Penn State’s Starocci seeks 5th title

NCAA WRESTLING

Penn State’s Carter Starocci celebrates after defeating Ohio State’s Rocco Welsh in their 174-pound match in the finals of the NCAA wrestling championships last year in Kansas City, Mo. CHARLIE RIEDEL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE

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By Cliff Brunt

The Associated Press

Carter Starocci will pursue an unprecedented fifth national title as Penn State chases its fourth straight team championship at the NCAA Division I Men’s Wrestling Championships from March 20-22 in Philadelphia.

Starocci, a graduate student at Penn State who is taking advantage of his COVID year, has a 20-0 career record in the NCAA Tournament. He is wrestling at 184 pounds after winning his previous four championships at 174.

“It’s an unusual situation,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “He’s just blessed to have an opportunity that we hope never is again available. It’s just seizing the moment. I think he has a pretty good mindset about it.”

Starocci could run into Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen in the final. Keckeisen, the defending champ in the class, is the No. 2 seed with a 24-0 record.

Penn State has won 11 of the past 13 championships under Sanderson and seeks its third four-peat.

Last year’s team set the tournament scoring record, and that mark could be in jeopardy again. The Nittany Lions have 10 qualifiers, including No. 1 seeds Starocci at 184 pounds, Luke Lilledahl at 125, Tyler Kasak at 157 and Mitchell Mesenbrink at 165.

“It’s always onto the next challenge, but we’re grateful for those challenges and grateful for the opportunities we have ahead of us here,” Sanderson said.

Gable Steveson, one of the most recognizable names in the sport, is seeking a third overall heavyweight national title.

An Olympic gold medalist in Tokyo, Steveson returned to college wrestling after winning the title and retiring in 2022. He had stints in World Wrestling Entertainment and the National Football League before returning to his roots.

He has a 14-0 record this season and is on a 66-match winning streak.

Steveson defeated the 2024 national champion, Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet, in the Big Ten title match. He looks to become just the sixth heavyweight to win three NCAA titles.

Kerkvliet is seeded third, so they could meet in the final. Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson, who finished third for Air Force last year, is seeded second.

He’s back>> A.J Ferrari won the national title at 197 pounds for Oklahoma State in 2021 as a true freshman, and he looked poised to become yet another of the program’s greats.

Things spiraled from there. In 2021-22, he was 10-0 and ranked No. 1 at 197 before a season-ending injury sustained in an automobile accident. He then had legal troubles in 2022 and left the Oklahoma State program.

He has returned at Cal-State Bakersfield, and he’s the No. 3 seed at 197 with a 17-0 record.

Going for three>> Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole is seeking his third national title. He won in 2022 and 2023 at 165 pounds and placed third last year. He’s 16-0 and looks to win the 174 class this year.

He may have to go through Penn State’s Levi Haines, last year’s winner at 157, to get there. Haines, the No. 2 seed, is 20-1 after going up two weight classes.

Bears hopeful>> After taking a year off to chase Olympic glory, Northern Colorado’s Andrew Alirez came back to school to chase another national title.

The Greeley native claimed the Bears’ first national title of the modern era in 2023, claiming the 141-pound crown as part of a perfect 28-0 season. Now he’s seeded eighth at 141 with a 16-1 record this season.

Alirez is one of four UNC wrestlers who qualified for the NCAA championships, including Stevo Poulin (20-3) at 125 pounds, Dominick Serrano (21-2) at 133 and Vinny Zerban (18-4) at 157.