Cornell’s Kyle Dake (in red) battles Oklahoma State’s Jamal Parks in the quarterfinals. Larry Slater photo.

PHILADELPHIA – Most of the buzz over the first two days of the NCAA Wrestling Championships has been about second-ranked Penn State.

The Nittany Lions, competing in their home state, are seeking their first national team title since 1953 and have the most exciting young wrestler in the tournament in unbeaten freshman David Taylor.

Penn State led after the first two sessions on Thursday, but top-ranked Cornell turned in a superb first session on Friday to grab a narrow lead before 17,289 fans at the Wells Fargo Center.

Cornell is in first place with 61 points and four wrestlers in the semifinals. Penn State is in second with 60.5 points and four in the semis. Third-ranked Iowa is third with 52 points and three in the semis. Ninth-ranked American is fourth with 49 points and three in the semis.

Cornell is seeking its first national team title in wrestling. The Big Red finished second in this event last year.

“We had some good and some bad in that round,” Cornell coach Rob Koll said. “We put four guys in the semifinals, but we had some setbacks in the wrestlebacks. We have five guys still going and we need great performances from all of them to be able to win this tournament.”

The Hawkeyes have won this tournament the past three seasons. 

The semifinals are set for 7 p.m. Friday at the Wells Fargo Center. They will be televised live on ESPNU.

Penn State advanced four wrestlers to the semifinals, but Nittany Lions Ed Ruth (174) and Cameron Wade (285) had to injury default their matches in the quarterfinals.

“Cam is worse than Ruth. If these guys can wrestle tonight, they will go out and scrap,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson. “All of our guys just have to wrestle, that’s what it comes down to. We still have a shot to win this tournament. We just have to keep wrestling hard.”

Penn State sophomore Andrew Long has emerged as the sparkplug at the beginning of the team’s power-packed lineup.

The third-seeded Long surrendered the opening takedown, but responded in dramatic fashion by rebounding to pin No. 11 Scotti Sentes of Central Michigan in the 133-pound quarterfinals.

Long was an NCAA runner-up for Iowa State at 125 last year. He will face No. 2 Andrew Hochstrasser of Boise State in the semifinals.

“I try to keep it entertaining, and I’m always working out there,” Long said. “I was losing that match, but I kept my focus. I felt him relax for a second and I clamped down on him. We are trying to seal the team title in this quarterfinal round. If we keep wrestling like we are, we hope to keep stretching the lead out in the team race. Hopefully, our team can walk away with the gold.”

Unbeaten Penn State freshman and No. 3 seed David Taylor (157) heard the cheers when Long recorded his fall and Taylor followed suit with a 6-3 win over No. 6 Derek St. John of Iowa. It was Taylor’s closest match of the year after he beat St. John 8-3 in the Big Ten finals.

“That was huge, what Long did. The intensity is everywhere and we are definitely feeding off of our crowd,” Taylor said. “It’s a close team race and every match counts. It’s exciting to have an opportunity to see our team have an opportunity to win this.”

The Nittany Lions received another huge win when No. 9 seed Quentin Wright downed top seed Chris Honeycutt of Edinboro 7-3 in the 184 quarters.

Penn State did suffer an upset loss at 174 when the second-seeded Ruth lost to Stanford’s seventh-seeded Nick Amuchastegui in the quarters. Wade suffered a leg injury in the quarters and had to injury default his match with top-ranked heavyweight Zach Rey of Lehigh.

Iowa’s fifth-seeded Montell Marion pulled out one of the most dramatic wins in the tournament when he rallied for an improbable 8-7 win over No. 4 seed Jimmy Kennedy of Illinois in the 141 quarters.

Marion, an NCAA runner-up last year, was down 5-2 in the third period. He picked up a stalling point and spun behind Kennedy in the closing seconds in a stunning finish. Kennedy beat Marion in the third-place match at the Big Ten tournament.

Iowa received another big boost when No. 12 seed Grant Gambrall pulled out a double-overtime win over No. 4 Travis Rutt of Wisconsin in the 184 quarters. Rutt pinned Gambrall in the Big Ten tournament. Gambrall will battle Wright, the Big Ten champion, in the semifinal round.

“I was going for fifth place at Big Tens and all of my teammates were going for first and third,” Gambrall said. “I was sitting there thinking that I am in the same practices with these guys every day and I work just as hard. There is no reason I shouldn’t be where they are, wrestling for first place at Big Tens. It kind of flipped a switch for me. I wrestled a lot better match for fifth place and got a major. And I’ve been on a roll here so far.”

Past NCAA champions Matt McDonough of Iowa (125), Kyle Dake of Cornell (149), Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska (165) and Andrew Howe of Wisconsin (165) each advanced to the semifinals.

The No. 2 McDonough will meet All-American and No. 3 seed Brandon Precin of Northwestern in the semifinals. Precin beat McDonough in the Midlands finals this season before McDonough responded to beat Precin in a dual meet and in the Big Ten finals.

The fourth-seeded Dake, the champion at 141 last year, beat No. 5 Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State 3-0 in the 149 quarters. Dake will meet No. 8 Ganbayar Sanjaa of American in the semifinals.

The second-seeded Howe earned a 4-1 win over No. 7 Shane Onufer of Wyoming in the quarters. Howe will face No. 3 Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma in the semis. Howe, a junior, is seeking his third straight trip to the finals.

The top-seeded Burroughs rolled to a 23-8 technical fall over No. 8 Scott Winston of Rutgers in the quarters. Burroughs will meet No. 5 Colt Sponseller of Ohio State in the semis.

“I’m on a mission,” Burroughs said. “I’m hungry. It was tough, not wrestling in this tournament last year. It didn’t sit well with me. I have one more chance to get this done.”

No. 1 seed Anthony Robles of Arizona State became a three-time All-American after continuing his unbeaten season with a 7-3 quarterfinal win over No. 8 Jarrod Patterson of Oklahoma. Robles, born without a right leg, is two wins from ending his senior season with a title at 125.

Utah Valley’s Ben Kjar became the school’s first All-American after he knocked off No. 5 seed Zach Sanders of Minnesota 5-3 in the 125 quarterfinals. Kjar had upset No. 4 seed James Nicholson of Old Dominion in the second round.

TOP 10 TEAMS
Cornell 61, Penn State 60.5, Iowa 52, American 49, Oklahoma State 44.5, Wisconsin 41, Lehigh 37, Arizona State 35, Boise State 35, Minnesota 32.

SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS

125 POUNDS
No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) vs. No. Ben Kjar (Utah Valley)
No. 3 Brandon Precin (Northwestern) vs. No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa)

133 POUNDS
No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 4 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin)
No. 3 Andrew Long (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State)

141 POUNDS
No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) vs. No. 5 Montell Marion (Illinois)
No. 3 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) vs. No. 2 Mike Thorn (Minnesota) 

149 POUNDS
No. 8 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American) vs. No. 4 Kyle Dake (Cornell)
No. 6 Jason Chamberlain (Boise State) vs. No. 2 Frank Molinaro (Penn State)

157 POUNDS
No. 8 Jason Welch (Northwestern) vs. No. 4 Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State)
No. 2 Steve Fittery (American) vs. No. 3 David Taylor (Penn State)

165 POUNDS
No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) vs. No. 5 Colt Sponseller (Ohio State)
No. 3 Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma) vs. No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin)

174 POUNDS
No. 1 Jon Reader (Iowa State) vs. No. 5 Chris Henrich (Virginia)
No. 3 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) vs. No. 7 Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford)

184 POUNDS
No. 9 Quentin Wright (Penn State) vs. No. 12 Grant Gambrall (Iowa)
No. 3 Steve Bosak (Cornell) vs. No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh)

197 POUNDS
No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) vs. No. 4 Dustin Kilgore (Kent State)
No. 3 Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin) vs. No. 2 Clayton Foster (Oklahoma State)

285 POUNDS
No. 1 Zach Rey (Lehigh) vs. No. 5 Dom Bradley (Missouri)
No. 3 Ryan Flores (American) vs. No. 2 Jarod Trice (Central Michigan)