Mitchell Mesenbrink recently shared his reaction to Penn State's National Championship win on Instagram. Mesenbrink is a part of the Penn State Nittany Lions wrestling team, who won their fourth consecutive NCAA Championship and their 13th overall title. This is also their 12th title under head coach Cael Sanderson, who has now led them to win four championships in a row for the third time.
Penn State made history once again as they became only the second team in NCAA history to have all ten of their wrestlers earn All-American honors, with none of them placing lower than sixth. Mitchell Mesenbrink, along with Carter Starocci, won an NCAA Championship in their respective weight categories. Josh Barr also came close, finishing as a finalist in the 197 lbs category, after he lost to Stephen Buchanan of Iowa.
Mitchell Mesenbrink is a 2024 Big Ten Champion and has an impressive record at an international level. He won a gold medal at the U20 World Championships in 2023 and a bronze in the 2024 edition. The 22-year-old shared his reaction to the team grabbing the National Championship, expressing his pride by posting a picture in his Instagram story. He reshared a photo of him alongside his teammates and wrote:
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"No better place in the world."
Mitchell Mesenbrink wasn't the only Penn State wrestler to become NCAA Champion on Saturday. Carter Starocci won his fifth consecutive NCAA Championship, competing in the 184-pound category. He beat Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa in the final and became the first-ever wrestler to win five NCAA titles.
Carter Starocci praises head coach Cael Sanderson after winning the NCAA Championship alongside Mitchell Mesenbrink
Carter Starocci paid tribute to head coach Cael Sanderson in his Instagram story after his brilliant win on Saturday.
Starocci defeated Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa with a score of 4-3, in a very competitive and close match. After his victory, Starocci shared multiple stories on his Instagram about the win, one of which was a tribute to his head coach. He wrote on Instagram:
"Me and the 🐐."
Starocci was full of praise for Sanderson as he became the head coach with the second most NCAA Championships ever. He said via FloWresling,
I'm just super grateful that I'm at Penn State and so for me, that stuff is way more important than winning five and not downplaying five; like, I love it. I'm grateful. I mean the coaching staff. Seriously, those guys are really one of a kind and just for me, they've changed my life, obviously in wrestling and outside of wrestling and that's just something that, like, I wake up every single day just, I'm excited.”
Notably, Starocci's all five consecutive titles for Penn State came under head coach Sanderson.
