AP PHOTO - Iowa’s Alex Marinelli, right, and Oklahoma State’s Joseph Smith battle during their 165-pound match in the first round of the NCAA wrestling championships Thursday in Pittsburgh.

PITTSBURGH — Penn State rolled through the first two sessions of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday and is poised to capture its eighth team championship in nine seasons.

Like they’ve done in past years, the Nittany Lions jumped out to an early lead in the opening round and extended it with impressive performances in the second.

Nick Lee (141 pounds), Jason Nolf (157), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark Hall (174), Bo Nickal (197) and Anthony Cassar (285) each went 2-0 to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals and help Penn State take a 32 1/2-25 1/2 lead over second place Ohio State.

Nolf and Joseph, two-time defending champions at their weight classes, combined for two pins and a technical fall, and Nickal, a two-time champion at 184 pounds, added two pins. Combined, Penn State wrestlers picked up 11 bonus-point wins in the first two sessions.

The Nittany Lions had gone 9-0 in the opening round before Roman Bravo-Young (133), Brady Berge (149) and Shakur Rasheed (197) lost in Round 2. They fell into consolation matches but can still finish as high as third.

“Our guys wrestled OK,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “We’ve got to pick it up and wrestle a little bit better (Friday), with more fire I think.”

Ohio State, the only team to win a title during Penn State’s current run, entered as the lone school with 10 qualifiers. By Thursday evening, the Buckeyes’ contingent had been cut to five wrestlers still alive for individual championships.

Led by former 174-pound champion Myles Martin (184) who advanced to the quarters with a pin and major decision, the Buckeyes sent Luke Pletcher (133), Joey McKenna (141), Micah Jordan (149) and Kollin Moore (197) into the quarters.

Iowa, looking to win its first team title since 2010, matched Penn State in the opening round and is 1.5 points behind Ohio State.

The Hawkeyes’ followed their 9-0 effort in Round 1 with a 7-2 showing in the second that vaulted defending 125-pound champion Spencer Lee, Austin DeSanto (133), Max Murin (141), Pat Lugo (149), Kaleb Young (157), Alex Marinelli (165) and Sam Stoll (285) into their respective quarterfinals.

Minnesota and Oklahoma State are tied for fourth with 20 team points. Wrestling continues through Friday with the finals set for Saturday evening.

Iowa had a tournament-high seven wrestlers make it to Friday’s quarterfinals.

“Session two is in the books. We have a lot of work to do,” Hawkeye head coach Tom Brands said. “Session three starts tomorrow and we have two guys on the backside who will have two matches. Seven guys will be in the quarters. We have to be strong. Close matches have to go our way.”

The two Iowa wrestlers on the backside now are Cash Wilcke at 184 and Jacob Warner at 197.

Iowa State is in 11th place after the first day of competition at PPG Paints Arena with 14.5 team points. Two Cyclones made it to the quarterfinals, with Jarrett Degen at 149 and Sam Colbray at 184 moving on.

Degen won his first match of the tournament by a 14-3 major decision over CSU-Bakersfield’s Russel Rohlfing, then he beat North Carolina State’s Justin Oliver by 11-8, and Colbray beat Jackson Hemauer from Fresno State by an 8-2 decision and Dakota Greer of Oklahoma State by a 7-4 decision.

Austin Gomez at 133 also won his first match of the day but lost in his second and was sent to the backside. Alex Mackall at 125, Ian Parker at 141, Chase Straw at 149, Marcus Coleman at 174, Christian Brunner at 197 and Gannon Gremmel at 285 all lost their first round but won their first consolation match to stay alive heading into day two.

Northern Iowa placed two into the quarterfinals, with Bryce Steiert at 165, Taylor Lujan at 174 and Drew Foster at 184 all starting the tournament with wins. The Panthers are currently 10th in the team standings with 15.5 points.

Steiert opened with a second-period pin of Bryce Martin from Indiana, then he won a close 2-1 decision over Logan Massa from Michigan.

Lujan beat Hayden Hastings from Wyoming by a 15-7 major decision in round one, then he pinned Devin Skatzka from Minnesota in the second period.

Foster took a 10-0 major decision over Christian LaFragola from Brown, then he beat Lou Deprez from Binghamton by a 7-1 decision.

Jay Schwarm at 125, Josh Alber at 141 and Max Thomsen at 149 all are still alive on the backside for UNI.

The third session for the NCAA National Wrestling Championships starts at 10 a.m. today with the championship and consolation rounds both running simultaneously on eight mats.