By Andy Stine

astine@altoonamirror.com

UNIVERSITY PARK — Carter Starocci picked up a 4-1 sudden victory exhibition win over last year’s 184-pound NCAA champion Parker Keckeisen from Northern Iowa on Saturday night in the NWCA All-Star Classic. He had the option to sit out Sunday’s opening dual meet of the season against Drexel, but that’s not exactly in Starocci’s nature.

Starocci continued what he started on Saturday night with one of four PSU technical falls against the Dragons in a 41-3 victory over the Dragons at Rec Hall.

“I think our whole team is pretty solid from start to finish,” Starocci said. “I feel like as the season goes on, we’ll keep getting better, and this is only the first one.”

The Lions rolled out what can be described as a ‘Murderers’ Row’ in the second part of their lineup, which got the four technical falls from Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174), Starocci (184), and Lucas Cochran (197). Greg Kerkvliet (285) ended the dual meet with the only fall of the afternoon.

The second half of the lineup may be more what fans can expect from the team. The first half was much closer with backups getting starts for guys that wrestled in the Classic on Saturday.

“I thought Drexel did a real nice job,” PSU coach Cael Sanderson said. “A lot of close matches coming down to the end. That’s good experience for our guys. Some of our guys haven’t had a lot of opportunities in the past. First week of the season for us. We just went out to compete and see if we can get better.”

Luke Lilledahl got a forfeit at 125 for his first college dual meet.

“We’re really excited to watch him wrestle,” Sanderson said. “I think a lot of the crowd was too. Both of their guys are injured at 125. We knew everyone would be a little disappointed. But Luke has been awesome for the program. He brings in positive energy. He’s an incredible wrestler. We’re super happy he’s in our program.”

Braeden Davis appeared to twist his knee in the first contested match of the day at 133, but he was able to continue. He had built a 6-2 lead when the injury happened in the first minute, but had to hold on for a 7-5 win.

“I think he’ll be fine,” Sanderson said. “He just kind of had to wrestle through that. We’ll take care of it and make sure he has the time he needs to get back to full speed.”

Cael Nasdeo fell in his debut to Drexel’s Jordan Soriano, 11-8, at 141 pounds before Connor Pierce (149) and Alex Facundo (157) both got decisions.

Penn State (1-0) will travel to the Army Black Knight Invitational on Sunday.

All-Star Classic

The Nittany Lions went 4-1 in the NWCA All-Star Classic on Saturday evening. Other than Starocci’s win, Shayne Van Ness (149), Tyler Kasak (157), and Haines (174) all picked up wins in the exhibition match. Beau Bartlett (141) fell to Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez in a rematch of last season’s 141-pound NCAA championship, which was also won by Mendez.

Even though the Classic has been at Rec Hall for the past two seasons, it’s not a guarantee that it will be hosted by Penn State again in 2025.

“We just kind of roll with the punches with the All-Star match,” Sanderson said. “It’s an awesome event. A lot of great matches. But it’s a lot, also. You don’t know who is wrestling, and you’re jumping into back-to-back matches. It worked out. Is it something we’re going to set in concrete? Probably not. They may not want to have it here again. I don’t know. It’s not 100 percent our call.”

Recruiting update

Penn State landed a commit from the No. 1 recruit in the country in Ohio’s Marcus Blaze last week.

Blaze, who is looking to become a four-time state champion in Ohio this season, chose the Nittany Lions over Ohio State and Purdue. His older brother, Joey, is a wrestler at Purdue.

Blaze, who will wrestle 138 this season in his senior year of high school, is projected to be either a 141 or 149-pounder at the next level.

125–Luke Lilledahl, PS, won by forfeit. 133–Braeden Davis, PS, dec. Kyle Waterman, 7-5. 141–Jordan Soriano, D, dec. Cael Nasdeo, 11-8. 149–Connor Pierce, PS, dec. Dominic Findora, 5-4. 157–Alex Facundo, PS, dec. Luke Nichter, 8-6.

165–Mitchell Mesenbrink, PS, tech. fall Cody Walsh, 21-4 5:19. 174–Levi Haines, PS, tech. fall Jack Janda, 17-0 4:04. 184–Carter Starocci, PS, tech. fall Giuseppe Hoose, 19-3 5:37. 197–Lucas Cochran, PS, tech. fall Ethan Wilson, 19-1 3:27. 285–Greg Kerkvliet, PS, pinned Tanner Updegraff, 1:40.