5 Penn State wrestling takeaways from media day: Updates on Greg Kerkvliet, Aaron Nagao, starter battles, more

STATE COLLEGE — The 16th season in the Cael Sanderson era at Penn State is on the horizon. Some Nittany Lions will be on the mat Saturday during the NWCA All-Star Classic exhibition event at Rec Hall. Then, on Sunday, the team opens its NCAA and Big Ten team title defenses by hosting Drexel here at 1 p.m. ET. On Monday, the program held its annual media day before things get going.

“Just grateful to be at Penn State and with the people that we work with every day, and the community has been awesome,” Sanderson said. “But, yeah, you know, I just got nothing but good, good memories, and just looking forward to making more.

“Every season is kind of the same for us. We just are excited to see where we are and then just build from there, right? We have a lot of great kids, great human beings. So, we’ll see where we’re at, and then we’ll just keep getting better and be at our best in big moments.”

Read on to see what we learned inside Rec Hall.

1. Aaron Nagao is hurt, Greg Kerkvliet is not

Sanderson revealed that 133-pound incumbent Aaron Nagao suffered an off-season injury and is still recovering. He dealt with plenty of health issues during the 2023-2024 season after transferring in and those followed him to the time between last year and this year. The nature of the injury was not disclosed. Neither was a timeline to possibly return. It makes it even more obvious that Braeden Davis will start at 133 this winter after bumping up from 125, a weight he won the Big Ten title at a year ago.

In a more positive development, defending heavyweight champion Greg Kerkvliet is good to go. There were some questions regarding his status after he dropped out of the NWCA All-Star Classic. Sanderson said that he signed up to compete in it before a family event popped up on the schedule. So, the senior will attend that Saturday and then wrestle for the Lions on Sunday.

2. What’s the plan at 157 pounds?

Penn State entered the season knowing it would need a new 157-pounder after defending NCAA champ Levi Haines bumped up to 174. Sophomore Tyler Kasak, who finished third at 149 a year ago, is bumping up to compete with program vet Alex Facundo, who is moving down to 157 from 165 following a redshirt year. The battle is tight and not decided yet.

“That’s one of those weights that’s going to be more competitive for us,” Sanderson said. “Alex Facundo is looking really good. Kasak as well. That’s one of our more competitive weights, and when that gets determined, [it’s a] you’ll know when I know kind of a deal.”

3. Why was 184 pounds right for Starocci and Penn State?

Four-time NCAA champ Carter Starocci is back for his final season in State College. After winning four straight national titles at 174 pounds, he will bump up to 184 with hopes of becoming the first five-time champ in NCAA history. Earlier in the offseason, Starocci suggested in an interview with Flo Wrestling that he might move to 197. So, why was 184 the agreed upon final decision?

 Carter is a guy that has been at 74, four national titles, but it’s getting tougher and tougher to get that weight,” Sanderson said. “I like the idea of him going to compete and making weight management less of a factor in his week. Lot of success with guys going up.”

Added Starocci:

“I just feel like it was my natural weight. Talk edto the coaches. I think they wanted me to go 184 last year, but I can be stubborn at times and things like that. So for me, I think them telling me to do something, I kind of want to do the opposite.

“But, I don’t want to be up till three in the morning cutting weight anymore. And so, yeah, it kind of made sense for our lineup. We have some good guys other places, things like that. So it kind of made sense.”

4. Numerous starting spot battles will spill into the season

That is not the only starting spot battle that is not yet resolved. We still expect star freshman Luke Lilledahl to start at 125 pounds but Sanderson praised vet Kurt McHenry.

“We’ll use the next month to try and figure out what the plan is there,” Sanderson said.

The same can obviously also be said at 157 and also at 197 pounds. There, junior Lucas Cochran and redshirt freshman Josh Barr are locked in a battle to start. While many think Barr leads, both will have a chance to win the job during the non-conference portion of the schedule.

“I think his plan was to be [before Starocci moved there], and he could have gone either weight, but he’s a big, strong kid. He’s not going to be a small 97-pounder. He’s jumped levels, I would say, in the last few months. That’s a very competitive weight. Cochran’s done a good job.”

Overall on starting spot battles, Sanderson said:

“We’ve had a round of wrestle-offs but we’ll use the preseason and these early matches and tournaments to make sure we have everything set. The next couple of months will give us a pretty good idea who our guys are. We have time to learn and grow and keep making progress.”

5. Odds and ends from Penn State wrestling media day

Some quick hitters to close things out:

–Sanderson said multi-time Wisconsin state champs Cole and Connor Mirasola are both “shoo-ins” to redshirt this season.”

–Beau Bartlett (141 pounds), Shayne Van Ness (149), Tyler Kasak (157), Levi Haines (174), and Carter Starocci (184) are wrestling in the NWCA All-Star Classic Saturday. Sanderson said all of them likely won’t wrestle against Drexel on Sunday but left the door open to maybe one or two of them doing so.

–Speaking of Van Ness, after suffering a season-ending injury a year ago, Sanderson said he’s ready to roll.

“He’s wrestling on Saturday,” Sanderson said. “He’s Shayne. He applies a lot of pressure and he’s going to wrestle tough. He learns and continues to improve in all areas.”