Starocci, the Nittany Lions’ four-time NCAA wrestling champ, could become the first college wrestler to win five titles.
Carter Starocci, Penn State’s first four-time NCAA wrestling champion who’s seldom at a loss for words, announced his return for a fifth college wrestling season with triumphant, and expectant, language. “I’m here to take over,” Starocci wrote in announcing that he will wrestle for a fifth NCAA season.
Starocci, the four-time defending champ at 174 pounds, could become the first, and perhaps only, wrestler to win five NCAA individual titles. Starocci hinted at his return at the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Championships in April, saying at the time he was “60-40” in favor of returning. The possibility of winning a fourth team title with the Nittany Lions, coupled with establishing a new benchmark for college wrestling, proved a major draw for Starocci.
“As everyone knows, this year was difficult as I had to deal with many things both on and off the mat,” Starocci wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Even though this season ended with me on top of the podium, I was not satisfied. I’m here to take over. With one year of eligibility left, I want to end my collegiate career on my terms. Healthy, in style, and in a dominant fashion.”
Starocci certainly has been dominant over his four seasons at Penn State. He has compiled a 78-4 career record with the four NCAA titles and three Big Ten titles. After his loss in the 2021 Big Ten final, Starocci won 64 consecutive bouts until the 2024 Big Ten tournament, where he was forced to take two injury-default losses because of an injury he sustained in the last seconds of Penn State’s last regular-season match against Edinboro. As a result, Starocci was seeded ninth for the NCAA championships, where he won five bouts, defeating two former NCAA champs, to win his fourth title.
Starocci is Penn State’s entertaining and outspoken alpha wrestler who thrives on team success. In his announcement, Starocci referenced winning seven NCAA titles: four individual and three team. Seven wrestlers in NCAA history have won four individual titles, including former Nittany Lion Aaron Brooks. But none has won five — because no one was eligible to compete in five until COVID granted college wrestlers an extra season of eligibility.
“Even though this is an individual sport, none of this would’ve been possible without the support of my teammates, coaches, staff, and family,” Starocci wrote.
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Starocci could have moved onto an international freestyle career after this season; he has made winning an Olympic title his primary mission. By returning to Penn State, however, Starocci can compete at a higher weight, where he is more likely to wrestle at the Olympics. Starocci wrestled up at 86 kg (about 189.6 pounds) at the Olympic Trials after winning his 174-pound NCAA title only a few weeks before. In his final season at Penn State, Starocci could wrestle at 184 or even 197 pounds.
At the U.S. Olympic Trials, Starocci wasn’t shy about the reason he would return to Penn State.
“If I come back, it’s not going to be for school,” Starocci said. “I’m not going to let anything come in the way of what I want. If what I want is to come back and wrestle and win a fifth national title and have our team win another national title, that’s because I want to do it. It’s not because of NIL, it’s not because of this, it’s not because of that. It’s because I want to do it.”
Starocci’s return certainly buoys Penn State’s chances of winning a fourth consecutive NCAA team title. The Nittany Lions could return as many as six All-Americans and three NCAA champions: Starocci, Levi Haines and Greg Kerkvliet, who has yet to announce his decision on next season.
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