Penn State Sports Magazine
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A P R I L 2 0 2 4 4 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Also at 139 pounds, 2025 commit Dal- ton Perry of Central Mountain, the No. 12 138-pounder in the land, finished second after dropping a 3-1 sudden victory deci- sion to Maddox Shaw of Thomas Jeffer- son, who is the No. 4 144-pounder in the country according to FloWrestling. At 152 pounds, senior Ty Watson of Penns Valley finished eighth. Asher Cunningham, the son of Nittany Lion assistant coach Casey Cunningham, won a state title at 160 pounds. The junior is the No. 16 157-pounder in the country. "It doesn't mean much," Cunningham told PennLive. "It just means improve- ment for me. I took fourth last year, and I'm going to come back next year and win another one." Senior Zach Ryder from New York, the No. 5-ranked pound-for-pound wrestler in the country, elected to bypass his se- nior year of high school wrestling, move to State College, and train at David Tay- lor's M2 Training Center with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. The 190-pounder is completing his final year of high school online. Bravo-Young Earns Olympic Berth Former Penn State wrestler Roman Bravo-Young is going to the Olympics. The upcoming Summer Games will take place in Paris, and Bravo-Young, a two- time NCAA 133-pound champion, will be there as a member of Mexico's freestyle wrestling team. He earned his spot by fin- ishing first in the 57-kilogram division at the Pan-American Games in Acapulco, Mexico, in early March. Other former Nittany Lions hope to join him in Paris as members of Team USA. The Olympic Trials are set to take place April 19-20 at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. Numerous current and former Penn State standouts will be competing, a group highlighted by defending 86-ki- logram gold medalist David Taylor. Seven members of the Nittany Lions' 2024 national championship team are among the qualifiers for the trials: Beau Bartlett (65 kg), Mitchell Mesenbrink, Alex Facundo, Levi Haines and Carter Starocci (74 kg), Aaron Brooks (86 kg) and Greg Kerkvliet (125 kg). ■ PENN STATE WRESTLING SUPERLATIVES 2023-24 SEASON THREE BEST WRESTLERS Aaron Brooks | Sr.+ | 197 Brooks will go down as one of the most domi- nant wrestlers in Penn State history. He won his fourth NCAA title — this one at 197 pounds af- ter securing the first three at 184 — by beating NC State's Trent Hidlay, 6-0, in the final. Brooks was named Most Dominant Wrestler of the season and Outstanding Wrestler at the NCAA Tournament. He finished his final year in blue and white with a team-best record of 21-0. At nationals, Brooks won twice by technical fall and twice by fall before prevailing by deci- sion in the final. It was a remarkable, and truly dominant, effort. Greg Kerkvliet | Sr. | 285 Kerkvliet finally broke through at the NCAA Tournament. After placing fourth at nationals as a sophomore and second last year, he earned the title in March by defeating Michigan's Lucas Davison by major decision, 13-3. Kerkvliet was consistent throughout the year for the Nittany Lions and clearly was the top heavyweight in all of college wrestling. He finished what could be his final season with a 19-0 record and showed the power of perseverance after falling to Minnesota's Gable Steveson in the semifinals two years ago and Michigan's Mason Parris last season. Carter Starocci | Sr. | 174 Starocci did not wrestle as often as his teammates did in the regular season. He also did not win a Big Ten title, but how can he be left off this list? The Erie, Pa., native wrestled with an injured knee at nationals and still became the sixth (Brooks is the seventh) wrestler in NCAA history to win four cham- pionships. Few were better than Starocci in 2023-24, and none were as gutty as he was during March. KEY MOMENT The NCAA reordered the finals so that they ended with Brooks' battle against Trent Hidlay for the 197-pound title. The two had met often at 184, and it was clearly the bout of the night. Tournament organizers could have predicted but probably were not counting on that match being so impactful to history. Not only did Brooks become a four-time individual champ, but his win in the final match of the season netted the final four points for a team total of 172.5 that is a new NCAA Tournament record, surpassing Iowa's 170 mark in 1997. What a fitting end to the season and his career. BEST HIGHLIGHT It would be easy to pick Carter Starocci's run at NCAAs here. But we can't leave Tyler Kasak out of this roundup. The true freshman had been expecting to redshirt this season, with his competitive op- portunities coming in open events at 141 pounds. Instead, Kasak found himself thrust into the starting lineup at 149 pounds when Shayne Van Ness went down with a season-ending injury in December. All the first-year Penn State wrestler did was go 22-5 overall, finish third at Big Tens and then become only the second Lion ever (John Lange was the first in 1998) to win seven matches in the consolation bracket at NCAAs after losing in the first round to wrestle back for third place. BOLD PREDICTION Mitchell Mesenbrink will follow the same path as sophomore Levi Haines in terms of finishing sec- ond at nationals during his first year as a Nittany Lion before winning it all in Year 2. The 165-pound redshirt freshman has an electric wrestling style that wows fans, and it will guide him to the top of the podium next year in Philadelphia. Of course, predicting that Mesenbrink will win a national championship isn't all that bold; a lot of people will be expecting big things from him after winning a Big Ten title and placing second at nationals. Here's the bold part: Mesenbrink will do so at 157 pounds, while Haines will bump up to 165 and win his second NCAA title at a new weight class. Whoever wrestles at 165 will have to beat two-time national champion and 2024 runner-up Keegan O'Toole of Missouri. — Greg Pickel Brooks wrapped up his Penn State career by going 21-0 as a senior, including a 6-0 win over NC State's Trent Hidlay in the NCAA championship bout at 197 pounds. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS