NCAA wrestling: How Penn State made history, yet again. 'We just keep getting better.'
PHILADELPHIA − They didn't want to leave, once again.
These national champion, record-breaking, history-making Nittany Lions took their team photos and got their awards and paraded around the mat stage here in the Wells Fargo Center long after they made their case for being one of the best Penn State wrestling teams of all-time.
Even after their home-state fans drifted away and arena workers began packing away chairs and picking up trash, two of the greatest Nittany Lions on this night, Carter Starocci and Mitchell Mesenbrink, kept shaking hands and posing for photos wearing their brand-new gray national championship T-shirts.
Could you blame them for soaking it all in?
The Lions won an NCAA Wrestling Championships team title − their 12th in 14 years − and were lauded for their dominance. But always, it is different. This time, coach Cael Sanderson's team tied the record for most All-Americans (10), shattered their own NCAA mark for team points (177) and crowned the only five-time national champion in college history (Starocci).
Even more, the Penn State wrestlers who didn't make it to these finals tore up the consolations rounds earlier in the day like never before, somehow placing five in third place. They did all this with two injured starters, one who gutted his way into the finals and another who had to bow out before the end.
The lesson: Even when this program falls a bit short of some goals, it finds ways to outdo itself with others.
Even President Donald Trump stayed to the end to watch it all, not leaving before he could congratulate the Lions and any wrestler who came to shake his hand.
NCAA wrestling: What made this Penn State team so special?
After it was over, Sanderson tried to put things in perspective for this rendition of what may be the top sports dynasty going.
"It was just a lot of fun. It was a great team. Ten All-Americans is super hard to do.
"You have guys coming in here with injuries. And, obviously, if everybody's talking about the expectations, the point record or whatever it is, we don't talk about that stuff. But kids live on their phones, so they're seeing it and hearing it all the time.
"It's hard. Being expected to do something, and do it, is probably the toughest thing in sports, right? But that also makes it a fun challenge.
"All of our teams, we feel they're special. And we're excited for next year, too. We just keep getting better."
Better, it seems, they always do. The Lions only placed three in Saturday night's finals but they boasted so much depth and balance that they wrapped up the national title in the first session of the day and the points record after just the first match of the evening − Starocci's exquisite 4-3 victory over an undefeated, national champion opponent.
A bit later, sophomore Mitchell Mesenbrink won PSU's second individual title and freshman Josh Barr came close to pulling an upset at 197 pounds and winning a third, too.
So they celebrated as much who will return and almost surely improve next year as for which exemplary seniors had wrestled their final college match. The Lions lose only three starters from his juggernaut and expect to reload those spots in the coming months.
Of course, the ones who are leaving often offer the best perspective. Starocci was voted the tournament's most outstanding wrestler and certainly was a headliner on this night. He rarely has a thought, it seems, he doesn't mind sharing − even if it meant ripping wrestling officials for curiously putting his 184-pound match first on the schedule.
He proved himself on the mat, though, as one of the greatest college wrestlers of all-time. The Wells Fargo fans agreed, chanting his first name as he was beating Northern Iowa superstar Parker Keckeisen.
How does he hope to be remembered?
"I think just a guy who always led by example, always showed up, no matter the day. If you're hurt, injured, sad, no matter what, always putting your best foot forward. That's something I want the younger guys on the team to keep pushing for more and more and more and just keep that Penn State dynasty going.
"I'm not sure how much longer these coaches got, but I know Coach Cael pretty well. 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."
He smiled when he said that, then quickly enough went about enjoying the rest of this historic evening, just one more stacked upon the ones before it5.
No end to it, truly enough, seemingly in sight.
Frank Bodani covers Penn State wrestling for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: How Penn State, Carter Starocci make NCAA wrestling history again
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