The Penn State wrestling team clinched the 2025 NCAA national championship at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on March 22.
The Nittany Lions have now won 12 of the last 15 NCAA championships (no event in 2020) and its fourth straight for the third time under head coach Cael Sanderson. Sanderson is now second in all-time NCAA history with 12 head coaching national titles to his credit.
Penn State’s Carter Starocci, the No. 1 seed at 184, defeated No. 2 seed Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa 4-3 in the finals at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Starocci ends his historic Penn State wrestling career as the only five-time NCAA Champion in collegiate wrestling history. Penn State won the team title for the 12th time under the guidance of coach Cael Sanderson. In addition to the NCAA team title, the Nittany Lions crowned two individual champions in the national finals. Carter Starocci and Mitchell Mesenbrink both won in the national finals, while freshman Josh Barr finished as NCAA runner-up.
Levi Haines, a graduate of Biglerville High School and last year’s champion at 157 pounds, finished third at 174, having moved up two weight classes. Haines was one of 10 Nittany Lions named to the All-American team, as Penn State became only the second team in NCAA wrestling history to have 10 wrestlers receive the honor.
Starocci became the first-ever five-time national champion with his win. He was named the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championship Outstanding Wrestler at the tournament’s end and Mesenbrink was presented with the NCAA’s season-long Most Technical Falls Award. With the titles won by Starocci and Mesenbrink, the Nittany Lions now have 61 NCAA champions, 40 since Sanderson’s arrival as head coach.
Source: NCAA, PSU