KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Only a sore knee and blood in his opponent's face slowed Carter Starocci's pursuit of wrestling glory. He had no choice but to follow his Penn State teammates in Aaron Brooks and make history.
Starocci won his fourth NCAA title with a 2-0 victory over Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) on Saturday night, and Brooks defeated longtime rival Trent Hidley (North Carolina State) a short time later. He defeated them and won his fourth championship. In doing so, they join five other four-time champions in the exclusive club, including Iowa State star turned Nittany Lions coach Cael Sanderson.
“I'm not saying I'm doing this for the title or anything. For me, what gets me out of bed is to be able to compete against guys,” Starocci said. “That hurts my ego a little bit, but it’s knowing that no one can beat me.”
Sanderson had a busy night with a school-record six Nittany Lions chasing the championship, but the team's third straight title had long been looked like a certainty. Penn State finished with a record score of 172.5 points, a 100-point lead over second-place Cornell University.
Questions have been swirling about Starocci's right knee, which he injured in Penn State's last two games. He was disqualified from the Big Ten Championships and dropped to the No. 9 seed at 174 pounds at the U.S. Championships, where he wrestled with a thick black brace on his knee.
While it may have affected his offense, it did little damage to his defense. Starocci had shutout wins in the last three games, including the final, which was interrupted several times to wipe blood from Wales' faces.
“It really starts with the coach,” Starozzi said. “I was a little heavy this morning, heavier than I thought I would be, and Coach Frog was right there with me on the bike, and I looked around and saw all the other players. We were warming up and the coach was on his phone. I'm like, 'This guy is in the trenches with us.' I think that means more than anything. ”
Penn State's Greg Kerkvliet advanced to the match against Michigan's Lucas Davison at 285 pounds. The undefeated Kerkfried scored two takedowns in the first period and increased his lead to 9-3 after the second, en route to a 13-4 victory and the national title.
Levi Haynes led Penn State, which lost in the finals a year ago, to its next title at 157. Haynes took advantage of a stall call on Arizona State's Jacori Teemer and got a takedown in the third period for a 5-0 victory.
Things didn't go so well for Penn State, who weighed 141 and 165 pounds.
In the 141-pound final, Bo Bartlett faced Ohio State's Jesse Mendez in a rubber match after splitting this season. The match was tied at 1-all with seconds left, but a scramble ensued and Mendez scored a takedown, giving him the victory.
And Mitchell Mazenbrink, who scored 165 points, came back from a 7-2 hole to go 8-8 by the end of the third period to cap off a dream freshman season against Iowa State's David Carr. However, Kerr, who defeated two-time defending champion Keegan O'Toole en route to the final, had accumulated enough running time to earn the points needed for victory.
“I just kept telling myself, just stay focused. Keep wrestling hard,” said Kerr, who won the 157-pound title in 2021 and finished third and second the past two years. . “And it feels great. It feels great to finish my career on top.”
Earlier in the night, No. 8 seed Richard Figueroa (Arizona State) stunned with a 7-2 victory over Drake Ayala, who has maintained a record of at least one finalist in Iowa every year since 1990. They made it to the finals.
There was no drama as Northern Iowa's Parker Kekkaisen edged Oklahoma State's Dustin Plott for 184 points. Kekkeizen won a 15-4 major decision and earned bonus point wins in all of his matches in the tournament.
In the highly anticipated 133-pound final, where Oklahoma State teammate Dayton Fix was chasing the elusive national title, it was Cornell's Vito Aljau who once again denied him. Fix opened up a 2-0 lead, but Aljau, who beat him in last year's semifinals, responded with an escape and a stall point, winning 5-3 with a late takedown.
Fix won four silver medals and finished his career as perhaps the greatest wrestler to never win a title.
“He's been on stage for years now, right? So I was very nervous. Then the whistle blew and he started wrestling and I forgot everything,” Aljau said. “I have nothing but admiration and respect for Dayton. I'm sure he understands that it was a dogfight because we both wanted to win.”
