Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1454229
6 0 M A R C H 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Carter Starocci has never doubted his championship potential. The hunt for more trophies — Big Ten and NCAA — is about to begin. P enn State coach Cael Sanderson has quite the eye for wrestling talent, but not even he saw ev- erything that sophomore 174-pounder Carter Starocci was capable of when he first recruited him out of Cathedral Prep High School in Erie, Pa. Sanderson saw the competitiveness within Starocci and liked the way he trained. His two state titles in Penn- sylvania after a second-place finish as a sophomore checked the success box Sanderson seeks in his future athletes. FloWrestling ranked him as the No. 2 182-pounder in the prep ranks. "If he can do well in Pennsylvania, that's a pretty good roadmap to be successful in college wrestling," Sanderson recalled at a mid-February press conference. "But I don't know if it was a guy that you say, 'Hey, this guy is going to come out and win the nationals as a freshman' like he did." Indeed he did. Starocci redshirted com- ing out of Erie Prep but managed to win the Southern Scuffle while competing unattached on the second day of 2020. Because COVID-19 shortened his first season as a Penn State starter, Starocci didn't wrestle in a dual meet until Jan. 30, 2021, and promptly lost, 10-9, to Donnell Washington of Indiana after yielding a pair of four-point moves before staging a comeback that fell just short. The only other time he came out on the short end of a bout in a Penn State singlet was in the final round of the Big Ten tour- nament, when he fell to Iowa's Michael Kemerer, 7-2. Starocci avenged that de- feat with a 3-1 overtime win in the NCAA final to claim the coveted crown at 174 pounds in his initial year of competition. Sanderson may not have seen it coming, but he wasn't exactly surprised, either. "It's up to these individuals to take ad- vantage of the opportunity and use part- ners in the system that they have available to them," the coach said. "I think we knew right away when he came in here that he was going to be pretty darn good." If you ask Starocci, he'll tell you that he's pretty darn good, as Sanderson said, but he's more than able to back up the bluster. "I see myself as the Olympic champ on the day I was born; I see myself as na- tional champ from Day 1," Starocci said in November when asked whether his 2021 title stoked his confidence level. "This doesn't really add anything. I get up every morning to make sure there's not a pulse alive that can beat me. I just have fun whoopin' butt, that's what it is. There's no extra-added confidence from me winning nationals. I knew I was a champ from Day 1, so I just carry on." Pick a pace and Starocci can win that style of bout, from 3-2 or 2-0 or a 2-1 tie- breaker to falls, technical falls and major decisions. His top game has earned him winning riding time points, his neutral- position prowess has netted him take- downs in clutch moments, and his ability to counter has enabled him to hold on for a tight victory on more than one occasion. He has won 28 of 30 career bouts and extended his winning streak to 19 with a 2-1 overtime victory over Kemerer in a Jan. 28 dual meet in Iowa City. The top-ranked Starocci suffered an undisclosed injury in that bout and missed the following weekend's competition against Ohio State (No. 7 Ethan Smith) and Nebraska (No. 6 Mikey Labriola). But he returned to action against Rider's Shane Reitsma on Feb. 20 and earned a 22-9 ma- jor decision. J I M C A R L S O N | B L U E W H I T E C O N T R I BU TO R True Believer WRESTLING "I get up every morning to make sure there's not a pulse alive that can beat me. I just have fun whoopin' butt, that's what it is. There's no extra-added [confidence] from me winning nationals. I knew I was a champ from Day 1, so I just carry on." S T A R O C C I