PRINTER'S NO. 1608
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No. 280
Session of
2024
INTRODUCED BY MARTIN, DUSH, LANGERHOLC, FARRY, CULVER, BREWSTER,
VOGEL, MASTRIANO AND COSTA, MAY 17, 2024
REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, MAY 17, 2024
A RESOLUTION
1 Congratulating The Pennsylvania State University wrestling team
2 on its 12th National Collegiate Athletic Association Division
3 I Championship and congratulating the residents of this
4 Commonwealth who competed and placed during the National
5 Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Wrestling
6 Championship.
7 WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) wrestling
8 team won its 11th National Collegiate Athletic Association
9 (NCAA) Division I Wrestling Championship in the past 13
10 Championship Tournaments, its third consecutive championship and
11 12th team title overall; and
12 WHEREAS, PSU has the third-most team titles in history behind
13 Oklahoma State University with 34 and the University of Iowa
14 with 24; and
15 WHEREAS, PSU scored 172.5 points, setting a record for most
16 points scored in a tournament, which was previously set at 170
17 points by the University of Iowa in 1997; and
18 WHEREAS, PSU's 100-point margin of victory was the largest in
19 NCAA history, supplanting the previous record of 73.75 points
20 set by the University of Iowa in 1986, and nearly double PSU's
 1 school record of 55 points set in 2023; and
2 WHEREAS, The PSU wrestling team tied its previous school
3 record of eight All-Americans in a single season, bringing PSU's
4 total to 254 individuals who have earned the distinction, of
5 which 91 have wrestled under PSU Wrestling Head Coach Cael
6 Sanderson; and
7 WHEREAS, At 38 individual first-place finishes, the PSU
8 wrestling team has won the most individual titles in the nation
9 since 2011, nearly tripling the wins of the next closest
10 competitor; and
11 WHEREAS, PSU has a total of 59 NCAA titles in school history
12 spread among 37 individuals; and
13 WHEREAS, For the second time in as many years, PSU featured
14 seven total wrestlers who finished in the top three in their
15 respective weight classes; and
16 WHEREAS, Coach Sanderson and his coaching staff won their
17 11th NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship; and
18 WHEREAS, Coach Sanderson is tied for the second most wins
19 under any coach in NCAA wrestling history, alongside Oklahoma
20 State University's Ed Gallagher and behind the University of
21 Iowa's Dan Gable at 15; and
22 WHEREAS, The Nittany Lion wrestling team coaching staff has
23 been instrumental in the team's multiple successes; and
24 WHEREAS, Coach Sanderson's championship wrestlers have a 38-
25 18 record in the NCAA Wrestling Tournament Finals; and
26 WHEREAS, PSU is the only team since Coach Sanderson's arrival
27 in 2011 with at least one victor from each individual weight
28 class in the NCAA Championship Tournament; and
29 WHEREAS, PSU won the 2024 Big Ten Wrestling Championship
30 Title with a team score of 170.5 points, their eighth Big Ten
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 1 Championship overall and second consecutive title; and
2 WHEREAS, For the first time in NCAA history, PSU featured two
3 four-time NCAA champions on its season roster; and
4 WHEREAS, Carter Starocci and Aaron Brooks joined an elite
5 group of five other four-time NCAA champions, including Coach
6 Sanderson; and
7 WHEREAS, In his third appearance at the NCAA Championship
8 Tournament, PSU wrestler Beau Bartlett placed second in the 141-
9 pound division, earning the All-American distinction for the
10 second time; and
11 WHEREAS, In his first appearance at the NCAA Championship
12 Tournament, true freshman PSU wrestler Tyler Kasak placed third
13 in the 149-pound division, only the ninth wrestler in history to
14 do so after losing in the first round, earning the All-American
15 distinction for the first time; and
16 WHEREAS, In his second appearance at the NCAA Championship
17 Tournament, PSU wrestler Levi Haines placed first in the 157-
18 pound division, earning the All-American distinction for the
19 second time; and
20 WHEREAS, In his first appearance at the NCAA Championship
21 Tournament, PSU Wrestler Mitchell Mesenbrink placed second in
22 the 165-pound division, earning the All-American distinction for
23 the first time; and
24 WHEREAS, In his fourth appearance at the NCAA Championship
25 Tournament, PSU wrestler Carter Starocci placed first in the
26 174-pound division, defeating Pennsylvania native Rocco Welsh,
27 making him PSU's first four-time NCAA Champion, and earning the
28 All-American distinction for the fourth time; and
29 WHEREAS, In his fourth appearance at the NCAA Championship
30 Tournament, PSU wrestler Bernie Truax placed fifth in the 184-
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 1 pound division, earning the All-American distinction for the
2 fourth time; and
3 WHEREAS, In his fourth appearance at the NCAA Championship
4 Tournament, PSU wrestler Aaron Brooks placed first in the 197-
5 pound division, defeating Pennsylvania native Trent Hidlay,
6 making him PSU's second four-time NCAA Champion; and
7 WHEREAS, PSU wrestler Aaron Brooks earned the All-American
8 distinction for the fifth time, was awarded both the 2024 NCAA
9 Most Dominant Wrestler and 2024 NCAA Championship Outstanding
10 Wrestler and was named recipient of the 2024 Dan Hodge Trophy,
11 the seventh PSU wrestler ever to earn the distinction with 48 of
12 59 votes, three of which went to two other PSU wrestlers; and
13 WHEREAS, In his fourth appearance at the NCAA Championship
14 Tournament, PSU wrestler Greg Kerkvliet placed first in the 285-
15 pound division, earning the All-American distinction for the
16 fourth time; and
17 WHEREAS, Lehigh University wrestler Ryan Crookham of
18 Hellertown placed third in the 133-pound division, earning the
19 All-American distinction; and
20 WHEREAS, The Ohio State University wrestler Rocco Welsh of
21 Waynesburg placed second in the 174-pound division, earning the
22 All-American distinction; and
23 WHEREAS, North Carolina State wrestler Trent Hidlay of
24 Lewistown placed second in the 197-pound division, earning the
25 All-American distinction; therefore be it
26 RESOLVED, That the Senate congratulate The Pennsylvania State
27 University wrestling team on its 12th National Collegiate
28 Athletic Association Division I Wrestling Championship and
29 congratulate the residents of this Commonwealth who competed and
30 placed during the National Collegiate Athletic Association
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1 Division I Wrestling Championship; and be it further
2 RESOLVED, That the Senate congratulate Levi Haines, Carter
3 Starocci, Aaron Brooks and Greg Kerkvliet on their individual
4 wins at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship and their
5 individual awards; and be it further
6 RESOLVED, That the Senate wish The Pennsylvania State
7 University wrestling team, all Pennsylvania native wrestlers and
8 all wrestlers of Pennsylvania universities continued success
9 both athletically and academically in the future.
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