Penn State's Carter Starocci celebrate his win over Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa at te 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Former Penn State Wrestler Carter Starocci Wins Top Big Ten Award

Originally posted on Penn State Nittany Lions on SI
By Mark Wogenrich | Last updated Jul 10, 2025 12:35 PM ET

Former Penn State wrestler Carter Starocci, who became the first wrestler to win five NCAA Division I championships, is the 2025 Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year. Starocci and USC women's basketball player JuJu Watkins won the Big Ten's top awards for the 2024-25 athletic year.

Starocci capped an historic Penn State wrestling career in March, when he won his fifth consecutive title at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia. After winning his fourth NCAA title in 2024, Starocci announced that he would return for a fifth year, taking advantage of the bonus season of eligibility college athletes received in 2021 because of COVID.

Starocci went 26-0 with 21 bonus-point victories during his landmark season, which he concluded with a 4-3 win over Northern Iowa's Parker Keckeisen in the 184-pound title bout at the NCAA Championships. Starocci won his four previous NCAA titles at 174 pounds. Starocci also helped lift the Nittany Lions, who already had clinched their fourth straight NCAA team title, to a record-setting points total for the second consecutive season.

THE NCAA'S ONLY FIVE-TIME DIVISION I NATIONAL CHAMPION #NCAAWrestling x ESPN/ESPN+ / @pennstateWREST pic.twitter.com/5imBMbJBHh
— NCAA Wrestling (@NCAAWrestling) March 22, 2025

Starocci ended his career as one of the most decorated wrestlers in Penn State history. He finished with a career record of 104-4, including 86 bonus-point victories. Two of those losses were by injury default at the 2024 Big Ten Championships, after which Starocci won his fourth NCAA title.

In five appearances at the NCAA Championships, Starocci compiled a 25-0 record. He did not lose a match on the mat after the final of the 2021 Big Ten Tournament. Starocci, a 2025 Hodge Trophy Finalist, was a three-time Big Ten champion and the 2025 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year.

Starocci is the fourth Penn State athlete, and third wrestler, to win the Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year Award. He joins former Nittany Lions wrestlers Bo Nickal (2019) and David Taylor (2014) and gymnast Luis Vargas (2005). Starocci also was named Penn State's Male Athlete of the Year. He is the 14th wrestler to win the Big Ten award named for Jesse Owens.

The Big Ten has recognized a Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year since 1982 and a Female Athlete of the Year since 1983. Schools submit nominations, and a media panel selects the winners. The Big Ten has compiled a list of winners dating to 1982.

This article first appeared on Penn State Nittany Lions on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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