Eight wrestlers from No. 1 Penn State qualified and advanced to the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championship quarterfinals.
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On Thursday, when rounds one and two were hosted, just two Nittany Lions did not move on to the next bout. The crew moving on includes No. 1 Luke Lilledahl, No. 3 Marcus Blaze, No. 1 Shayne Van Ness, No. 1 PJ Duke, No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, No. 1 Levi Haines, No. 1 Rocco Welsh, and No. 1 Josh Barr.
Lilledahl won by an 11-2 major decision versus No. 32 Mack Mauger out of Missouri. He then defeated West Virginia's No. 17 Jett Strickenberger in session two by a 4-2 decision. Lilledahl meets Iowa's No. 8 Dean Peterson for his quarterfinal matchup.
Blaze registered two technical falls to advance to the quarterfinals. He won versus No. 30 Gabe Whisenhunt out of Oregon State then beat No, 19 Gage Walker out of Missouri, both 17-2. He faces Iowa's No. 6 Drake Ayala on Friday.
Van Ness notched a technical fall and fall in sessions one and two, respectively. He won 19-4 against Brown's No. 33 Austin McBurney and took down No. 16 Jacob Frost out of Iowa State 2:23 into the match. His quarterfinal matchup is versus Oklahoma State's No. 8 Casey Swiderski.
Duke was the shining star on Thursday with two falls. He beat No. 33 Yannis Charles out of Morgan State 1:56 into the match then followed it up defeating Wisconsin's No. 17 Luke Mechler 1:38 into their match. Duke faces No. 8 Brandon Cannon out of Ohio State in session three.
Mesenbrink won by a 21-5 technical fall and 12-0 major decision to advance to the quarterfinals. In the first session, he beat No. 32 Cody Walsh out of Drexel then took down Ohio State's No. 16 Paddy Gallagher. Mesenbrink and North Carolina's No. 9 Bryce Hepner meet in the quarterfinals.
Haines dominated in the first two sessions with a fall and technical fall added to his record. He beat No. 33 Grant O'Dell out of Bellarmine 1:33 into the match then won versus Columbia's No. 16 Nick Fine by a 21-5 technical fall. Haines faces No. 9 Beau Mantanona out of Michigan on Friday.
Welsh beat No. 33 Caleb Uhlenhopp out of Utah Valley in round one by a 19-4 technical fall, then followed it up with a 13-4 major decision over Lehigh's No. 16 Rylan Rogers. In session three, Welsh faces Nebraska's No. 8 Silas Allred.
Barr won his first session versus No. 32 Blake Schaffer out of Kent State by a 20-1 technical fall. He then beat Bucknell's No. 17 Dillon Bechtold in an 11-3 major decision. Barr faces No. 9 Angelo Posada out of Stanford in Friday's quarterfinals.
Wrestlers No. 14 Braeden Davis and No. 9 Cole Mirasola will participate in consolation rounds on Friday.
Davis moved on in a 2-0 decision versus No. 19 Henry Drury out of Utah State in session one. However, his quest for a national title ended in session two as No. 3 Brock Hardy out of Nebraska defeated the Nittany Lion in a 9-4 decision.
Mirasola advanced after the first round by a 13-7 decision against No. 24 Connor Barker out of Duke. In the second session, Iowa's No. 8 Ben Kueter got the best of Mirasola, winning the match in a 4-0 decision. The Nittany Lion faces No. 23 Stephan Monchery out of Appalachian State in the consolation round.