The 2024-25 college wrestling season was truly unique! Numerous programs have experienced their peaks and declines, and now we find ourselves with just one event remaining: the NCAA Championships. Nonetheless, no tournament is complete without its share of controversy, and this time the NCAA finals found itself embroiled in one as well. Recall the excitement when someone exclaimed, “I heard @NCAAWrestling is starting at 184 tonight!!! Hey @espn this is promotional malpractice. You don’t put the main event in the lead off spot ” What is the subject of their discussion?
The NCAA Championships are set to showcase an exciting 184 lbs clash between Carter Starocci and Parker Keckeisen. For those passionate about wrestling, it’s essential to note that the Penn State wrestler is on the brink of history, needing to overcome the Northern Iowa wrestler to secure his fifth NCAA title. What sparked a reaction within the college wrestling community? The schedule for broadcasting is crucial, as this match will take center stage during the event.
Numerous individuals expressed a desire for it to be scheduled at a later time, yet that was not the outcome. In response to the growing criticism, wrestling icon Jordan Burroughs stepped forward to support ESPN, remarking, “Alright guys, so I’m starting to see the grumblings already on social media in regards to ESPN’s decision to start tonight’s match with the 184 pound match and end with a heavyweight match.”
Additionally, the wrestling icon elaborated on the decision to feature Starocci’s match at the beginning, noting, “If anyone’s watched the entire production at the very beginning we always have a really long intro. We talk about the city, we talk about the magnitude of the moment, here’s what now we get to transition and do. We get to spend the four or five minutes opening up the production of the entire show this evening talking about the significance of Carter Starocci’s fifth title, where if he was wedged between a match and the lineup we’d only have 45 seconds going to the intro to talk about how significant the moment was and it really wouldn’t do justice to how big a fifth title could potentially be.”
Explanation for tonight’s Match order from the production team at ESPN. pic.twitter.com/44lJwrEB8H
— Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) March 22, 2025
To put it simply? The focus is set to shine brightly on the two narratives that the NCAA finals promise to deliver to the audience. The broadcast will kick off by highlighting the excitement surrounding the matchup between Starocci and Keckheisen. Following a few more matches, the show will conclude with the highly anticipated clash between Gable Steveson and Wyatt Hendrickson in the 285 lbs category.
This is a developing report…
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