PHILADELPHIA — The Penn State followers inside Wells Fargo Middle rose to their toes and held 5 fingers within the air.
Within the waning seconds of Carter Starocci’s last match as a Nittany Lions famous person, one final gasp from Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen ended the identical approach each Starocci match has gone throughout his 5 journeys to the NCAA championships.
The gang roared as Cael Sanderson bear-hugged Starocci very similar to he has executed each March of Starocci’s star-studded profession. The yearlong chase to perform a dream that wasn’t even possible when Starocci began school got here to fruition. His 4-3 win within the 184-pound class towards Keckeisen cemented Starocci in school wrestling historical past as he grew to become the primary Division I wrestler to win 5 particular person NCAA titles.
“I’ve been on this second so many occasions, 12 months after 12 months,” Starocci stated. “I’ve that have and perceive what to do. Truthfully, I do know I’m a five-time champ, nevertheless it’s actually simply one other match. … It’s all the time concerning the subsequent one.”
The COVID-19-shortened 2020 season granted Starocci an additional 12 months of eligibility, and after he stormed by means of the bracket in Kansas Metropolis final 12 months on one wholesome leg to win his fourth NCAA championship, questions on this 12 months and this quest for 5 nationwide titles started. Although Starocci has insisted for a 12 months that the following match is a very powerful, he’s certainly one of solely seven wrestlers all time to have navigated the grueling, sweaty and infrequently bloody three-day gantlet of a match to win 4 NCAA titles. Sanderson is a member of the unique membership as is former Nittany Lions star Aaron Brooks, who joined Starocci as a four-time champion final 12 months.
One fallacious transfer or one unhealthy day on the mat would appear inevitable for anybody. Lots of the sport’s finest have stumbled to be good. Starocci proved time and time once more he was the exception.
The Penn State standout — excluding a pair of damage defaults final season — ends his school profession having not misplaced a match for the reason that 2021 Huge Ten match finals. Throughout his profession, he went 104-4, which incorporates these two damage defaults. Even Michael Kemerer, the final wrestler to defeat Starocci, was later crushed by him within the 2021 NCAA finals.
Penn State’s Carter Starocci claimed his fifth particular person NCAA crown Saturday. (Eric Hartline / Imagn Pictures)
“That was a heck of a feat. That’s actually particular,” Sanderson stated. “It takes a whole lot of psychological toughness and focus. … You bought two of one of the best wrestlers within the nation, first match up, which is sort of bizarre, however that was an excellent match. That reshot Carter hit, that was pretty much as good because it will get.”
Penn State heads again to Blissful Valley after a historic exhibiting. It secured its thirteenth NCAA group title, together with its twelfth since hiring Sanderson in 2009. It wowed the in-state crowd with all 10 wrestlers changing into All-People. It’s simply the second group to ever have 10 All-America honorees, becoming a member of Minnesota in 2001. The Nittany Lions even one-upped themselves by setting an all-time group scoring document with 177 factors. The earlier mark was 172.5 — which Penn State set in 2024.
Along with Starocci, Mitchell Mesenbrink (165 kilos) took dwelling a person championship. Redshirt freshman Josh Barr completed second at 197 kilos. 5 wrestlers, Luke Lilledahl (125), Beau Bartlett (141), Shayne Van Ness (149), Tyler Kasak (157), and Levi Haines (174) positioned third. Sophomore Braeden Davis completed fifth, and heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet withdrew from the match attributable to damage. Kerkvliet completed sixth and concluded his school profession as a five-time All-America honoree.
For a program that has churned out among the finest wrestlers within the nation on an annual foundation, it was Starocci who had the brightest of lights on him through the NCAA championships. ESPN even flipped the rundown for Saturday night time’s tv broadcast to place Starocci’s historic match first in an try and lure within the largest viewers doable. Starocci wasn’t keen on the change.
One among Sanderson’s most outspoken and most prolific wrestlers, the identical one who jogs out to the haunting important title from the “Halloween” franchise, wouldn’t have wished his school profession to finish some other approach than within the highlight.
One final Carter Starocci intro as a Penn State wrestler pic.twitter.com/7BVNuy2jGQ
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) March 22, 2025
“He’s not fearful of anyone,” stated Mike Hahesy, who coached Starocci at Erie’s Cathedral Prep. Hahesy was readily available when Sanderson drove to the highschool to recruit Starocci and was right here, too, to look at Starocci chase historical past. “You possibly can inform him he has to wrestle Hulk Hogan and Godzilla back-to-back, and he’d be like, ‘Yep, no downside. What mat am I on?’ He has that supreme, and I don’t know if it’s confidence or positive of himself, or I don’t know what, however he has that positively greater than any child I ever coached and possibly greater than any person who’s ever wrestled.”
Starocci was as soon as the younger wrestler who holed up in his bed room for a few months after he positioned eighth on the Pennsylvania state match as a freshman in highschool. His household anxious about how withdrawn he grew to become. When he emerged from the room with an inventory of calls for for all of them — no extra junk meals in the home, no extra of his time spent enjoying soccer — his thoughts was set on changing into one of the best wrestler doable.
“It was a type of moments that simply awakens you,” Starocci stated this week. “For me, it was what am I going to do with my life? Am I going to pursue this, or do I wish to do one thing else as a result of if I’m going to do one thing I’m not going to lose at it.”
Nonetheless, few individuals in the highschool ranks and even at Penn State might’ve predicted a profession like this.
Starocci is brash sufficient to inform all his opponents he’s going to beat them — and expert sufficient to again it up. When Sanderson drove to Cathedral Prep to recruit Starocci, the coach took a detour to the house of Starocci’s highschool wrestling teammate, Ian Malesiewski. Malesiewski was adjusting to life after a major damage from wrestling left him paralyzed from the chest down.
Sanderson was there to spend time with Malesiewski, whose story unfold by means of the wrestling world. Throughout Sanderson’s two-plus-hour go to, he wished to get the total image of the wrestler he was recruiting. In a approach, Malesiewski helped solidify Sanderson’s choice to maintain closely pursuing Starocci.
“We have been on the brink of go away, and Cael stated, ‘Ought to I recruit Starocci or not?’” Hahesy stated. “Ian stated, ‘Yeah, I feel you need to.’ Cael goes, ‘Effectively, why do you assume I ought to recruit him?’ He goes, ‘Since you’ll by no means be capable to discover anyone that may beat him. … If Carter doesn’t go to Penn State, I don’t care who you’ll get from what state, that child won’t ever beat Carter.’”
He was proper. Discovering somebody to upend Starocci, even when everybody was gunning for him, whether or not he received all of it with a damaged hand, an injured knee or with the burden of expectations on his shoulders, Starocci by no means backed down.
As Starocci paused for photographs within the tunnel alongside his teammates Saturday, Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft leaned in for a hug. A smear of Starocci’s blood stayed on Kraft’s white hoodie, a not-so-subtle reminder of this night time from certainly one of Penn State’s all-time greats, who starred on one of many sport’s most spectacular dynasties.
“I would like these youthful guys to maintain on pushing for an increasing number of and extra and simply maintain that Penn State dynasty going,” Starocci stated, drenched in sweat. “I’m unsure how for much longer these coaches received, however I do know coach Cael fairly nicely, and if there’s some sort of document on the market or one thing — you guys determine it out — I’m positive when he breaks that, he’ll be executed.”
(High photograph: Eric Hartline / Imagn Pictures)