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By Andy Elder
For the Mirror
With defending champion Penn State the prohibitive favorite to repeat as the Big Ten tournament champion, most of the focus this week has been more on one Nittany Lion than the other nine.
Two-time defending 174-pound Big Ten champion Carter Starocci, the three-time NCAA champ, suffered what appeared to be a knee injury in the last dual of the season. His status for the tournament, Saturday and Sunday at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland, remains up in the air. But earlier in the week the reports sounded promising.
"He's doing pretty good. I don't know if it's a situation that me talking really does a lot of good, but what his plans are, they really haven't changed. I think it's still search and destroy," head coach Cael Sanderson said.
Whatever the injury, Carter sounded undeterred in a recent social media post.
"A true champion can adapt to anything," he wrote. "You can either run from your adversity or face it head-on and conquer it. There's only one way out and I'm going that way. This game teaches you a lot and one thing I learned for sure is my mind is absolutely bulletproof."
Sanderson said immediately after the dual that Starocci had pain. He elaborated on Monday, saying the first day with the injury was tough because he was in pain and unsure of the extent of the injury. Sanderson emphasized that the training and medical staff saw the pain as a good sign because "if there's no pain, that's usually more of a concern because that means something's no longer there."
Sanderson has said that Starocci is a quick healer and the coach seemed to back up that sentiment.
"Well, it's like a day-to-day thing where he's getting better significantly over time, so his plan is to what does and go compete," Sanderson said.
On Monday, Starocci entered the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex with his knee taped from calf to mid-thigh under a brace, but he walked without a limp.
Six years ago, Penn State faced a similar situation when Jason Nolf sustained a knee injury late in the season. He wrestled his first two bouts at Big Tens, winning by fall and major decision, before medically defaulting his next two bouts to place sixth. Two weeks later he won an NCAA title while wearing a knee brace. Might the same approach work for Starocci?
"That's something that we'll have to step in there if we don't feel like it's in his best interest," Sanderson said. "Obviously, getting to the nationals is No. 1 and then being at your best at the nationals is No. 2, so what we have to do to help him do that is the plan."
Teammate Greg Kerkvliet, for one, didn't sound concerned.
"That doesn't really change anything," he said. "I mean, he's doing all right. He'll be fine. We know if anybody can handle it, it would be him."
Penn State is well positioned to add an eighth tournament team title this weekend.
The conference released the tournament pre-seeds Monday night and all 10 Nittany Lions were seeded in the top six at their respective weights, including five at No. 1 and another at No. 2.
Based on the NCAA's qualifying tournament allocations for the Big Ten -- 9 at 125, 7 at 133, 11 at 141, 9 at 149, 9 at 157, 10 at 165, 8 at 174, 8 at 184, 7 at 197 and 7 at 285 -- Penn State's wrestlers would merely need to wrestle to their seeds to qualify all 10 for the NCAA Championships on March 21-23 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
"It's the same for us every year. We just want to want our kids to be happy and want to help them reach their goals," Sanderson said. "We just keep the focus on the little things, small and simple things that make the big things take place. Just keep things simple and have fun."
Predictably, five of Penn State's six wrestlers received No. 1 seeds: Beau Bartlett (141), Levi Haines (157), Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (197) and Kerkvliet (285). The other undefeated Nittany Lion, 165-pounder Mitchell Mesenbrink, was seeded second behind Wisconsin's Dean Hamiti.
Bernie Truax (184) earned a third seed behind Minnesota's top-seeded Isaiah Salazar. Tyler Kasak was seed fourth at 149, where Nebraska's Ridge Lovett earned the top seed. At 133, Aaron Nagao was seeded fifth, behind top-seeded Dylan Ragusin of Michigan. And, at 125, Braeden Davis is the No. 6 seed. Purdue's Matt Ramos is seeded No. 1.
"I think our guys are at peace and ready to roll," Sanderson said. "I think everyone's looking good. You know, we just have a couple more days of hard training and then it's just get ready to compete and just go do what we do."
Truax, who lost two Big Ten duals this season, said he's eager for rematches, should they happen in his first Big Ten tournament.
"The Big Ten is the best in the country and so it's gonna be fun going out there against the best guys. I've taken a couple losses and so it's helped me learn and continue to improve. It's been great," he said, revealing that he likes to watch tape on opponents during tournaments.
"I like to watch a match where they lose and then I see 'OK, this is what works against them.' And then I also like to watch a match where they do really well. I see what their go-to stuff is. 'All right, you got me. Now. Let's go scrap and see who wins this time.'"