4 Penn State wrestling takeaways from the Lions' pre-NCAA Tournament media day

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State wrestling leaves for Philadelphia this week to compete at the 2025 NCAA Championships. On Monday, the team held its final media event before hitting the road in search of its fourth straight team title. The No. 1 Nittany Lions have four No. 1 seeds, nine top-four seeds, and all 10 starters are seeded inside of the top eight to start the three-day event, which begins Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center.

“We have a lot to be grateful for, just the people we get to work with every day, our coaching staff, you, these student-athletes; we’re kind of all united in our mindset and our focus,” Lions coach Cael Sanderson said. “We’re happy. It’s always on to the next challenge. But we’re grateful for those challenges and grateful for the opportunities we have ahead of us here. It’s not every week you have the opportunity to go win an NCAA championship. So, I’m guessing our guys are pretty excited for that opportunity. And, the fun part is seeing what they do with it.”

Here’s what we learned inside the media room at Rec Hall.

Penn State is feeling good

From Sanderson to three of his wrestlers — freshman Luke Lilledahl, sophomore Tyler Kasak, and graduate senior Carter Starocci — it was clear that Penn State is ready to roll. The Lions usually are, of course. It’s why they’ve been so successful over the last decade and a half no matter who comes and goes from year to year. Perhaps most important in this realm was the update on redshirt freshman Josh Barr, who hurt his left leg at Big Tens.

“Josh has been working really hard,” Sanderson said. “And, we’ve got Dan Monthley as our trainer. I can’t imagine there’s a better trainer in the world. He’s put a lot of time and effort in. Josh is going to be ready to scrap on Thursday. He’s looking good.”

Watch Penn State coach Cael Sanderson’s complete news conference below

Penn State fans could not have hoped to hear much more encouraging news on the 197-pound starter. All signs continue to point to him being ready to roll as the No. 4 seed at nationals. And, from an overall standpoint, the Lions’ other nine starters are ready to go, too.

“The energy and the attitude of the kids has been as great as it ever has been in our program,” Sanderson said. “I mean, obviously we have a lot of consistency, and there really haven’t been many, if any, exceptions, where our guys haven’t been at their best in those big moments. But again, it comes down to each individual kid and them deciding and choosing how they’re going to go into competition, how they’re going to use the the seven minutes that they have with each match.

“I think they’re prepared. And, we’re excited for this. I think they’re excited. I mean, we don’t get too high or too low. Every match, when you’re you’re trying to be the best you can be, it requires kind of that same effort. I think our guys are ready to go. But they’re the ones that get to decide for themselves and go out there and choose to compete with enthusiasm and gratitude or not. But I think right now, things look really, really good.”

More than the drive for five is driving Starocci

Starocci can become the first NCAA wrestler to ever win five individual titles by taking first this year at 184 pounds. His previous four championships all came at 184 pounds. It goes without saying that winning motivates the Penn State star. But, simply saying he could be the first to ever do something in a sport that’s been ongoing at the college level since 1928 is not the only thing pushing him to greatness.

“I was talking with Coach Cael about it last week,” Starocci said. “And for me, it’s never about winning like a national title or anything like that. I just really enjoy competition. And, I’m very competitive. And so for me, just one thing I want to make sure is, before I go, that I kill all these guys.”

It’s not an unfamiliar refrain from the Erie native. Being his best, and dominating whoever is across from him for seven minutes (and often much less) is always what’s most important. If he does that, the accolades will come as a result. And so, it’s no surprise that he’s approaching this historic push in the fashion that he is.

Penn State is not laser-focused on its historic chase overall

Starocci’s approach to things comes not only from his own mental makeup but also that of his teammates and coaches. Penn State set a school record for number of team points scored at Big Tens. It shattered the NCAA team points total last year with 172.5 points. And, it could very well break that mark this year while also being in line to become just the second team ever to have 10 All-Americans. Other records could be broken, too.

While fans and outside observers are focused on those things, it’s safe to say the Nittany Lions are not. Far from it, in fact.

“I honestly don’t really even think about that kind of stuff,” Sanderson said. “We want each of our guys to go in there and be happy and healthy and be smiling when the tournament’s over, and take whatever comes out of this tournament and run with it, whether they’re done wrestling or they have another year. As far as anything else, I mean, we know what their goals are individually. So, we want to help them get in there and reach their goals.

“We got 10 guys, and we hope they all can just go wrestle with enthusiasm. If we do that, we will be thrilled. I will be thrilled. And, proud and happy. And if we don’t do that well, then you know, still going to be proud and happy, and we’ll figure out how to do it better next time.”

He said it

Luke Lilledahl, on being the No. 1 seed at 125 pounds at his first NCAA Championships:

“Obviously I saw I was the one seed. But I don’t really take that into too much account, right? It’s just kind of what you’ve done throughout the season. And none of that really matters unless you win the Nationals. So, just looking ahead to the tournament, and yeah, the seeds don’t really matter.”