CLEVELAND — 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.

Penn State led the team race with 40.5 points, ahead of second-place Nebraska with 27, third-place Iowa with 25.5 and Oklahoma State with 25, and advanced eight 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), Levi Haines (174), Rocco Welsh (184) and Josh Barr (197) all went 2-0 and earned quarterfinal matches. Braeden Davis (141) and Cole Mirasola (285) went 1-1, losing in the Round of 16, but were still alive in the wrestlebacks.

“Yeah, overall good day. Guys are wrestling hard, tough; a lot of just good enthusiasm. Obviously, tomorrow’s the big day, big point day. And then obviously it gets bigger on Saturday, I guess. Guys are doing fine. Just got to keep rolling,” Nittany Lion coach Cael Sanderson said.

Penn State won 18 of 20 bouts, 10 of 10 in the first round and eight of 10 in the Round of 16. They scored bonus points in 15 of those wins with seven technical falls, four falls and four major decisions.

Sanderson said he was pleased that some his guys who didn’t show a lot of offense at the Big Ten tournament turned it up on Thursday.

“”Yeah, I think I have to break it down individually. But yeah, I think so. This is a nationals, so you got to go do what you do, and go score points and find a way to win the match. Doesn’t really matter. I mean, all that matters is you just got to score points,” he said.

One job he will have overnight was to instill belief in Davis and Mirasola that they could wrestle back and earn All-America honors.

“”Yeah, that’s what it’s all about, is, battling and just keep fighting. That’s obviously, more important than winning and losing, right? And then our guys, just give your best effort, just go compete hard and do the best you can, and everything will work out,” he said.

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 dictated 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 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 takes on North Carolina’s Bryce Hepner in the quarterfinals.

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 met Columbia’s Nick Fine in the second round and dominated once again, racking up a 21-5 technical fall in 5:26. Haines went the takedown route, scoring seven, in his win.

He’ll see Michigan’s Beau Mantanona in the quarterfinals. Haines owns a 19-4 tech fall over the Wolverine this season.

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. This time, it wasn’t even close as Welsh bookended two takedowns in each of the first and third periods around an escape in the second for a 13-4 major decision.

Welsh will meet Nebraska’s Silas Allred, who Welsh majored 14-5 in the dual meet, in the quarterfinals.

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 met Bucknell’s Dillon Bechtold in the next round and posted a measured 11-3 major decision. He scored two takedowns in the first and added another in the third.

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. On Thursday night, the Hawkeye escaped in the second and then countered a Mirasola takedown and turned it into one for him in a 4-0 win. Mirasola will wrestle in the second round of wrestlebacks this morning.

Lock Haven’s four-man contingent was whittled down to one after the first day.

Senior 141-pounder Wyatt Henson, the No. 13 seed, met Julian Tagg of South Dakota State in the first round. The Bald Eagle punched his ticket to the second round with a dominating 11-2 major decision.

In the second round, Henson met Iowa State No. 4 seed Anthony Echemendia. The Cyclone was just too much for Henson as Echemendia bumped Henson into the wrestlebacks after a 14-4 major decision.

Senior Gable Strickland, the 31 seed at 133, had the unenviable task of meeting No. 2 seed Ben Davino of Ohio State in the first round. A 17-2 technical fall loss dropped Strickland into the wrestlebacks where he met Gunner Andrick of West Virginia. Andrick ended Strickland’s tournament with a 6-1 decision.

Sophomore 149-pounder Lucas Kapusta, who was seeded No. 17, faced Iowa State 17 seed Jacob Frost in the first round. Frost pinned Kapusta in 3:48 to set up a wrestleback match between Kapusta and Brown’s McBurney. McBurney nipped Kapusta 4-3 to end his year.

Senior Avery Bassett, the No. 29 seed at 174 pounds, drew Ohio State No. 4 seed Carson Kharchla in the opening round. Kharchla’s 8-3 win dropped Bassett into a wrestleback match with Binghamton No. 13 seed Carter Baer, who won 4-1 to eliminate Bassett.

Bucknell’s five-man herd has been culled to four in this morning’s wrestlebacks.

Junior 165-pounder Noah Mulvaney, the No. 19 seed, opened the tournament with an 8-2 upset win against No. 14 seed Andrew Barbosa from Rutgers. That set up a second-round bout with No. 3 seed Mikey Caliendo of Iowa. The third-seeded Hawkeye was just too much in a 20-5 technical fall in 4:59. He’ll meet Ty Whalen of Princeton in the wrestlebacks.

Myles Takats, the junior 174-pounder who was seeded 10th, squared off with No. 23 seed Luca Augustine of Pitt in the first round. The Bison pulled off a 6-4 win to advance and meet No. 7 seed Cam Steed of Missouri, who throttled Takats 3-0. He’ll meet Sergio Desiante of Virginia Tech in the wrestlebacks.

Sophomore Dillon Bechtold, the No. 17 seed at 197, had to use the sudden victory period to pull out a 4-1 win over Maryland’s Branson John, the No. 16 seed, to open the tournament. That earned Bechtold a match with No. 1 seed Barr who dominated. He takes on Andrew Reall of Brown in the wrestlebacks.

Senior Dylan Chappell, the 23 seed at 141 pounds, met 10 seed Jack Consiglio in the first round and fell 9-5. In the first round of wrestlebacks, Chappell met Army’s Braden Basile, the No. 26 seed. Chappell eked out a 2-1 win to advance to the second round of wrestlebacks against Nash Singleton of Oregon State.

Sophomore Tyler Bienus earned was seeded 30th after receiving an at-large bid at 184. His first-round opponent was Minnesota No. 3 seed Max McEnelly. In a pigtail wrestleback bout, Bienus met Indiana No. 33 seed Sam Goin. In a nailbiter, Goin won 2-1 in tiebreaker one.