Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1531683
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 5 47 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M THREE BEST WRESTLERS Greg Kerkvliet | Sr.+ | 285 Kerkvliet continues to be one of the most domi- nating wrestlers in the country. He kicked off the 2025 portion of the schedule with a 56-second vic- tory by fall over Michigan State's Max Vanadia and followed it up by defeating No. 24 Harley Andrews of Nebraska by technical fall, 20-2, in 6:12. Back in late December, Kerkvliet put an exclamation point on the 2024 portion of the slate by winning three bouts at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals — two by technical fall and one by fall. He is the No. 2 wres- tler in the heavyweight class, trailing only Minne- sota's Gable Steveson, a 2020 Olympic champion who made a surprise return to the Gophers late last year. Luke Lilledahl | Fr. | 125 Lilledahl earned the best win of his young col- legiate career when he scored a takedown with 15 seconds left to upset No. 6 Caleb Smith of Ne- braska, 4-2, on the road. Before that, he earned his first Big Ten dual meet win by stopping Michigan State's Luke Corday by technical fall, 19-2, in 6:08. Back in Nashville in late December, he won three times at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals, with a tech fall and two decisions. Josh Barr | R-Fr. | 197 You could make a very compelling argument that Barr should be first on this list. At the Col- legiate Wrestling Duals, he upset then-No. 5 Stephen Little of Arkansas Little Rock, 4-1, in sudden victory as part of a three-win day at the event that also included a technical fall and first- period pin. He kicked off Big Ten action by pinning Ryan Boucher of Michigan State in 5:48 and then added a technical fall over Nebraska's No. 22 Cam McDaniel, 19-4, in 6:42. KEY MOMENT Third-ranked Beau Bartlett battled No. 6 Brock Hardy of Nebraska in a rubber match between the two in early January. Each had previously defeated the other at the college level. Bartlett scored first and took a 6-3 lead into the third period, but the senior wasn't able to coast to a comfortable victory. That's because Hardy quickly escaped in the third period and then took Bartlett down for a 7-6 lead with 30 seconds to go. Un- deterred, the Penn State All-American worked underneath Hardy and eventually reversed him by locking up a cradle with seven seconds left. He rode out the period to win the match, 8-7. BEST HIGHLIGHT There are many different options to pick from here. Lilledahl's reversal of Smith is a contender for top honors, as are several of redshirt sopho- more Mitchell Mesenbrink's technical fall tri- umphs over the past month. Our pick, though, comes from the Arkansas Little Rock match at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals. In a scoreless 133-pound match between Penn State's 10th-ranked Braeden Davis and No. 5 Nasir Bailey, the Nittany Lion sophomore escaped for a 1-0 lead in the second period. Bailey had the choice to start the third and picked neutral. With tremendous defense and some action of his own, Davis kept Bailey at bay to finish the match on his feet and preserve the 1-point upset victory. BOLD PREDICTION Redshirt sophomore Shayne Van Ness will meet Nebraska's Ridge Lovett again in the postseason, and this time the outcome will be in favor of the Penn State wrestler. Lovett caught Van Ness late in their 149-pound dual meet bout in early Janu- ary, combining a 3-point takedown with 4 nearfall points to ultimately win by decision, 9-2. But the match was closer than it looked, and we think Van Ness will beat the Cornhusker if and when they meet again. — Greg Pickel PENN STATE WRESTLING SUPERLATIVES D E C . 1 5 – J A N . 1 7 True freshman 125-pounder Luke Lilledahl has gotten off to a strong start at Penn State. He topped Michigan State's Luke Corday by technical fall, 19-2, on Jan. 10. PHOTO BY CALEB CRAIG/PENN STATE ATHLETICS