Carter Starocci is looking to add his name to the Penn State Wrestling legacy
Ed Ruth. Matt Brown. Bo Nickal. Mark Hall. Penn State Wrestling legends.
All of these men have cemented a legacy of Penn State Wrestlers who’ve donned the Blue and White singlet at 174. Mark Hall being the most recent from this list.
The Davison, Michigan native had an absolute stranglehold on the 174 class as he wrestled his entire four year career there. Compiling an overall record of 117-6 and racking up three B1G titles along with one NCAA title (freshman year). If not for someone named Zahid Valencia and a global pandemic in 2020, Hall would have surely added more more hardware to his career.
Following the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Championships, I myself, along with every other Nittany Lions fan, were wondering “Who’s going to be the next superstar at 174?”.
Well, I think we may have our answer and luckily for the Penn State faithful, it didn’t take very long.
Welcome to the spotlight, Carter Starocci!
The Erie, Pennsylvania standout has burst onto the collegiate wrestling scene as he has taken down both the No. 2 (Logan Massa) and No. 3 (Kaleb Romero) ranked wrestlers in back-to-back matches against Michigan and Ohio State.
Now I would gladly like to take the credit for this, but obviously Starocci’s talent, work ethic, and a sprinkling of world class coaching has gotten us to where we are.
Speaking of Cael Sanderson, following the dual meet with Michigan, coach Sanderson told reporters “Carter wrestled great. He wrestled one of the best kids in the country at not just the collegiate level, but the senior level as well.”
And while some Nittany Lion wrestling fans might be surprised by Starocci’s success, the Penn State coaching staff and team saw this coming. Sanderson went on to say;
"“I don’t think anyone in our program was really surprised. We know just how good Carter is and how hard he works, but you still have to go out there and do it.”"
So, now we know Carter has Cael’s seal of approval. But how does the redshirt-freshman see things?
Starocci believes the sky’s the limit for himself. “I know I’m the best guy out there, so I have to go out there and prove it. I have to do my thing and have fun with it.”, Carter stated via the Daily Collegian.
Speaking of Mark Hall, who better to help pass the torch at 174 than the guy who just held it? The former Nittany Lion teammate has stayed close with Starocci and has offered the youngster advice.
Staroccia went on to say “He reached out to me and he let me know that it’s all good. It’s one match and that doesn’t define who we are as human beings.”
"“I’m really close to Mark, we got better every single day last year together, and we still do even though we’re not on the same team anymore,” Starocci added. “He’s the guy that is always in my corner and I’m always in his corner.”"
What does the future hold for Starocci?
“I’m never satisfied. I’m not going after anybody. Just line them up and I’ll take them out.”, added Starocci.
I think this says it all. Michael Kemerer, watch out!