Mar 27, 2024 By Staff and Wire Reports 5 min read

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Rocco Welsh’s dream of winning a national championship as a true freshman came up short Saturday night in the finals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at 174 pounds.

The Waynesburg Central graduate and Ohio State wrestler dropped a 2-0 decision to Penn State’s Carter Starocci in an all-Pennsylvania final. Starocci, who graduated from Cathedral Prep, won his fourth national title, which is something only five other wrestlers, including his head coach, Cael Sanderson, had done in the 95-year history of the national tournament.

Pat Smith, Kyle Dake, Logan Stieber and Yianni Diakomihalis also accomplished the feat.

Starocci’s teammate, Aaron Brooks, claimed his fourth a bit later by beating longtime rival Trent Hidlay of North Carolina State to bring the total of four-time national champions to seven.

“I wouldn’t say I do this for any titles or anything like that. For me, what gets me out of bed is to be able to take everybody on,” Starocci said. “That’s kind of what’s scratching my ego a little bit, is knowing that there’s no one that can beat me.”

The Nittany Lions had a school-record six going for championships, though their third straight team title had long been assured; Penn State finished with a record 172.5 points, a full 100 ahead of second-place Cornell.

Questions had been swirling about Starocci’s right knee, which he hurt in Penn State’s final dual meet. He forfeited out of the Big Ten championships, dropping him to the No. 9 seed at 174 pounds at nationals, and wrestled with a bulky black brace on the knee.

It may have affected his offense, but it hardly hurt his defense. Starocci pitched shutouts in his last three matches, including the final, which was interrupted several times so that blood could be wiped from Welsh’s face.

Welsh was hit twice for stalling in the first period, which gave Starocci a point with one second remaining in the opening frame. Starocci escaped 22 seconds into the second period and Welsh couldn’t get past Starocci’s head and hands defense. Welsh chose neutral in the third and Starocci continued with his defensive gameplan. Starocci was warned for stalling with 19 seconds left in the match but was able to hang on for the victory.

“It really starts with the coaches,” Starocci said. “This morning I was a little heavy and a little more than I wanted to be. And Coach Cael was right there riding the bike with me. Just looking around, all the other guys warming up, their coaches are on their phones. I’m like, this dude is in the foxhole with us. I think that means more than anything.”

Welsh finished his first year of collegiate wrestling at 30-6. He still has three years left to capture the first national title for a wrestler from Waynesburg since Coleman Scott won the gold for Oklahoma State at 133 pounds in 2008.

Scott, who is currently the associate head coach for the Cowboys, lost in his first finals appearance, which came during his junior season. He was eighth as a freshman and fifth as a sophomore under legendary head coach John Smith.

Greg Kerkvliet got things going for Penn State at 285 pounds against Michigan’s Lucas Davison. The unbeaten Kerkvliet scored two first-period takedowns, extended his lead to 9-3 after the second and cruised to a 13-4 victory and the national title.

Levi Haines delivered Penn State’s next title at 157, where he had lost in the finals a year ago. Haines took advantage of a stall call on Arizona State’s Jacori Teemer, then a takedown in the third period on his way to the 5-0 victory.

Things didn’t go quite so well for Penn State at 141 and 165 pounds.

In the 141-pound final, Beau Bartlett met Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez for a rubber match after splitting this season. The match was tied 1-all in the final seconds when a scramble ensued and Mendez was credited with a takedown, giving him the win.

Then at 165, Mitchell Mesenbrink was trying to finish off a dream freshman season against Iowa State’s David Carr, rallying from a 7-2 hole to make it 8-8 by the end of the third period. But Carr, who had defeated two-time defending champion Keegan O’Toole on the way to the final, had built up enough riding time to get the point he needed for the victory.

“I just kept telling myself, just focus in. Keep wrestling hard,” said Carr, who won the 157-pound title in 2021 and finished third and second the past two years. “And it feels awesome. It feels amazing to end my career on top.”

Earlier in the night, eighth-seeded Richard Figueroa of Arizona State completed his surprising run to the final with a 7-2 victory over Drake Ayala, who had kept alive Iowa’s streak of at least one finalist every year since 1990.

There was no drama at 184, where Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen rolled past Oklahoma State’s Dustin Plott. Keckeisen took a 15-4 major decision, giving him a bonus-point win in every match of the tournament.

In the highly anticipated 133-pound final, where Oklahoma State teammate Daton Fix was chasing his elusive national title, it was Vito Arujau of Cornell that denied him one more time. Fix jumped out to a 2-0 lead but Arujau, who beat him in the semis last year, answered with an escape and stalling point before a late takedown gave him the 5-3 victory.

Fix finished his career a four-time silver medalist, and perhaps the best wrestler never to win the title.

“He’s been on the stage, relevant, for how many years now, right? So I was very nervous. Then the whistle blew and I started wrestling and I forgot everything,” Arujau said. “I have nothing but admiration for Daton and respect. I bet he understands as well that it was a dogfight because we both wanted to win.”