Penn State wrestler Josh Barr’s upset highlights Nittany Lions’ rout of Lehigh

The Penn State and Lehigh rivalry is one of the oldest in collegiate wrestling.

As of late, the series has been heavily dominated by the Nittany Lions, and Sunday’s result was no different — 36-3, in Penn State’s favor. It was the Nittany Lions’ 58th straight dual victory, which is two shy of tying the program’s all-time mark.

The match began with a pair of great bouts, but the highlight of the match came late, with the dual already locked up. It was when No. 23 Josh Barr faced off with the Mountain Hawks’ Michael Beard, who is ranked No. 6 currently and is a former Nittany Lions wrestler.

After a scoreless first period, Beard opened up the scoring with a reversal of Barr, but Barr was able to collect an escape. He tacked on a takedown with a nice low single leg to lead 4-2 after two periods.

In the third period, Barr poured on his offense to the tune of two takedowns. He earned an 11-3 major decision over Beard.

“I’m just ready to keep building. I was just telling coach Casey (Cunningham), I like doing it out here against other guys than my teammates,” Barr said. “It’s hard to wrestle my teammates — that’s what I’ve been doing for the past eight months. I’ve competed at Worlds, but besides that, it’s just in the room every day getting better. This is the fun stuff. I’m happy to be able to compete and grateful for the opportunities to keep getting better.”

Greg Kerkvliet followed Barr to close out the dual for Penn State by collecting a first-period technical fall, 15-0, in 2:07 over Calvin Lachman. He got an initial takedown and then collected three sets of nearfall points.

The dual began with a pair of bouts that saw ranked wrestlers squaring off.

The Nittany Lions’ Luke Lilledahl, who is ranked No. 16, gave fans a glimpse of how he gets his nickname “Lightning Luke.” He countered a late third-period takedown attempt from No. 15 Sheldon Seymour to secure a 4-1 win.

“My performance wasn’t great, but I still got it done, so that’s what’s important,” Lilledahl said. “It was hard to get through his defense. Obviously, he’s really good too, so that’s always a challenge, but definitely good to get out there and wrestle someone at that caliber and get that under my belt.”

Lehigh got its lone win at 133 pounds, with No. 1 Ryan Crookham using a first-period takedown — his team’s only takedown — to top No. 10 Braeden Davis, 4-2. Davis was making his return to the Nittany Lions’ lineup after injuring his right knee in the Drexel dual.

Beau Bartlett was steady for Penn State in his 5-0 win over Carter Bailey at 141 pounds. Shayne Van Ness blew open the Nittany Lions’ lead when he collected a 17-3 major decision over Matt Repos at 149 pounds.

Tyler Kasak handed Penn State a 13-3 dual lead at the break after topping a talented Logan Rozynski, 5-2.

After the half, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Levi Haines and Carter Starocci combined for three straight bonus-point victories before Barr came to the mat.

Mesenbrink cruised to an 18-1 technical fall of Thayne Lawrence in 4:37. Haines pinned Rylan Rogers in 4:12.

Starocci had four takedowns in a 15-1 major decision over Jack Wilt at 184 pounds. Starocci shoved Wilt’s head into the mat at the end of the match, which caused the Nittany Lions to lose a team point.

“Lehigh does a really good job. You walk away from the match, ‘Man, we got a lot of things we need to work on,’” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “When that happens every year, you just realize Lehigh does a really good job and hard to wrestle.”

No. 1 Penn State 36, No. 22 Lehigh 3

Sunday at Allentown

125: No. 16 Luke Lilledahl, PSU, dec. No. 15 Sheldon Seymour, 4-1

133: No. 1 Ryan Crookham, L, dec. No. 10 Braeden Davis, 4-2

141: No. 3 Beau Bartlett, PSU, dec. Carter Bailey, 5-0

149: No. 2 Shayne Van Ness, PSU, major dec. Matt Repos, 17-3

157: No. 4 Tyler Kasak, PSU, dec. Logan Rozynski, 5-2

165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, tech. fall Thayne Lawrence, 18-1 (4:37)

174: No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU, pinned Rylan Rogers, 4:12

184: No. 1 Carter Starocci, PSU, major dec. Jack Wilt, 15-1*

197: No. 23 Josh Barr, PSU, major dec. No. 6 Michael Beard, 11-3

285: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, tech. fall Calvin Lachman, 15-0 (2:07)

* - team point deducted from Penn State

Takedowns: PSU 20, L 1

Records: Penn State 2-0, Lehigh 1-2

Next match: Wyoming at Penn State, Dec. 15, 1 p.m.