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For Penn State Wrestling, Another NCAA Title Is Just Preparation for the 'Next Thing'

As the Nittany Lions celebrated their 4th straight NCAA wrestling title, coach Cael Sanderson began plotting next season.

Mark Wogenrich

The Penn State wrestling team celebrates winning the team title at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
The Penn State wrestling team celebrates winning the team title at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships. / Mark Wogenrich/Penn State on SI

PHILADELPHIA | Penn State hosted a modest celebration Saturday night at the NCAA Wrestling Championships, one befitting having done this before. The Nittany Lions cradled the tournament trophy, of course, wore their championship T-shirts and hats and embraced bear hugs from Athletic Director Pat Kraft.

Amid this scene, the architect paced, pausing briefly for a few photos and side moments with his wrestlers. In his mind, Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson already was contemplating next year.

"I mean, we're just constantly thinking ahead, and just everything's preparation for the next thing," Sanderson said after Penn State won its fourth straight NCAA wrestling title. "So we don't really kind of stop and reflect a whole lot."

Once again, the Nittany Lions announced this weekend in Philadelphia that, for the moment, the NCAA Wrestling Championships largely belong to them. Penn State won its 12th team title in the past 14 tournaments under Sanderson, who became the second-winningest coach in NCAA Wrestling Championships history. Sanderson's teams have won 12 of Penn State's 13 national championships.

Each year, Penn State achieves something new. This time, the Nittany Lions became just the second program in NCAA Division I history to field 10 All-Americans at one tournament. They clinched the team title long before Carter Starocci became the first Division I wrestler in NCAA history to win five national championships. Fittingly, Starocci's win also ensured that Penn State would break the tournament scoring record it set last season.

Penn State finished with 177 team points, 60 ahead of second-place Nebraska and 4.5 more than its 2024 record. The team also won two NCAA individual titles, as redshirt sophomore Mitchell Mesenbrink claimed the 165-pound championship after placing second last season.

Moreover, the Nittany Lions proved their tournament worth by placing an entire lineup in the top-6 of their weight classes. Five wrestlers finished third, an absurd result, and all six of Penn State's medal-round finalists who wrestled won their last bouts — with bonus points.

But even in success, Penn State was expected to do more. The Wells Fargo Center was shocked Friday night when the Nittany Lions went 3-4 in the semifinals. Those who know college wrestling predicted that Penn State might break the NCAA tournament record with six individual champions. So even their record-breaking performance had flaws.

"It's hard," Sanderson said. "Being expected to do something and do it is probably the toughest thing in sports, right? But that also makes it a fun challenge."

Penn State confronted other challenges. Senior Greg Kerkvliet, the defending heavyweight champion, injured his knee during practice last week and clearly was affected. Sanderson said he wasn't sure Kerkvliet would be able to wrestle. Kerkvliet made the semifinals before taking a medical forfeit to place sixth.

Then there was Josh Barr. The redshirt freshman sustained a leg injury at the Big Ten Championships that forced him to take a medical forfeit out of that tournament. Sanderson said before NCAAs that Barr would be "ready to scrap" but still was unsure how the injury might affect him.

Barr won his first four bouts at 197 to make the final in his first NCAA tournament. He ultimately fell to Iowa's Stephen Buchanan. After the bout, Starocci and former Penn State wrestler Bo Nickal sat silently with Barr in a back hallway of Wells Fargo Center, supporting him by saying nothing.

"It's tough," Sanderson said. "I mean, your heart's with each individual. We spent so much time with these guys. You want to see them happy and reaching their goals. And in a sport like this, in any sport, you're talking one second here, one second there, was the difference. So yeah, some tough losses, but everybody kind of rebounded well."

That they did. Beau Bartlett (141) won his second NCAA bronze medal and finished his career with a fall for win No. 100. Tyler Kasak (157) demonstrated continued resilience, placing third for the second straight year after losing before the semifinals. Kasak is a remarkable 11-0 in the consolation rounds in his career. Levi Haines, a returning NCAA champ who moved up two weight classes this year to 174, shook off a semifinal loss to eventual champ Dean Hamiti of Oklahoma State to place third with a major decision.

For the winners, there was triumph. Mesenbrink capped an unbeaten season in which he scored 18 technical falls, most in the country, with the win that eluded him last year. And Starocci, who went 25-0 in his five NCAA tournament appearances, scored the winning takedown Saturday night with 46 seconds left in his college career.

"It's kind of what he does," Sanderson said of Starocci.

And what does Sanderson do? Obsessively build winners. After his victory, Starocci was asked whether he could have envisioned five years ago that he would win five NCAA titles, his last against the defending champion, on a team with 10 All-Americans that set another tourmament scoring record. Starocci smiled.

"I would have said, 'You're damn right.'"

So what's next? Penn State loses three seniors (Bartlett, Starocci and Kerkvliet) from its starting lineup but returns two NCAA champs (Haines won in 2024) and five other wrestlers who placed either second, third or fifth. As he paced the mat late Saturday night, Sanderson began plotting his next move.

How many more does he have? Starocci, likely joking, offered some insight.

"I'm not sure how much longer these coaches got, but I know coach Cael pretty well," he said. "If there's some kind of coaching record or record out there — you guys figure it out — I'm sure when he breaks that, he'll be done."

Probably not.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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