Another champion returns: Can record-breaking Penn State wrestling be even better?
Penn State wrestling just produced one of the most dominating seasons in the history of the sport.
Could it’s 2024-25 version actually be even better?
Here’s a reason why: Nittany Lions’ star heavyweight, Greg Kerkvliet, has announced that he will, indeed, return for a fifth season. That gives coach Cael Sanderson three returning NCAA champs and two runners-up for a team that just shattered championships records for team points and margin of victory in March.
Penn State will go for its fourth straight title next season and its 12th in the past 14 years.
Its upcoming lineup is stacked, and particularly more crowded, than its ever been since Sanderson took over the program in 2009.
Kerkvliet’s announcement is substantial — especially combined with the return of seniors Carter Starocci and Beau Bartlett. Kerkvliet was the nation’s most dominant heavyweight last season, going 20-0 overall, including a crushing 13-4 victory in the finals to win his first NCAA title.
He’s a four-time All-American and two-time finalist with a 71-10 career record.
His upper-weight pairing with Starocci, now at 184 or 197 pounds, could be unprecedented. Starocci will try to become the only five-time NCAA champ in history next March in Philadelphia.
Here’s an early look at their potential record-breaking lineup:
125 pounds: Luke Lilledahl, Braeden Davis
The path seems to be opening for Luke Lilledahl, the nation’s top recruit in the 2024 class, to earn a starting role right away. Lilledahl is coming off impressive efforts at the U.S. Olympic Trials (two victories) and the U20 U.S. Open (57 kilogram champ, tournament MVP).
While Braeden Davis, Penn State’s star freshman here this past season, could try to stay at 125, he appears headed for a weight-class bump.
This could come down to an in-room battle between two starters − Aaron Nagao and Davis (125 pounds).
Though Nagao could not duplicate his pre-transfer, All-America status yet, he may be set for a rise during his second season in Sanderson’s program. But can he outdo Davis, who surged down the stretch this past winter to win a Big Ten title and finish 22-4 overall?
Davis has a redshirt season to use; Nagao does not.
Beau Bartlett is entrenched here as he closes in on his first national title. Bartlett finished third at the NCAA Championships as a sophomore and second as a junior.
His only defeat of 2023-24 came in those NCAA finals to Ohio State rival Jesse Mendez.
Shayne Van Ness earned All-America status here with a third-place finish at the NCAA’s before an undisclosed injury canceled his 2023-24 season.
Tyler Kasak moved up in weight to take his place and rolled off seven straight victories at the recent championships to finish third.
Kasak, a true freshman last season, still owns a redshirt opportunity.
The middle weights are most murky because of the talent logjam.
Though Levi Haines just won his first national title at 157 pounds, he seems due a weight-class rise for his junior and senior seasons.
Could Haines and freshman star Mitch Mesenbrink (165 pounds) switch weights? If Haines agrees to a redshirt, Kasak could then be the next man up at 157.
165 pounds: Levi Haines, Mitch Mesenbrink
Haines may own the most options of anyone on the roster.
He could remain at 157 pounds or move here to 165 or even jump to 174 pounds. He also could opt for a rare redshirt season following a national title in preparation for the weight class rise.
Of course, Mesenbrink would be the easy choice to repeat here, as well. He lost only once, in the NCAA finals, during his rookie season.
Alex Facundo could fit well here after a successful Olympic redshirt season. He just won a Pan-American Championship in February and wrestled well in April’s team trials in State College, including a 6-0 victory over Haines.
Haines also could battle for this spot if he decides to rise two weight classes. A wildcard is incoming freshman Zach Ryder, who completed his senior high school season online in order to train full-time in State College.
Ryder, like Haines, was tutored by Penn State Olympic gold medalist and Nittany Lion Wrestling Club leader David Taylor − who just took the head coaching job at Oklahoma State.
184 pounds: Josh Barr, Carter Starocci
Barr seems the early favorite to take over the spot left by graduating Bernie Truax.
Barr went 15-0 in competition last winter as a freshman while preserving his redshirt season. “I think he’ll be a multiple national champ for sure,” Starocci told reporters in January after Barr made a successful relief appearance in a dual meeting victory over Indiana.
Starocci, meanwhile, plans to move up in weight. The only question may be if he lands here or at 197 pounds.
197 pounds: Carter Starocci
This seems to be Starocci’s new-weight preference, at least during his initial postseason interviews, like the one he gave during the Olympic Trials.
Penn State’s needs a replacement for graduating four-time champ Aaron Brooks.
Other alternatives would be Barr moving up or Wisconsin brothers Connor and Cole Mirasola, both national star recruits who will be joining PSU in the fall.
