Penn State wrestling superlatives: Top stars and moments from January, plus a bold prediction

Penn State wrestling rolls into the final week of January on a roll. The Nittany Lions knocked out Iowa 23-14 on Friday night to improve to 11-0 on the season.

Head coach Cael Sanderson’s team is now off until it meets Ohio State in Feb. 3 in Columbus.

Here are our superlatives from the month that was.

Three stars

Three best wrestlers

Roman Bravo-Young | Sr. | 133

‘RBY’ had an impressive start to the 2023 portion of the schedule. The two-time NCAA champion kicked things off by beating top-30 wrestler Taylor LaMont of Wisconsin by major decision, 14-5. He later dominated top-15 Michigan standout Dylan Ragusin 4-2 with an impressive 3:04 in riding time. After that, he took on top 20 Michigan State grappler Rayvon Foley and was up 11-4 before pinning the Spartan with 34 seconds to wrestle in the third period. Finally, he pinned friend and former Nittany Lion Brody Teske of Iowa in the third period to help spur his team to victory against the Hawkeyes.

Levi Haines | Fr. | 157

After winning all three of his matches at the College Wrestling Duals back in December, Haines decked top 25 Wisconsin wrestler Garrett Model 16-6 on the road before upsetting No. 10 Will Lewan of Michigan 3-1 in sudden victory in front of an elated Bryce Jordan Center crowd. A week later, he stopped No. 15 Cobe Siebrecht of Iowa 3-2 with a third period takedown. He is now officially the team’s starter in his weight class.

Carter Starocci | Jr.. | 174 pounds

Starocci continues to be as solid as they come for the Nittany Lions and begins a run of top-ranked upperweights for the team when he is in the lineup at 174 pounds. The junior kicked off January by dominating unranked Wisconsin wrestler Josh Otto by major decision, 22-8. Then, against Michigan, he built a 6-2 lead against unranked Max Maylor before ultimately pinning the Wolverine at the 4:15 mark of the match. Finally, he beat Iowa’s Nelson Brands by decision, 2-1.

What was January’s key moments for Penn State wrestling?

There were two.

First, back-to-back middle-weight upsets fueled Penn State’s big win over a Michigan side that entered the Bryce Jordan Center in January unbeaten. The fun for a sellout crowd began at 157 pounds. Freshman Levi Haines put on a defensive clinic as both he and No. 10 Will Lewan registered an escape each during the first three periods to force sudden victory. A tremendous fending off of a great Lewan shot in the extra period was followed by Haines getting in deep and finishing a shot of his own to earn the 3-1 upset. One weight class later, Alex Facundo and No. 5 Cameron Amine put on a dazzling performance at 165 pounds. A late scramble at first awarded a takedown and lead to Facundo. But, upon review, that was reversed and instead Amine was given a takedown and lead. The Nittany Lion escaped to force sudden victory, and after a scoreless period, Facundo racked up 14 seconds of riding time in tiebreaker to win, 6-5. The Lions rolled from there.

Then, against Iowa, Penn State ripped off wins in its last four matches against Iowa, including wins by Max Dean over Jacob Warner and Greg Kerkvliet over Tony Cassioppi at 197 pounds and heavyweight, respectively, to secure another dual meet win over the Hawkeyes.

How about the top highlights?

We go with two yet again.

Gary Steen has had a difficult start to his Penn State career. The Nittany Lion is unranked and often overmatched at 125 pounds. However, he may have turned a corner in the Michigan State match. Steen put his strength, speed, and stamina on display to outlast Spartans’ top 25 wrestler Tristan Lujan 3-1 in sudden victory. Both wrestlers escaped over the first seven minutes of wrestling, but neither could finish a shot, which forced sudden victory. The Lion was the aggressor in during the extra period, though, and that ultimately led to him finishing a shot for a takedown and a two-point victory. Steen, however, was replaced by Marco Vespa in the Iowa match. It’s unclear who will start at 125 moving forward.

Beyond that, we must highlight Max Dean’s third period ride of Jacob Warner to secure a victory at 197 pounds in the Iowa match. His third period mat control was elite and helped secure a team victory.

Bold prediction

Is it bold? Perhaps not. But will we put it in writing? Yes. Levi Haines will be not only an All-American at 157 pounds but also finish in the top five. His presence on the mat looks years beyond his actual age, and his wrestling ability matches it.