PHILADELPHIA – The team race for the NCAA Wrestling Championships is expected to be the tightest in recent history and the first session provided a strong indication of that.

Second-ranked Penn State grabbed the early lead with 20 points at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday. The Nittany Lions are followed closely by No. 3 Iowa with 18 points and No. 1 Cornell with 16.5 points.

The Hawkeyes have won this tournament the past three seasons.

The usual shocking upsets that come in the first session were missing Thursday as 39 of the 40 wrestlers seeded in the top four advanced to the second round.

“We’re off to a good start and I think we have a real good chance to win this tournament,” said Penn State true freshman Andrew Alton, who won his first-round match by fall at 141 pounds. “Everyone just has to wrestle hard for seven minutes every match. If we do that, I think we will come out on top.”

Penn State went 7-1 in the first round on Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center. Iowa placed eight wrestlers in the second round and Cornell seven.

“If everyone does their job, I feel real good about our chances,” said Cornell 149-pounder Kyle Dake, a returning NCAA champion. “I’m real confident everyone on our team can do that.”

Fifth-ranked Wisconsin is in fourth place with 15 points and six wrestlers in the second round.  Seventh-ranked Minnesota and fourth-ranked Oklahoma State are both tied for fifth with 14 points. Minnesota put seven wrestlers in the second round. Oklahoma State went 5-5 in the first round.

The second session is set for 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday in Philadelphia.

The highest seeded wrestler to fall in the first round was fourth-seeded heavyweight Dominick Russo III of Rutgers, who fell 5-2 to Arizona State’s Levi Cooper.

Top seed Anthony Robles of Arizona State rolled to a 17-1 technical fall over Virginia’s Matthew Snyder in the first round at 125. He will face Harvard’s Steve Keith in the second round.

“It was a good start,” Robles said. “I just need to make sure and finish my shots 100 percent. One down and four to go. I feel good and I feel confident. I’m undefeated and I plan on continuing it. There are a lot of tough guys out there who want the same thing I want, so I have to be ready.”

Past NCAA champion Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska won by a 23-7 technical fall over Pittsburgh’s Ethan Headlee. He advances to face Binghamton’s Justin Lister in the second round at 165 pounds.

Burroughs won NCAAs at 157 in 2009 before missing last year’s tournament after suffering a knee injury.

“I’m really hungry to win this again,” Burroughs said. “I know it’s a tough weight class. I just have to stay humble. Being the favorite doesn’t change anything for me. Regardless of whether I’m the No. 1 seed, you have to beat a good guy eventually if you’re going to win a national title. I just have to stay patient and know every guy is gunning for a national title.”

North Carolina State senior Darrion Caldwell, another 2009 champion who missed last season’s event with an injury, returned with an 18-7 win over Ivan Lopouchanski of North Carolina-Greensboro. The top-seeded Caldwell advances to face Michigan’s Eric Grajales in the second round at 149.

“I feel blessed to be back out there and have another shot at this,” said Caldwell, who had been slowed by a shoulder injury. “I’ve worked really hard and I’m ready to win another national title. I had a couple of jitters early on. This is the big stage we all live for. We all want to make it to this point. It’s exciting.”

Returning NCAA champions Matt McDonough of Iowa (125) and Andrew Howe of Wisconsin (165) also passed their first-round tests on Thursday.

Oklahoma State’s sixth-seeded Dallas Bailey fell to Hofstra’s Paul Gillespie 4-2 sudden victory at 165.

Iowa suffered a first-round setback at 165 when No. 11 seed Aaron Janssen fell 3-2 to Virginia Tech’s Peter Yates.