Congratulations to the student-athletes of the week! 📚
🤼 Carter Starocci, the No. 1 seed at 184, took on No. 2 Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa in the first match of the championship finals. The duo worked through the first minute-plus on their feet in the center circle. Starocci gained control of Keckeisen’s foot on the edge of the mat with :50 on the clock but Keckeisen was able to counter and force a stalemate at :32. The match moved to the second period tied 0-0. Starocci chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 1-0 lead. The wrestlers traded shots at 1:00 but action remained in neutral. Starocci led 1-0 after two. Keckeisen chose down to start the third period and quickly escaped to a 1-1 tie. Starocci moved in on a shot in the center of the mat and worked himself into control of Keckeisen’s foot. After seconds of scrambling, the Lion senior finished off the takedown with :50 on the clock to take a 4-1 lead. Northern Iowa challenged the call, but the takedown stood for Starocci. Keckeisen escaped and Starocci gave up a stall point in the final seconds. But the Lion’s takedown was the difference in the 4-3 victory that allowed him to claim his fifth NCAA individual national championship. Starocci ends his historic Penn State wrestling career as the only five-time NCAA Champion in collegiate wrestling history. Starocci went 5-0 in Philadelphia this weekend and closes out his Penn State career with a 104-4 overall record. @pennstateWREST followed up clinching the NCAA team title earlier in the day by crowning two individual champions in the national finals at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Carter Starocci and Mitchell Mesenbrink both won in the national finals while freshman Josh Barr finished as NCAA runner-up. With the titles won by Starocci and Mesenbrink, the Nittany Lions now have 61 NCAA Champions, 40 since Sanderson’s arrival as head coach (this is his 16th season at Penn State). Starocci became the first ever five-time national champion with his win. Carter Starocci was named the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championship Outstanding Wrestler at the tournament’s end.
🥍 Brooke Hoss buried a career-high five goals on ten shots in @PennStateWLAX's dominant 19-10 win over Oregon for the team’s first Big Ten victory of the season. Hoss put on a highlight reels worth of scores, including a behind-the-back goal through contact and two off-ball cutters. The 19 team goals marked Penn State’s most since the 2024 season opener.
#WeAre
Theo Johnson is a TE prospect in the 2024 draft class. He scored an unofficial 10.00 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 1 out of 1105 TE from 1987 to 2024.
Splits projected, note that I don't expect this to stand as a new 10.00 after official
https://t.co/HuWxnxJn85
With all but one significant player back, @PennStateWLAX is determined not just to return to the NCAA tournament again, but to advance even further.
2024 Nittany Lions preview ⤵️
https://t.co/OQE7PKFoQH