KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Penn State, the returning champion and a heavy favorite to win the team title, held a 1.5 point lead over Big Ten rival Nebraska after the first session of the NCAA Div. I Championships at the T-Mobile Center. The Nittany Lions had 15.5 points, with the Huskers at 14 points.

To answer some questions for the fans, three-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci competed well, after a late season injury led to taking defaults at the Big Ten Championships. Seeded No. 9 at 174, Starocci opened with a 12-6 win over No. 24 seed Andrew Sparks of Minnesota.

The other three-time champion for Penn State, Aaron Brooks, started with a powerful 19-4 technical fall over Evan Bates of Northwestern at 197.

Penn State’s power in the upper weights allowed them to take the team lead late in the session. The three big men, Bernie Truax (184), Brooks and Greg Kerkvliet (285) all secured technical falls. Penn State put eight wrestlers into the second round,

However, the team took some significant hits early in the session. The Nittany Lions lost its first match of the day, as No. 10 seed Aaron Nagao was controlled by No. 23 seed Marlon Yarbrough of Virginia in a 13-5 major decision at 133 pounds. The challenges continued at 149, where No. 26 seed Jaden Abas of Stanford knocked off No. 7 Tyler Kasak, 4-2.

Nebraska had a great start for the tournament, winning its first eight matches, with just one loss during the day. The Huskers secure bonus points from Brock Hardy (141), Ridge Lovett (149), Antrell Taylor (165) and Lenny Pinto (184).

Rounding out the top five were Michigan with 13.5 points, Iowa State with 13 points and Ohio State with 12.5 points.

All of the past NCAA champions were able to advance, including Starocci and Brooks, plus Vito Arujau of Cornell (133), two-timer Keegan O’Toole of Missouri (165), David Carr of Iowa State (165) Shane Griffith of Michigan (165) and Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech (174).

In this session, all 330 wrestlers in the tournament had at least one match. The highest seeds to lose were both seeded number five. At 125 pounds, No. 28 seed Diego Sotello of Harvard edged No. 5 Jore Volk of Wyoming, 5-3. At 174, No. 28 Jared Simma of UNI edged No. 5 Philip Conigliaro of Harvard, 7-0.

Session Two begins at 6:00 p.m. Central time, with the second round on the championship side and the start of the consolation matches. Thursday night’s action will be live on ESPN, and also on ESPN+ MatCast.

NCAA DIV. I CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Kansas City, Mo., March 21

Team Standings

1 Penn State 15.5

2 Nebraska 14.0

3 Michigan 13.5

4 Iowa State 13.0

5 Ohio State 12.5

6 Virginia Tech 11.5

7 Cornell 11.0

7 NC State 11.0

9 Iowa 10.5

10 Oklahoma State 10.0

11 Missouri 9.0

12 Arizona State 8.0

12 Wisconsin 8.0

14 Rutgers 7.0

14 Stanford 7.0)

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Session One upsets (lower seed beats higher seed)

No. 28 at 125 Diego Sotello (Harvard) dec. No. 5 Jore Volk (Wyoming), 5-3

No. 28 at 174 Jared Simma (UNI) dec. No. 5 Philip Conigliaro (Harvard), 7-0

No. 26 at 141 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) dec. No. 7 Cael Happel (UNI), 8-5, SV-1

No. 26 at 149 Jaden Abas (Stanford) dec. No. 7 Tyler Kasak (Penn State), 4-2.

No. 26 at 197 Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) dec. Zach Glazier (Iowa), 4-1, SV-1

No. 25 at 184 David Key (U.S. Naval Academy) dec. No. 8 Sam Wolf (U.S. Air Force Academy), 4-1

No. 25 at 285 Bradley Hill (Iowa) dec. Owen Trephan (NC State), 4-2

No. 24 at 133 Julian Chlebove (Arizona State) dec. No. 9 Dominic Serrano (Northern Colorado), 4-1

No. 24 at 184 Shane Liegel (Wisconsin) maj. dec. No. 9 Bennett Berge (South Dakota State), 9-1

No. 23 at 133 Marlon Yarbrough (Virginia) dec. No. 10 Aaron Nagao (Penn State), 13-5

No. 23 at 141 Danny Fongaro (Indiana) dec. No. 10 Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State), 9-8

No. 22 at 133 Domenic Zaccone (Campbell) dec. No. 11 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly), 4-1

No. 22 at 149 Gabe Willochell (Wyoming) maj. dec. No. 11 Quinn Kinner (Rider), 8-0

No. 22 at 165 Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) dec. No. 11 Andrew Cerniglia (Navy), 10-9

No. 22 at 197 Garrett Joles (Minnesota) dec. No. 11 Jaxon Smith (Maryland), 6-5

No. 21 at 133 Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) dec. No. 12 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech), 8-7

No. 21 at 141 Josh Edmond (Missouri) dec. No. 12 Wyatt Henson (Lock Haven), 4-1, SV-1

No. 21 at 149 Willie McDougald (Oklahoma) dec. No. 12 Ethen Miller (Maryland), 5-4

No. 21 at 174 Tyler Eischens (North Carolina) dec. No. 12 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa), 9-7

No. 20 at 141 Tom Crook (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 13 Jordan Titus (West Virginia), 4-1

No. 20 at 149 Jordan Williams (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 13 Caleb Rathjen (Iowa), 12-5

No. 20 at 165 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) maj. dec. No. 13 Joseph Bianchi (Little Rock), 11-0

No. 20 at 197 Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) dec. No. 13 Levi Hopkins (Campbell), 3-2, SV-1

No. 19 at 157 Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) maj. dec. No. 14 Cody Chittum (Iowa State), 17-6

No. 19 at 174 Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) pin No. 14 Gaven Sax (North Dakota State), 2:37

No. 19 at 184 James Conway (F&M) dec. No. 14 Chris Foca (Cornell), 5-4

No. 19 at 285 Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) dec. No. 14 Boone McDermott (Oregon State), 6-5

No. 18 at 174 Benjamin Pasiuk (Army) dec. No. 15 MJ Gaitan (Iowa State), 18-11

No. 18 at 197 Nicholas Stemmet (Stanford) dec. No. 15 Max Shaw (North Carolina), 6-4

No. 17 at 125 Brett Ungar (Cornell) dec. No. 16 Dean Peterson (Rutgers), 2-1, TB-1

No. 17 at 141 Isaiah Powe (Chattanooga) dec. No. 16 Dylan Chappell (Bucknell), 9-4

No. 17 at 149 Graham Rooks (Indiana) dec. No. 16 Kelvin Griffin (Lehigh), 12-5

No. 17 at 184 Will Feldkamp (Iowa State) dec. No. 16 Nate Dugan (Princeton), 2:29

No. 17 at 197 Joseph Novak (Wyoming) dec. No. 16 Luke Stout (Princeton), 9-6

No. 17 at 285 Grady Griess (Navy) dec. No. 16 Cory Day (Binghamton), 4-1, SV-1

Pigtail upsets

No. 33 at 125, Tristan Lujan (Michigan State) dec. No. 32 Mike Joyce (Brown), 8-4

No. 33 at 133 Dyson Dunham (VMI) dec. No. 32 Cayden Rocks (Indiana), 9-5

No. 33 at 149 Michael Cetta (Rutgers) dec. No. 32 Jeffrey Boyd (Citadel), 8-5, TB-1

No. 33 at 165 Jack Thomsen (UNI) maj dec. No. 32 Jake Logan (Lehigh), 14-3

No. 33 at 174 Cael Valencia (Arizona State) dec. No. 32 Brody Baumann (Purdue), 5-0

No. 33 at 197 Evan Bates (Northwestern) dec. John Crawford (F&M), 4-3

Penn State leads Nebraska by 1.5 points after session one of NCAA Div. I Championships in Kansas City

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