PSU wrestling notebook: Sanderson excited for growth of wrestling, Starocci on the hunt
The popularity of college wrestling has never seemed to be bigger than it is now.
Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson reflected Tuesday on the expansion of coverage of the sport, with ESPNU and FloSports broadcasting matches over the collegiate landscape. The Nittany Lions traveled to Rider on Friday and Lehigh on Sunday, grabbing wins in the meantime. Both matches were broadcast on FloSports.
“I think ESPN has continued to reach out and expand their coverage of wrestling, which has been great,” Sanderson said. “I think exposure has been great. Big Ten Network has done a fantastic job. I think when we were at Rider and Lehigh and Flo(Sports) paid those schools to stream those matches. So, there’s definitely revenue to be made from streaming wrestling. Its popularity is continuing to grow, which is good.”
The Nittany Lions are set to host Oregon State on Sunday. Oregon State sits just outside of the NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll top-25 with 26 votes received for the week of Dec. 6. The Beavers sit at 2-1 on the season, falling 20-13 on Nov. 5 to Lehigh, defeating Linfield 45-3 on Nov. 13 and beating Clackamas Community College 44-4 on Nov. 13.
Oregon State features Brandon Kaylor (125), Cleveland Belton (141), Matthew Olguin (165) and Trey Muñoz (184). The quartet of wrestlers picked up pivotal wins against then-26th-ranked Lehigh, defeating Carter Bailey (125) Malyke Hines (141), Brian Meyer (165) and Tate Samuelson (184) respectively.
Sanderson has a great deal of respect for the Beavers and their program, having to eventually face the gauntlet of No. 4 Arizona State and No. 24 Cal Poly in the Pac-12.
“Oregon State’s got some tough kids and one of the up and coming programs,” Sanderson said. And (they have) a coaching staff that’s done a tremendous job, as we saw last year at the nationals. We’re excited for the match.”
Starocci hunting for another national championship
Carter Starocci (174) is a 2022 national champion and is confident in his ability to match or exceed the energy of his opponent on any given night. Starocci made quick work of both Rider’s Shane Reitsma and Lehigh’s Jake Logan, defeating the former in an 18-6 major decision and the latter by fall.
As a national champion and someone who expects greatness from himself, he keeps the mentality of a hunter. He sizes up his prey and strikes with cunning decisiveness by overpowering or outmaneuvering whoever stands in his way.
He doesn’t bog himself down with others’ perception of him.
“I know some people think a certain way about me or not, but it’s not going to change how I’m going to approach my lifts and my practices,” Starocci said. “I know what I want and I want to be a national champ, not just one time, but every single time and a world champion and Olympic champ. So, I’m very clear on that and I act on that and I speak on that and I perform like that.”
Roman Bravo-Young yearns to leave lasting legacy
Roman Bravo-Young (133) has accomplished a great deal at Penn State during his tenure.
He’s a two-time national champion in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Bravo-Young took home gold in both of those years as well and won gold at the 2019 Pan American Championships. He’s compiled an 83-9 record through his time at Penn State and wants to leave a legacy that stands the test of time.
“I’ve really done more than I could imagine,” Bravo-Young said. “As of right now, if I were to quit wrestling right now, I’d want people to be like, ‘Wow. He was a fun wrestler and I miss him.’ That’s it. ‘He went out there, did stuff that no one else did. He definitely had his own twist and his own swagger to him.’ That’s all I care about. (That) I wasn’t like everyone else.”
