CLEVELAND, Ohio — Penn State started planting the seeds of its fifth consecutive championship on Day 1 of the 2026 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships on Thursday at Rocket Arena.

Through matches at 165 pounds at press time, Penn State led the team race with 32 points, eight ahead of second-place Oklahoma State, and had advanced five wrestlers into this morning’s quarterfinal round.

Luke Lilledahl (125), Marcus Blaze (133), Shayne Van Ness (149), P.J. Duke (157) and Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) all went 2-0 and earned quarterfinal matches. Braeden Davis (141) went 1-1, losing in the Round of 16, but was still alive in the wrestlebacks.

As of press time, Levi Haines (174), Rocco Welsh (184), Josh Barr (197) and Cole Mirasola (285) were awaiting Round of 16 bouts.

At that point, Penn State had won 15 of 16 bouts, 10 of 10 in the first round and five of six in the Round of 16.

Lilledahl got his tournament started with an 11-2 major decision over Mack Mauger of Missouri. After a scoreless first, Lilledahl escaped and scored a takedown to lead 4-1 heading into the third. He tacked on two takedowns in the third, as well as a riding time point.

In the second round, Lilledahl took on West Virginia’s Jeff Strickenberger. After a scoreless first, Lilledahl kicked the Mountaineer loose and then worked for a takedown. Strickenberger escaped to set the score at 3-2 heading into the final period. Lilledahl escaped and couldn’t convert on a couple takedown attempts to win the decision 3-2. Lilledahl will meet Iowa’s Dean Peterson in this morning’s quarterfinals. Lilledahl has defeated the Hawkeye twice this season.

In his NCAA tournament debut, it took Blaze a couple minutes to get warmed up but with just over a minute to go in the first period he took down Oregon State’s Gabe Whisenhunt and led 3-0 after one. In the second, he revved up his offense, escaping, scoring two takedowns off singles and then tilting the Beaver for four more and a 14-1 lead. Blaze allowed Whisenhunt to escape to start the third and then converted another single to finish off the match in 5:30 by a 17-1 score.

Blaze scored 17 points again in the Round of 16 against Missouri’s Gage Walker. Blaze coaxed a stall point and then late in the first took Walker down to his back to open an 8-0 lead after one. He tacked on a reversal and another takedown in the second and an escape and takedown in the third to end the match in 6:10 by a 17-2 score. Blaze will meet Iowa’s Drake Ayala in the quarterfinals, an opponent Blaze has defeated twice this season.

Davis had to rely on his top game and neutral defense to emerge with a 2-0 first-round win over Utah Valley’s Haiden Drury. Davis rode Drury the entire second period and escaped eight seconds into the third. The escape and riding time point stood up for the win.

In the next round, Davis met an old foe, Nebraska’s Brock Hardy. Davis led Hardy 7-5 through two periods in the dual meet before Hardy cradle him and pinned him in the third. This time, Davis forged a 4-2 lead after one but Hardy escaped and scored a takedown in the second and added another takedown in the third for a 9-4 decision. The loss knocked Davis into the wrestlebacks and signalled Penn State’s first loss of the tournament.

Van Ness exploited a clear advantage on his feet in rolling to a 19-4 technical fall in 5:35 over Brown’s Austin McBurney in the opening round. Van Ness built a 3-0 first-period lead into a 14-1 advantage after two with an escape and four takedowns. He tacked on another in the third to secure the win.

The Nittany Lion met Iowa State’s Jacob Frost in the second round. Van Ness dicatated pace from the start, eventually converting two takedowns and, after the second, turning Frost and securing the fall in 2:33.

Duke rode the wave of momentum he built in the Big Ten Championships ride into his first NCAA tournament. Against Morgan State’s Yannis Charles, Duke secured four decisive takedowns. On the last one, he took Charles to his back and stuck him in 1:55. That set up a second-round showdown with Wisconsin’s Luke Mechler. Duke went on the attack from the opening whistle scoring six takedowns with relative ease before locking up a near cradle and decking the Badger in 1:38. Duke meets Ohio State’s Brandon Cannon in the quarterfinals.

Like Duke, Mesenbrink was relentless right from the opening whistle in his first-round technical fall over Drexel’s Cody Walsh. He scored five first-period takedowns to lead 15-4 after one. He added two more in the second to end the match in 3:45 with a 21-5 score. Mesenbrink continued to dominate in the Round of 16, scoring two takedowns and pushing pace so much he earned four penalty points for stalling in a 12-0 major decision over Ohio State’s Paddy Gallagher. Mesenbrink was awaiting a quarterfinal opponent.

Haines wasted little time in winning his first match. Against Bellarmine’s Grant O’Dell, Haines scored the first takedown and then turned O’Dell and stuck him in 1:33. Haines was to meet Columbia’s Nick Fine in the second round.

Welsh cranked up his offense in his first-round bout against Utah Valley’s Caleb Uhlenhopp, scoring two takedowns in each period in his 19-4 technical fall in 6:31. He earned a rematch with Lehigh’s Rylan Rogers, who Welsh nipped 4-2 in the dual meet.

Barr blitzed Kent State’s Blake Schaffer in his first match of the tournament. The Nittany Lion used six takedowns and a two-point nearfall to post a 20-4 technical fall in 5:43. Barr will meet Bucknell’s Dillon Bechtold in the next round.

Mirasola made it a clean sweep of the first round for Penn State with his 13-7 decision over Duke’s Connor Barket. He used three takedowns to build a 9-2 first-period lead and added an escape and takedown in the third. That set up a third meeting this season with iowa’s Ben Kueter. The Hawkeye won 2-0 at the Big Ten tournament and Mirasola won 4-3 in the dual meet.