Here’s where Penn State’s wrestlers stand in final rankings before NCAA Championships

Nate Cobler
·2 min read

Next week’s NCAA Championships in Kansas City, Mo., mark the final competition of the 2023-2024 college wrestling season.

As has been the case all year, Tuesday marked Intermat’s release of its Division I rankings. It could be a sign of what the brackets could look like when they officially are announced on the NCAA’s website at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Penn State has half of its lineup No. 1, which has been the case for a bulk of the season. The Nittany Lions have seven ranked in the top two of their weights.

Braeden Davis (125 pounds), Levi Haines (157), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (197) and Greg Kerkvliet (285) are those No. 1 wrestlers. It is no surprise, as they all won Big Ten titles.

Beau Bartlett (141) and Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) are the others in the top two of their weights.

Aaron Nagao (No. 8, 133 pounds) and Tyler Kasak (No. 7, 149) are ranked in the top 10.

Penn State’s Braeden Davis celebrates his win over Michigan’s Michael DeAugustino in a 125 lb semifinal bout of the Big Ten Wresting Championships at the Xfinity Center at the University of Maryland on Saturday, March 9, 2024.
Penn State’s Braeden Davis celebrates his win over Michigan’s Michael DeAugustino in a 125 lb semifinal bout of the Big Ten Wresting Championships at the Xfinity Center at the University of Maryland on Saturday, March 9, 2024.

Davis had a stellar conference tournament, defeating four wrestlers with a combined 23 years of college wrestling experience en route to his first title. It vaulted him to the No. 1 ranking for the first time.

His previous high ranking was No. 2, but then lost to Iowa’s Drake Ayala.

Haines, Starocci, Brooks and Kervkliet have been No. 1 all year long. Starocci didn’t compete in the Big Ten Championships, but it didn’t hurt his ranking.

Bartlett and Mesenbrink were each finalists, but only Mesenbrink came away with a title sending him up to No. 2 from No. 5. Bartlett suffered his first loss of the year to Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez. Mendez became the new No. 1 as Bartlett dropped a spot.

Nagao and Kasak each ended their conference tournaments with pins to finish third allowing them both to climb the polls. Nagao moved up three spots with Kasak jumping up two.