can finish as high as third and no lower than eighth.

Bartlett righted the ship, escaping and scoring a takedown on Penn’s CJ Composto and then earning a riding time point for a 5-0 decision. He was to meet Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez for the eighth time in his career in a rematch of last year’s final.

Van Ness followed with a solid win over North Carolina’s Lachlan McNeil erasing a 1-0 deficit after two periods with an escape and two takedowns in the third for a 7-2 win. Van Ness was to wrestle Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett in the semifinals.

Kasak grabbed a lead in the first period with a takedown and Purdue’s Joey Blaze earned escapes in the first and second. Kasak escaped to start the third but Blaze converted a takedown and then rode Kasak out for a 5-4 win. Kasak was awaiting a match with Penn’s Jude Swisher, the Bellefonte graduate in the All-American round.

Oklahoma State’s Cam Amine did everything he could to slow down Mesenbrink. But after a scoreless first, Mesenbrink escaped and finally converted on a takedown. He rode the Cowboy the entire third for 2:03 in riding time advantage to earn another point in a 5-0 win. Mesenbrink awaited a showdown with Nebraska’s Christopher Minto.

Haines was able to convert takedowns in the first and third periods and added an escape to control Navy’s Danny Wask 7-0. Haines was to wrestle Oklahoma State’s Dean Hamiti.

Starocci made it three convincing wins over Maryland’s Jaxon Smith this year with his 9-1 major decision. Two takedowns and then points for an escape, stalling and riding time settled the decision. Starocci was to face Oklahoma State’s Duston Plott

Barr repeated his major decision of Lehigh’s Michael Beard with another, more dominating win in the quarterfinals. Barr racked up four takedowns in a stifling 14-3 win. Barr awaited a rematch with Michigan’s Jacob Cardenas.

Kerkvliet earned his trip to the semifinals with a commanding 5-0 win over Michigan’s Josh Heindselman. Kerkvliet used a first-period takedown, stall point and riding time point to earn the decision. His semifinal opponent was Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson.