Philadelphia– The inevitable is now a reality: Penn State wrestling has won another team national title.
Shayne Van Ness’ pin of No. 12 Ethan Stiles (Oregon State) in the consolation bracket at 149 sealed the deal, and Penn State has now locked up its 12th title in 14 seasons.
Amazingly, some fans are at least somewhat disappointed in how this week has played out for PSU so far.
Penn State started perfect, going 20-0 on the first day of competition.
Cael Sanderson After 20-0 Day: ‘I Don’t Know if We Wrestled Our Absolute Best’
The second day didn’t go as well. Penn State sent seven to the semifinals, but of those seven, only three– Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Carter Starocci (184) and Josh Barr (197)– won their bouts.
Penn State Wrestling Session IV Recap: PSU Goes 3-for-7 in Semis
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.At the same time, it’s hard to find much to complain about with a national title, and even harder considering Penn State had 10 All-Americans, the first time since 2001 (Minnesota) that a team accomplished that feat and just the second overall.
History: Penn State Wrestling Becomes 2nd Team Ever to Produce 10 All-Americans
Now, the attention turns to Penn State’s wrestlers who will be competing for national championships. Mesenbrink takes on Iowa’s Mikey Caliendo at 165, Starocci– looking to become the first to win five national titles– is taking on Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckheisen. Barr will take on Iowa’s Stephen Buchanan.
Curiously, Starocci’s match is first instead of last, which many expected coming in given the historical significance.
Nonetheless, Starocci is part of his fourth national title team, along with the 13th overall in program history and 12th under Sanderson.
This also might be an appropriate time to remind everybody that Cael Sanderson is only 45 years old.
