Penn State Wrestling was well represented at the 2024 USA Wrestling Olympic Trials, including none other than Carter Starocci.
Starocci was locked into action in the 86kg bracket as he was trying to continue to prove people wrong.
Starocci proved many people wrong when he won his fourth NCAA title on one leg as the No. 9 seed in the 2024 NCAA Championships, and he was looking to shock the nation again in the Olympic Trials.
After cruising by Patrick Downey 12-4 in the opening round, Carter faced a massive challenge in the next round against Trent Hidlay.
Ultimately, Starocci dropped a tough 6-4 loss and he was relegated to the consolation bracket. And since he was still dealing with an injury suffered late in his college season, Carter and his team made the decision to injury default for the rest of the tournament.
So just like that, Carter Starocci’s run to wrestling’s holy grail of accomplishments (competing in the Olympics) was over.
Could Carter Starocci Return to Penn State Wrestling, After All?
But, and, this is a giant “but,” that’s not where news on him ends.
After his tournament was done, Carter did a quick interview with FloWrestling. And based on what he said, he may be coming back to Happy Valley for a run at his fifth national championship.
On asked if he gave any more thought on coming back to college, ”
“Yeah, I thought about it a little bit,” Starocci told FloWrestling, on a possible Nittany Lions return. “And I’ve talked to coach Cael. Our coaches don’t stop. NCAA’s are over and we land and they’re back in the room Monday they’re already thinking about what’s next.
“We’ve already talked a little bit and I kind of laid out my thoughts and things like that. And he [Cael] laid some of his ideas out. And we said after the trials we will have another conversation. I was 60/40 not coming back, like, immediately after the NCAA’s. But now, just, I’m maybe 60/40 coming back. And so it’s still up in the air. So we’ll see. It’ll be a decision I’m going to make because I’m excited to do it.”
So I would definitely say that’s “something”. And honestly, it sounds like Carter is excited at coming back and doing what no other wrestler has ever done in college wrestling.
So, You’re Saying There’s a Chance …
If you had asked me after this year’s NCAA Championships, I would have said there’s a -49% chance Carter Starocci is coming back. But just like everything else, things change.
And there’s one more tidbit to throw out as well. Carter has wrestled his entire collegiate career at 174 pounds.
While it’s still up in the air on whether he will return to Penn State, the following statement is going to be a fact.
Starocci is not going to wrestle at 174 pounds.
And in the interview he even hinted at blowing straight past 184 pounds and bumping all of the way up to 197 pounds. Which, based on my projected starting lineup for the following season, wouldn’t be the worst idea ever. Granted, you could put Carter Starocci pretty much anywhere in the lineup, including heavyweight, and the magic 8-ball would always come back with “Best idea ever”. So there’s that.
You can make an argument that 197 pounds might be one of the biggest needs going into next year. And if a four-time NCAA champion wants to come back for one final run, there aren’t many better places for that to happen than at Penn State and at 197 pounds.
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