FloWrestling released an update to its preseason rankings late last week with Penn State wrestling having nine ranked in the 10 weight classes. Four were ranked at the top of their weight classes.
Levi Haines (157), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (197) and Greg Kerkvliet (HWT) are all at No. 1 in the rankings. Beau Bartlett (141), Shayne Van Ness (149) and Bernie Truax (184) are all ranked second, while Aaron Nagao (133) is third. Alex Facundo is ranked 12th at 165 pounds.
The lone weight where Penn State doesn’t have a wrestler ranked is at 125 pounds. The immediate future is still unclear at the weight for Penn State as Robbie Howard is returning from injury from last season, while Gary Steen replaced Howard and is back this year.
The rankings also have Brooks bumping up from 184 to 197 this season with the transfer of Truax into the program. Brooks is a three-time national champion at 184.
Truax placed fourth at 197 pounds in the 2023 NCAA Championships. He was a three-time All-American at Cal Poly.
Nagao, another transfer from Minnesota, is taking Roman Bravo-Young’s spot at 133 pounds after the two had close matches a couple times last season. He finished fifth at NCAAs.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Along with the four Penn State wrestlers that have top spots right now, preseason top spots went to Purdue’s Matt Ramos (125), Cornell’s Vito Arujau (133), Iowa’s Real Woods (141), Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett (149), Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole (165), and Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen (184).
It also appears that Starocci will be firmly in Penn State’s lineup.
Not long after the Penn State 2023 wrestling schedule came out, Starocci posted an Instagram story with a photo of the schedule and wrote:
“The Final Hit List.”
