Penn State Dominates Pre-Seeds for Big Ten Wrestling Tournament
The top-ranked Penn State wrestling team dominated the preliminary seedings for the 2024 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, where the Nittany Lions are defending champs. Five Penn State wrestlers are seeded No. 1, with all 10 Nittany Lions being seeded among the top six.
Leading the way for Penn State is Carter Starocci, who is seeded No. 1 at 174 pounds. Starocci brings a 64-bout win streak to the Big Ten Championships, where he is expected to compete. Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said Monday that Starocci is progressing after sustaining an injury in the team's final regular-season match in late February. Starocci seeks to become a four-time national champion this season.
Aaron Brooks, another potential four-time national champion, is the top seed at 197 pounds. Brooks is in his first season at the weight class after previously wrestling at 184. Penn State's Beau Bartlett (141), Levi Haines (157) and Greg Kerkvliet (285) all earned top seeds as well. All five wrestlers are unbeaten and ranked No. 1 nationally, according to InterMat.
Redshirt freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink is seeded second at 164, while Bernie Truax is third at 197. Freshman Tyler Kasak is fourth at 149, Aaron Nagao is fifth at 133, and freshman Braeden Davis is sixth at 125. The Big Ten will release the final seeds and official brackets Friday. The Big Ten Wrestling Championships are scheduled for March 9-10 at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland.
Penn State won four individual titles last year en route to its first Big Ten tournament title since 2019. The Nittany Lions seek to qualify 10 wrestlers to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships for the first time since 2014. Find the complete list of pre-seeds here.
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