3 early Penn State wrestling thoughts on the Lions' big stay-or-go decisions
Penn State wrestling set an NCAA Tournament points record with a final total of 172.5 at the 2024 championships. It had four national champions and eight All-Americans. And, the scary thing for future opponents is that many of them can return in 2024-2025.
Head coach Cael Sanderson and his staff returned to State College and the Lorzeno Wrestling Complex on Monday after a successful stint in Kansas City. The focus now is on the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which are April 19-20 at the Bryce Jordan Center. At the moment, the current version of the Lions will be represented there by Beau Bartlett (65 kilograms), Levi Haines (74 kilograms), Mitchell Mesenbrink (74 kilograms), Alex Facundo (74 kilograms), Carter Starocci (74 kilograms), Aaron Brooks (86 kilograms), and Greg Kerkvliet (125 kilograms). All strive for a spot on this year’s national team, which heads to the Summer Olympic Games in Paris for the wrestling portion of the competition Aug. 5-11.
Blue-White Illustrated will have a closer look at the Trials over the next month. But, as the offseason truly begins, we’re taking an early look at three key lineup decisions that have yet to be made for next season.
A quick Penn State lineup eligibility breakdown
First things first: Let’s quickly run down where the 10 starters from 2023-2024 stand after the season.
Multiple years of eligibility remaining:
Braeden Davis – 125 pounds
Aaron Nagao – 133 pounds
Tyler Kasak or Shayne Van Ness – 149 pounds
Levi Haines – 157 pounds
Mitchell Mesenbrink – 165 pounds
Wrestlers with one year of eligibility left:
Beau Bartlett – 141 pounds
Carter Starocci — 174 pounds
Greg Kerkvliet — 285 pounds
Penn State starters who are out of eligibility
Bernie Truax – 184 pounds
Aaron Brooks – 197 pounds
Early thoughts on the decisions facing Bartlett, Starocci, and Kerkvliet
We’ll start with Bartlett. He arrived for the 2020-2021 season at Penn State and spent his first two years at 149 pounds. He then moved to his natural weight of 141 pounds for the last two seasons. The Tempe, Ariz., native finished third at nationals in 2023 and second in 2024. It goes without saying that the biggest reason he’d return is to chase the individual title that has so far eluded him. But, Bartlett loves the freestyle scene and may be ready to move on to focusing solely on that discipline. We won’t rule out a return. But, it would be a bit of a surprise.
Moving on to 174 pounds, there is so much up in the air with Starocci, starting with his injured right knee. It’s unclear if it will keep him from competing at the Olympic Team Trials or not. From there, it’s unclear regardless of his participation at that event how long it will take to fully recover from whatever specific thing he hurt at the end of February. Starocci could become the first five-time NCAA champ by coming back for another season. But, there is an obvious hurdle to that which he discussed after winning his fourth title.
“It’s been a long journey,” Starocci said. “I love wrestling. I don’t love school. Maybe do eanie meanie miney moe and see where that lands. Like I said, I am not even thinking about it right now.”
This is a true 50/50 toss-up. If we had to shade the percentages one way or the other, we’d slightly push them toward a return. But, it’s by the smallest of margins.
More: Did the Penn State wrestling dynasty just produce the greatest college wrestling team ever?
Last but not least is Kerkvliet. He said “we’ll see” when asked about whether or not he’ll come back to Penn State for a final season. He finally ascended to the top of the sport’s heavyweight division by winning his first NCAA title in 2024 and is a four-time All-American. The chance to defend his title is a compelling reason to return. We’d say of the three, Kerkvliet is the most likely to be back. But, as with the other two, the final decision won’t shock us either way.
