The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team had three true freshmen competing unattached at the 2020 Southern Scuffle. The two-day event took place in Chattanooga on Jan. 1-2. All three Lions placed at the tournament with Carter Starocci (Erie, Pa.) winning the 174-pound crown.
Starocci competed at 174 and steamrolled through the competition. Starocci began the tournament on day one by pinning The Citadel's Kyle Kretzer at the 1:54 mark. He followed that up with an 18-1 tech fall over CSU-Bakersfield's Albert Urias at the 6:42 mark. Starocci then majored Cody Surratt of the Air Force 12-2 to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarters, the Lion freshman dominated No. 16 Spencer Carey of Navy, rolling to a 13-5 major decision. Starocci met VMI's Neal Richards in day two's semifinals and rolled to a 9-2 win. He took on Pitt's Gregg Harvey for the 2020 Southern Scuffle championship at 174 and dominated the Panther, posting an 11-6 win for the crown. Starocci went 6-0 overall, including two majors, a tech fall and a pin.
Michael Beard (Pottstown, Pa.) competed at 197 and placed fourth. Day one saw an unseeded Beard post a 15-0 tech fall over The Citadel's Martin Duane. He then dominated No. 19 Jordan Pagano of Rutgers, rolling to a 9-0 major decision over the Scarlet Knight. Beard then posted one of day one's most impressive wins, using a second period escape to notch a 1-0 win over No. 4 Nick Reenan of North Carolina State. In day two's semifinals, Beard opened up an early lead on No. 8 Nathan Traxler of Stanford before dropping a hard-fought 9-7 decision. He met No. 6 Dakota Geer in the consolation semifinals and rolled over the Cowboy 10-5 for his second win over a top-ten ranked grappler. He met No. 18 Ethan Laird of Rider in the third-place bout and lost 9-7 on a late takedown. Beard went 3-2 overall with two majors, with all but one of those matches coming against nationally ranked opponents.
Joe Lee (Evansville, Ind.) competed at 165 and placed fifth. Lee began day one with a 16-1 technical fall over The Citadel's Chris Fasano. He then pinned Missouri's Connor Flynn in just 2:17 in his next bout. Lee opened up an early lead on No. 8 Thomas Bullard of North Carolina State in the quarterfinals but could not hang on, dropping into day two's consolation action with a 9-4 loss. Lee rolled to a 15-0 technical fall over Air Force's Randy Meneweather at the 2:42 mark of the first period before picking up a medical forfeit win over No. 19 Ebid Jarrell of Drexel. He met No. 15 Travis Wittlake of Oklahoma State in the conso semifinals and lost a close 8-4 decision. Lee met No. 11 Jake Wentzel of Pitt in the fifth-place match and rolled to a 10-3 win over the ranked Panther. Lee went 5-2 overall with two technical falls and a pin. He picked up two wins over InterMat ranked wrestlers in the process.
Penn State is 3-1 in duals, 0-0 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions return to dual meet action on Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, hosting Illinois in Rec Hall at 7 p.m. Two days later, the Lions host Northwestern in Rec Hall on Sunday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m.
Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.
