Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1533674
A P R I L 2 0 2 5 4 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M THREE BEST WRESTLERS Carter Starocci | Gr. | 184 Starocci returned for a fifth and final college season with one goal in mind: dominating the competition. The fact that he could become the first college wrestler ever to win five NCAA titles was just something he could accomplish along the way. Starocci checked both boxes. After cruising through the field at the Big Ten Tournament, he took out his first two opponents at nationals by technical fall in just over a combined 10 minutes of mat time. He then defeated Oklahoma State's Dustin Plott by decision, 9-3, in the semifinals before beating the defending 184-pound champ, Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa, 4-3, on the strength of a third-period takedown in the final with less than a minute left. Mitchell Mesenbrink | R-So. | 165 After beating him 19-4 in the regular season, Mesenbrink defeated Iowa's Michael Caliendo, again, 4-1, in the Big Ten Tournament finals. The Hawkeye junior became the only competitor to that point in the season to hold Mesenbrink to just a decision victory, setting the stage for a likely rematch at nationals. Mesenbrink picked up his nation-leading 17th and 18th technical falls of the season to open the NCAA Tournament. After a not-as-close-as- it-looked 5-0 decision over Oklahoma State's Cameron Amine in the quarterfinals, Mesenbrink handled Nebraska's Christopher Minto by major decision, 13-2, in the semis to set up another showdown with Caliendo. Mesenbrink led 1-0 after one period, 4-2 after two, and added an escape and late takedown in the third for an 8-2 win that brought him his first NCAA title. Josh Barr | R-Fr. | 197 Barr entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed and with a sleeve over his left hamstring after injury-defaulting out of the Big Ten Tourna- ment. The injury did not slow him down in the opening round. Barr won by major decision and followed with a takedown in sudden victory to fend off 12th-seeded Trey Munoz of Oregon State, 5-2, in Round 2. Barr found an easier task in the quarters, pounding former Nittany Lion Michael Beard, 14-3, before winning a season rubber match with top-seeded Jacob Cardenas of Michigan by deci- sion, 5-3. The second-year Nittany Lion put up a strong fight in the final opposite Iowa's Stephen Buchanan but could not connect on a takedown en route to a 5-2 loss to finish second. KEY MOMENT Penn State entered the tournament as a huge favorite to win the team title, but there was some doubt about whether it could become only the second team ever to have 10 All-Americans. After seven Nittany Lions earned top-eight finishes by reaching the semifinals, it was up to the other three Penn State starters to join them on the podium with a victory in the blood round. All three were up to the task. Freshman Luke Lilledahl shook off an upset loss in the 125-pound quarters to beat Wisconsin's Nicolar Rivera en route to finishing third. Sophomore Braeden Davis won his first 133-pound consolation match, 4-2, over Iowa's Evan Frost and ultimately finished fifth. And sopho- more Tyler Kasak, who suffered an upset of his own in the 157-pound quarters, made a second-period ride stand up to beat Penn's Jude Swisher, 5-4, on the strength of a riding-time point to secure a top- eight finish. He ultimately finished third, as well. BEST HIGHLIGHT We're going with the three moments that made history for Penn State in the NCAA Tournament. Redshirt sophomore Shayne Van Ness pinned Ethan Stiles of Oregon State in the first period of a 149-pound consolation semifinal bout to secure the Lions' fourth team title. Starocci finished a scramble with a takedown with 50 seconds to go in the third period of his 184-pound bout and went on to beat Keckeisen to become the sport's first five-time champ. And Mesenbrink took down Caliendo late in the third period of their 165-pound final to secure an 8-2 triumph that put Penn State's team points total at 177, which is a tournament record. BOLD PREDICTION Penn State will have more than the two individual champions it had in 2024-25 at the end of the 2025-26 season. Lilledahl will be the favorite at 125 pounds as a sophomore despite finishing third this year. Kasak can make the same claim at 157 pounds and so can rising senior Levi Haines at 174. Mesenbrink and Barr will also be favorites at their weight classes, while Van Ness will likely enter the season No. 2 at 149 pounds behind Nebraska's Ridge Lovett. And that doesn't even account for any newcom- ers, such as top 2025 signee Marcus Blaze, who projects to fill the 141-pound starting spot and could make noise at nationals, as well. — Greg Pickel PENN STATE WRESTLING SUPERLATIVES M A R C H 8 - 2 2 Carter Starocci was named Outstanding Wrestler at the NCAA Tournament after posting two technical falls and a major decision on his way to the 184-pound title. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS