Penn State Wrestling NCAA Championship Bracket Reactions 2024

The 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships are soon. Here's every Penn State wrestler's path through the bracket.

Mar 14, 2024 by David Bray

Penn State Wrestling NCAA Championship Bracket Reactions 2024

The Penn State Wrestling program has won ten NCAA team titles since Cael Sanderson took over in the 2009-2010 season, and they're favorites to win their eleventh in the Cael Sanderson era this year. More on Penn State's ascendence under coach Sanderson is available here, but for now, all eyes are on this year's NCAA Championship brackets.

Complete NCAA Championship brackets are available here.

Mar 21-23, 4:00 PM UTC

2024 NCAA Championships Watch Party

125 lbs - Braeden Davis, #1 Seed

Penn State's true freshman earned the top seed after winning a Big Ten title from the 6 seed. Because of the depth of 125 lbs, the top seed doesn't provide Davis with an easy path through the bracket. After a first round match against either Michigan State's Tristan Lujan or Brown's Mike Joyce, Davis could see either Brett Ungar of Cornell or Dean Peterson of Rutgers. Peterson has been ranked as high as 4th this season, and Ungar has been as high as 6th. Of Davis' potential opponents in the first two rounds, he's 2-0 against Lujan, 1-0 against Peterson in an overtime match and has yet to see Joyce or Ungar.

Should Davis successfully navigate the first two rounds, he'd be seeded to face either #8 seed Richard Figueroa or #9 seed Pat McKee in the semifinals. On Sunday, Davis defeated McKee 8-1 in the Big Ten finals, but he's yet to compete against Pac-12 champ Figueroa.

Potential semifinal opponents include 2023 NCAA finalist Matt Ramos and Big 12 champ Jore Volk, the #4 and #5 seeds. Davis hasn't seen either of those two opponents this season. Don't be surprised if Diego Sotelo, Brandon Kaylor, Anthony Noto, Noah Surtin, Stevo Poulin, or Brendan McCrone break up that quarter. All of those wrestlers have been ranked highly this year, and have either been All-Americans or have victories over All-Americans.

Davis can absolutely make the final at this weight, but he'll likely have to win multiple difficult matches to do so. If he does, there's no telling who might make it from the bottom half of the bracket. The top few contenders appear to be #2 seed Luke Stanich, #3 seed Drake Ayala, #6 seed Troy Spratley, and #7 seed Jakob Camacho.

133 lbs - Aaron Nagao, #10 Seed

Last year's 5th place finisher Aaron Nagao enters as the #10 seed. His tournament begins with Virginia's Marlon Yarbrough, a tall and explosive 133-pounder with a major decision this season over Sam Latona. He would then be seeded to see Little Rock true freshman Nasir Bailey, a 24-2 Pac-12 champ. What Bailey lacks in experience he makes up for with dynamic leg attacks and dangerous top work.

Should Nagao make the quarters, he would expect to see #2 seed Ryan Crookham, an undefeated Lehigh freshman with two victories over last year's champ Vito Arujau. Crookham beat Nagao earlier this season. Potential semifinal opponents include last year's champ Vito Arujau and ACC champ Kai Orine. Nagao's path on the front side of this bracket is full of challenges. If he can overcome all of them to reach the finals, Daton Fix is the most likely opponent waiting on the other side. Fix beat Nagao 6-4 at last year's NCAA Championships.

141 lbs - Beau Bartlett, #2 Seed

Big Ten runner-up Beau Bartlett has the second seed at this weight. After a first round match against Columbia's Kai Owen, Bartlett would see either Pitt's Cole Matthews or Rutgers' Mitch Moore. Bartlett beat Matthews in last year's quarterfinal round in dramatic fashion in rideouts.

Highlights From Bartlett vs Matthews at NCAAs in 2023

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Quarterfinal opponents could include UNI's Cael Happel and Oklahoma State's Tagen Jamison, two tough Big 12 wrestlers who Bartlett has yet to face in his college career. Bartlett's most likely semifinal opponents appear to be All-Americans Real Woods and Lachlan McNeil. it is worth mentioning that Woods drew All-American Clay Carlson in the opening round and McNeil could see All-American CJ Composto in the second round. Woods will be most people's pick to make the semifinals opposite Bartlett. The two have split matches in their careers. Jesse Mendez holds the top seed. Bartlett has also split with Mendez this season which would ad plenty of drama to a potential finals rematch.

149 lbs - Tyler Kasak, #7 Seed

Penn State true freshman Kasak holds the #7 seed and drew Stanford All-American Jaden Abas in the first round. Abas is excellent at his best but has lacked consistency this season. Should Kasak clear the Abas hurdle, he could see Cal Poly's Chance Lamer in the second round followed by Kyle Parco in the quarterfinals. Kasak hasn't competed against anyone in his quarter.

The other quarter on Kasak's side of the bracket includes ACC champ Jackson Arrington and All-American Austin Gomez Kasak hasn't faced either of those opponents either. The top two seeds on the opposite side of the bracket are Ridge Lovett and Caleb Henson. Lovett owns two victories over Kasak this year.

157 lbs - Levi Haines, #1 Seed

Levi Haines earned the top seed with an undefeated season, but his path through the bracket won't be a cake walk. He could see either three-time All-American Brock Mauller or Oklahoma State's Teague Travis in the second round followed by one of two two-time All-Americans Will Lewan and Peyton Robb in the quarterfinals. Potential semifinalists include Big 12 champ Ryder Downey and All-Americans Bryce Andonian, Michael Blockhus, and Ed Scott. Haines and and Andonian met in the quarterfinals in one of the most electric matches in the entire 2023 NCAA Championships.

HIGHLIGHTS: Bryce Andonian vs Levi Haines in the 2023 NCAA quarterfinals

Haines is favored to make the finals for the second time in as many attempts. If he does, any number of top opponents could be waiting. Arizona State's Jacori Teemer, Cornell's Meyer Shapiro, and Stanford's Daniel Cardenas are the three highest seeded. Haines has yet to face any of them.

165 lbs - Mitchell Mesenbrink, #2 Seed

Mesenbrink's undefeated season earned him the second seed in the tournament's toughest bracket. He'll be heavily favored in his first two matches then could see All-Americans Izzak Olejnik or Cam Amine. He has yet to wrestle Olejnik but majored Amine during a dual this season. Potential semifinals opponents include Cornell's Julian Ramirez and Iowa All-American Mike Caliendo. Mesenbrink has two victories over Caliendo this season including a tech fall at Big Tens. He has yet to see Ramirez who beat David Carr earlier this season.

The top half of this bracket includes NCAA champs David Carr and Keegan O'Toole, the two wrestlers with arguably the greatest current rivalry in all of NCAA wrestling. Carr won their first two contest, but O'Toole won their last two meetings in the NCAA and Big 12 finals. Many wrestling fans are most interested in a potential finals matchup between Mesenbrink and O'Toole, former high school teammates and pupils of Ben Askren at the Askren Wrestling Academy. They haven't wrestled so far in their college careers.

174 lbs - Carter Starocci, #9 Seed

Despite being a three-time NCAA champ, Starocci enters as the #9 seed due to two injury default losses at Big Tens. He hasn't competed since suffering an injury in the final match of the regular season, so his health status will be the biggest question at NCAAs.

Starocci starts with #24 seed Andrew Sparks of Minnesota, the wrestler he would have seen for the first time in his opening bout at Big Tens had he not injury defaulted. If he wins there he could see Cal Poly Pac-12 champ Adam Kemp in the second round followed by 2019 NCAA champ Mekhi Lewis in the quarters. Starocci defeated Lewis in the 2022 NCAA finals and two other times at the NWCA All-Star Classic this season and last.

If Starocci makes the semis, his opponents could include 2021 NCAA champ Shane Griffith, Harvard's #5 seed Philip Conigliaro, and Iowa's Patrick Kennedy. Griffith would be the most likely opponent to come out of that group if he was 100% healthy, but after suffering a recent injury, it's unclear if he'll be able to compete at his best.

Potential NCAA finals opponents for Starocci could include #2 seed Cade DeVos, #3 seed Edmond Ruth, and #6 seed Rocco Welsh among others. #22 seed Peyton Mocco is the only returning All-American on the bottom side of the bracket. The only one of those opponents Starocci has faced is Welsh who he beat 4-2 in February.

Carter Starocci vs Mekhi Lewis at 2023 NWCA All-Star Classic

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184 lbs - Bernie Truax, #6 Seed

Cal Poly transfer Bernie Truax has finished 4th at NCAAs in his last three attempts. This year he's seeded 6th. He'll be a big favorite over Southern Scuffle finalist Cameron Pine in the first round and a favorite over either Colton Hawks or UNC All-American Gavin Kane in the second round. Should he win those matches, his quarterfinal opponent is most likely to be Oklahoma State All-American Dustin Plott. These two haven't met as Plott was a 174-pounder before this season. Plott's solid resume this year makes him the favorite, but the match is certainly winnable for Truax.

If Truax advances to the semis, he could see #2 seed Isaiah Salazar, the Minnesota Golden Gopher who just beat him in sudden victory at Big Tens. He might also see ACC finalists TJ Stewart or Dylan Fishback who are seeded 7th and 10th respectively. Should Truax advance to the finals, he just might see Northern Iowa's Parker Keckeisen, an undefeated CKLV champ who reached the NCAA finals a year ago. These two split matches at NCAAs in 2022, but Keckeisen won their most recent match at the 2023 NWCA All-Star Classic.

2023 NWCA All-Star Classic: Truax vs Keckeisen

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197 lbs - Aaron Brooks, #1 Seed

Brooks is looking for his 4th NCAA title, and he has a 94.12% bonus rate this season. He's the biggest favorite to win this tournament by a wide margin regardless of weight. His potential quarterfinal with #8 seed Stephen Buchanan is interesting because the two haven't met, and Buchanan's offense has earned him All-American honors in the past. Brooks could see former All-Americans Michael Beard, Jacob Cardenas, or Rocky Elam in the semifinals, but he'd be a massive favorite in any of those matches.

The most interesting match for Brook is a potential final against #2 seed Trent Hidlay. NC State's former NCAA finalist and three-time All-American has lost three decisions to Brooks in previous seasons. Like Brooks, he's been on a bonus-point mission this year and appears to be training at an even higher level than he did in the past.

285 lbs - Greg Kerkvliet, #1 Seed

Like Aaron Brooks, Kerkvliet is a massive favorite to make the NCAA finals. Things don't get interesting for him until the quarterfinals where he could see ACC champ Owen Trephan or Ohio State freshman Nick Feldman. The young Buckeye took Kerkvliet down in their match at Big Tens, but Kerkvliet still owned the match for his second victory over Feldman this season.

Kerkvliet's likely semifinal opponents include big bodies Cohlton Schultz and Nathan Taylor. Both are significant underdogs against Kerkvliet unless they can make their size a determining factor in the match. Should Kerkvliet make the finals as most wrestling fans expect him to, he could expect to see either Air Force's Wyatt Hendrickson or Iowa State's Yonger Bastida. The Iowa State Cyclone overcame the Air Force Falcon in the Big 12 finals which makes Bastida the favorite to face Kerkvliet in the finals. Kerkvliet dominated Hendrickson at the NWCA All-Star Classic in a match where Hendrickson appeared to be injured, but Kerkvliet and Bastida have never met. The question of whether or not Bastida's athletic leg-attacks can work against Kerkvliet will be top of mind should the two meet on Saturday night.

This year's NCAA Championships will once again be broadcast on ESPN. FloWrestling will once again host a simultaneous second-screen watch party throughout the tournament. For access to FloWrestling's exclusive content including match highlights from the NCAA Championships, subscribe now.