Penn State's Carter Starocci Joins Loaded Field at USA Wrestling Team Trials

Carter Starocci, Penn State's five-time NCAA champion who graduated in May, returns to the mat this weekend at USA Wrestling's Senior World Team Trials. Starocci enters a loaded field at the 86 kg freestyle weight class, seeking to earn a spot at Final X, the event that will determine the Team USA for this year's Senior World Wrestling Championships.

The Team Trials challenge tournament begins at 10 a.m. ET Friday in Louisville, Kentucky. The men's freestyle finals are scheduled to begin at noon Saturday. Weight-class winners earn spots in the best-of-three series at Final X, set for June 14 in Newark. The 2025 Senior World Wrestling Championships will be held in September in Croatia.

Starocci compiled one of college wrestling's great individual careers competing for Penn State. He became the first wrestler in Division I history to win five NCAA titles, punctuating his career with a 4-3 decision over Northern Iowa's Parker Keckeisen at the NCAA championships in Philadelphia.

Starocci completed a 25-0 season to cap a 104-4 Penn State career, during which he lost just twice on the mat. Starocci took two injury default losses at the 2024 Big Ten Tournament but returned from injury to win his fourth NCAA title that year. Starocci did not lose a bout on the mat after the final of the 2021 Big Ten Tournament.

Starocci is the No. 3 seed for the challenge tournament at 86 kg (about 190 pounds) and will be wrestling up a bit in weight; he won the 2025 NCAA title at 184 pounds. Starocci is seeded behind fellow Nittany Lion Wrestling Club member Kyle Dake, a four-time world champion who received the top seed. Chance Marsteller is seeded second, while Keckeisen is seeded fourth. The winner of the 86 kg challenge tournament will meet Zahid Valencia in the best-of-three series at Final X.

Penn State wrestling and the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club will be well represented at the Team Trials. Penn State's Levi Haines, a 2024 NCAA champion, is the top seed at 79 kg, and NCAA runner-up Josh Barr is seeded first at 92 kg. Both seek to make their first Senior World team.

Incoming Penn State freshman PJ Duke is the No. 2 seed at 70 kg, having placed third at the 2024 U20 World Championships. Beau Bartlett, a three-time All-American for the Nittany Lions, is the No. 6 seed at 65 kg and will face third-seeded Bo Bassett, one of the nation's top-ranked high school prospects who has committed to Iowa.

Two Penn State wrestlers already have secured spots at Final X. Luke Lilledahl, who placed third at NCAAs as a freshman, will take on Spencer Lee for the 57 kg spot. Lilledahl earned his spot by winning the U.S. Open in April in Las Vegas.

Mitchell Mesenbrink, the NCAA champion at 165 pounds, holds down one Final X spot at 74 kg and awaits the winner of the Team Trials. The tournament's top seed is David Carr, who defeated Mesenbrink 9-8 in the 2024 NCAA final at 165 pounds.

Kyle Snyder of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club is in the Final X field at 97 kg. Snyder recently was arrested in a Columbus, Ohio, prostitution sting. SafeSport this week placed Snyder on temporary suspension for "allegations of misconduct," according to the site's disciplinary database. It is unclear how the suspension will affect Snyder's eligibility for Final X.

USA Wrestling has announced all the pre-seeds for the Senior World Team Trials. According to USA Wrestling, seeds are not final until after event weigh-ins.