Posted on 03/25/2024 11:32:43 AM PDT by FLNittany
Prior to Saturday night, only five wrestlers had ever won four national titles.
By Saturday’s end, the list had grown to seven.
Aaron Brooks and Carter Starocci won their fourth national titles only three matches apart from one another. The two cemented themselves in history since they were also the first set of teammates to win four NCAA titles in the same year.
Starocci was the first to achieve four titles by a matter of minutes, knocking off Ohio State’s Rocco Welsh 2-0. Brooks quickly followed suit with a 6-1 decision over NC State’s Trent Hidlay.
Starocci and Brooks, who first arrived on campus together in 2020, faced an increasing amount of pressure, adversity and challenges along the way to becoming a historic tandem. But the beauty about having a teammate in the same position as one another might make it easier.
“It's pretty cool looking back to when we first came in and just seeing the growth in both of us,” Brooks said. “But having someone else to be part of that journey and doing it with is a lot of fun. We're blessed.”
As good as Penn State’s program has been since Cael Sanderson took over, the Nittany Lions had never experienced a four-time national champion, highlighting the difficulty of the feat that Brooks and Starocci were able to pull off.
While Brooks and Starocci are the ones wrestling, their support system has also helped both of them achieve their goals as the targets on their backs increased with every national title.
It also doesn’t hurt that their support system includes Sanderson, who’s one of the seven four-time champions himself.
“It really starts with the coaches. They're in their late 40s, and every Saturday morning they're doing our workouts,” Starocci said. “This morning I was a little heavy and a little more than I wanted to be, and coach Cael was right there riding the bike with me, just looking around, like all the other guys warming up … I'm, like, this dude is in the foxhole with us.”
Sanderson has coached four wrestlers to three national championships, but nobody, not even Penn State’s greatest wrestlers in the past, have been able to match Sanderson’s feat.
Coincidentally, Brooks and Starocci won their fourth national titles on the 22nd anniversary of Sanderson’s fourth, all the way back in 2002.
“I think it's just, as a coach, every year you just want to see your kids smile at the end of the season and see them reach their goals,” Sanderson said after the tournament. “Obviously in situations like Carter and Aaron’s, the pressure mounts, but they both are competitors, and that's what they live for. That's what they were born for.”
Brooks finished the season 21-0 and was named the NCAA Tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler following Saturday night’s action. Starocci finished the season 16-2, but was faced with a difficult challenge with an injured leg.
It seems obvious that after all that winning, national championships would become easier to win. Upon reflection, that seemed to be the opposite.
“After my freshman year, after I won, I went into the office of coach Cael and he said, ‘this first one's going to be your easiest one.’ I looked at him, like, ‘I don't know about that. I plan on getting better and making this thing easier,’” Starocci said. “But sure enough, now looking back on it I would say each one has their own challenges.”
If Saturday was the last time Brooks and Starocci suited up in a blue-and-white singlet, they’d leave with a combined record of 180-7 with eight national championships between the two.
However, they still have a decision to make.
“I think it's bittersweet just realizing that I'm already a senior and that was probably my last folkstyle match,” Starocci said. “I don't know, it's hard to process all that when you're in the storm.”
I think Starocci will be back for a 5th NC next year. NIL money. I don't see him going the Olympic route, more MMA like Bo Nickal. He can do that anytime. I assume that Aaron Brooks' eligibility is over, though it's hard to tell these days.
The PSU Wrestling Room should be studied by professional sport teams. They have the ability to convince recruits/transfers (and then prove to them) that if they want to be the best, there's no other option but PSU.
Amazing story. Good for PSU!
Iowa needs a Penn State trained coach!
Iowa has a “brands”ing problem. There are younger, more aggressive minds out there.
Kyle Snyder or David Taylor would be nice
Rocco Welsh, the one Starocci defeated 2-0, is a true freshmen. That young man was in high school last year. Hope to see big things from him in the years to come.
Levi Haines, another NCAA Champion(Add Greg Kerkvliet making a total of 4 Champions this year), said they had a BIBLE STUDY before the finals!!! Winning is never treated as the “Only Thing” by the wrestling program. If losing makes you a better wrestler, or person, it is always worth the process. The 2 Nittany Lions who LOST in the finals(Beau Bartlett and Mitchell Mesenbrink had the biggest smiles at the award ceremony where the TEAM won its 11 National Championship in 13 years.
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