Frank BodaniYork Daily Record
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — They posed for photos, arms around each other, wearing their national championship T-shirts, holding their national championship trophy.
The two most illustrious Penn State wrestling careers had just ended.
The T-Mobile Center was mostly empty by then, more than 30 minutes after these Nittany Lions had crowned individual champs, broke NCAA records and celebrated the greatest team performance from among more than a dozen years worth of them.
Aaron Brooks and Carter Starocci hugged and drifted away into a mob of teammates and coaches, family and friends. They had just completed the toughest of paths together — the same one their head coach had traveled two decades earlier, to this very day.
They were four-time NCAA champions, something only five other wrestlers had ever done — the first Nittany Lions ever to.
They were the headliners of arguably the greatest Penn State wrestling night ever.
The Lions had just won four individual national titles — and very nearly two others. They not only won their 11th national title in 13 years but broke the all-time team points record while doing it. (Their 172.5 points edged Iowa's 1997 record of 170).
How dominant were they? They beat second-place Cornell and the rest of the field by mind-bending 100 points, which is the greatest margin of victory in tournament history.
Brooks was the championships' most valuable wrestler, winning his first four bouts by large, bonus-point margins. He then suffocated longtime rival, N.C. State's Trent Hidlay, 6-1, in the finals.
He said he talked to Sanderson about the pressure of winning a fourth title, this one while moving up to 197 pounds, just before these championships started on Thursday.
"My whole life I've had a target, whether being in Maryland and got known a little bit on the national stage, it prepares you for that. I just look at it that way," Brooks said. "I've always had a target, not just me going for a fourth title, but I've always had a target on my back, regardless. We kind of had that conversation. I think that's the truth."
Carter Starocci: 'One of the toughest humans on the plant'
Starocci, meanwhile, won the tournament on just one good leg, so to speak. He opted not to discuss particulars of his right knee injury suffered a month ago that kept him out of the Big Ten Championships and forced him to wear a protective brace and sleeve.
The same injury that wiped away his scoring prowess and turned him into an impenetrable wall of defense. He pitched three straight, single-digit shutouts to end the tournament, two against previous national champs.
Penn State coach Cael Sanderson attempted to put his wrestlers' feats in perspective after it was all over.
"Every year, you just want to see your kids smile at the end of the season and seeing them reaching their goals. Obviously, in situations like Carter and Aaron, the pressure mounts," Sanderson said. "But they both are competitors, and that's what they live for, that's what they were born for.
"Aaron, obviously, just very dominant all year long. Carter had some adversity, which is pretty amazing. He wasn't able to wrestle the way he wanted to, but wrestling with the injury that he had was really, really impressive. There's not a lot of human beings on the planet that would be able to do what he just did."
Bo Nickal, a former Penn State multi-year champ, echoed Sanderson with his Saturday night post on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Carter Starocci is one of the toughest humans on the planet. If y’all knew what he had to go through you wouldn’t believe it."
Starocci would admit that he couldn't even walk on his own two weeks ago. Following his 2-0 victory Saturday, he raised his Penn State trainer's hand in celebration after leaving the mat.
"I chose to come out here and wrestle. With that, the mindset is you can't really have excuses," Starocci said. "And for me even talking about it really doesn't do any justice because that's in the past. I'm moving forward. I'm focusing on healing. We made a lot of progress."
Penn State wrestling: The greatest team ever?
Heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet got the Nittany Lions going on this historic night with a smooth, controlled victory in the opening match. He hit on two early takedowns and never allowed Michigan's Lucas Davison to challenge.
Kerkvliet and, a bit later, 157-pound sophom*ore Levi Haines, each won their first national titles after finishing as runners-up last year. Haines, the former Biglerville High and YAIAA star, steadily dominated his finals match, just a night after surviving an upset bid in overtime.
A freshman like no other: 'Missile Mesenbrink': Penn State wrestling's unlikely national title, record-breaking hero
Penn State dominance: America's top sports dynasty? Why Cael Sanderson, Penn State rule the wrestling world
Consider, too, that these Lions nearly tied or broke another record − the one for most individual title winners. Senior Beau Bartlett lost his 141-pound match on quick takedown points with only a second remaining; freshman Mitch Mesenbrink lost at 165 pounds by a single riding time point.
Earlier in the day, freshman Tyler Kasak won his seventh-straight bout of the tournament to secure a third-place finish at 149 pounds.
Seven of Penn State's 10 wrestlers finished in the top three in the nation.
And in a way, this team will continue to give back. Each national title winner is eligible to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials next month in State College. Brooks has long been considered a top contender to make the team; Starocci would be, too, if he gets healthy enough.
He said there were discussions with doctors about him possibly not even wrestling in these NCAA Championships in order to be his best for the Trials.
If so, this tournament certainly would have had a much different look.
"But, again, me as a competitor, it doesn't sit right with me watching my guys go to war and I'm just cooped up and just watching," Starocci said. "That's not who I am."
Frank Bodani covers Penn State sports 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.
