Posted on 03/22/2024 9:22:57 PM PDT by FLNittany
Penn State wrestling has done it again. Cael Sanderson and the Nittany Lions secured the program’s 11th NCAA championship since Sanderson was hired in 2009 and Penn State’s 12th NCAA championship overall. The program’s first title came in 1953 and, under Sanderson as coach, Penn State has become one of the top dynasties in sports.
The Nittany Lions, winners of the Big Ten championship and the Big Ten regular-season crown, entered T Mobile Center in Kansas City as the heavy favorites to secure a third consecutive team title and, while the three-day event concludes Saturday night, PSU has already blown past the competition and mathematically can’t be caught.
Penn State sent 10 wrestlers to NCAAs — one per weight class — and six of them will be competing for individual NCAA titles Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPN. No program has ever had more than five individual NCAA champs, a mark that Penn State owns. PSU will have eight All-America honorees as freshman Tyler Kasak (149) and senior Bernie Truax (184) have each secured the distinction. The medal-round matches are Saturday at 11 a.m. ET on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Among the contingent of NCAA finalists are seniors Carter Starocci (174 pounds) and Aaron Brooks (197), who both are looking to become four-time individual NCAA champions. Only five wrestlers have accomplished such a feat. Their coach of course is one of them.
Starocci, who entered NCAAs seeded ninth because of a medical forfeit at Big Tens, has stormed his way through the bracket while wearing a bulky brace on his right leg. Starocci sustained a knee injury in late February and was held out of competition until Thursday. He dispatched two NCAA champs on Friday, downing Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Lewis — the top seed — and Michigan’s Shane Griffith.
“I’m the NCAA champion. This is my weight. This is my bracket. When you’re the best it doesn’t matter — ninth seed, two seed, seventh seed, no seed — it doesn’t matter,” Starocci said during his post-match interview. “When you’re the champ, it’s search and destroy.”
Among those competing for individual crowns on Saturday:
141 pounds: No. 2 Beau Bartlett vs. No. 1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) 157: No. 1 Levi Haines vs. No. 2 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) 165 pounds: No. 2 Mitchell Mesenbrink vs. No. 4 David Carr (Iowa State) 174: No. 9 Starocci vs. No. 6 Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) 197: No. 1 Brooks vs. No. 2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) HWT: No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet vs. No. 10 Lucas Davison (Michigan)
Watched it. Now 11 NCAA Team Championships over the past 13 years.
Starocci a class act, for those who follow this stuff!
I don’t think the general public realizes how good PSU is at wrestling under Cael. They’re repeatedly ending tournaments a day early.
The only years they didn’t win ncaa’s they were red-shirting guys for olympic training or the covid year.
What a program.
I’ve tried to watch, but I have no idea how it’s scored.
I’m sure we Pennsylvania taxpayers are pleased at how our money is spent.
Knew Cael when he was a undergrad at Iowa State and went almost all of his meets in Ames .
The Oklahoma State Cowboys have won more NCAA team championships than any other school, with 34 titles (including 3 unofficial), the most recent being won in 2006. Ed Gallagher coached the Cowboys to their first title in 1928 and won 11 in 13 years from 1928 through 1940.
Iowa has won the second most team titles with 24 NCAA titles. Under head coach Dan Gable, Iowa had the longest streak of consecutive titles at nine from 1978 through 1986. Penn State has won 12 titles, Iowa State has won eight titles, and Oklahoma has won seven championships. Only seven other schools have won a team title, with none of those schools having won more than three championships.
Since 2011, Penn State under head coach Cael Sanderson has won 11 NCAA team titles. Only the 2001 Minnesota Golden Gophers have finished the NCAA Tournament with an All-American at every weight class, and famously won the team championship despite not having a single finalist.
Go Nittany Lions! And Tony Bobolinsky. A Good PSU wrestler, and a good Kempsville HS (VA Beach) wrestler as well!!
Cael Sanderson has put together some of the greatest teams in history.
It also seems they are a very spiritual group of wrestlers.
Brooks and Starocci went to shake Trumps hand at the Nationals last year when they won. Trump was in the stands.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.