"25-year-old wrestling kids" "Bo basset of college"- Fans divided as Carter Starocci sets new record amid final year as an NCAA athlete

Carter Starocci added another win to his 2025 season record with a disqualification victory over Edmond Ruth on Monday, February 17. Fans expressed their excitement and admiration over the 24-year-old's dominant win.

Starocci came out strong against Ruth, starting with an early takedown for a 3-1 lead. He added another takedown, forcing Ruth into two stalling penalties, and finished the first period up 7-1. In the second, Starocci secured another takedown, built over two minutes of the match, and forced a third stall call. In the final period, he scored a fourth takedown, earning two points when Ruth got a fifth stalling penalty. With under 30 seconds left, Ruth was penalized again, giving Starocci a disqualification win at 6:43, leading 17-4.

The news about Starocci's victory was shared by B1G Wrestling on Instagram, followed by a match video. The caption read:

"Starocci’s latest dub sealed some things 👀"

Reflecting on the 24-year-old's dominant win, fans expressed their opinions on Instagram on the post:

One user expressed their admiration for Carter Starocci's performance, writing:

"Carter wrestles better as the season progresses him. I don’t see anyone but Parker getting close to him at any time."

Another wrote:

"I really hope we see Carter vs. Parker in the ncaa final."

Another user added:

"He is the bo basset of college! lol clown. Talked shit to Aj, and then almost lost to his little brother… A freshman at a lower weight.. lol"

Here's a closer look at additional user comments:

"Yea- a 25 year old wrestling kids. Let’s be real here. It’s a joke"

"Wonder how ed Ruth felt watching a Penn state dude do his brother like this"

"The crazy thing is, he was probably 9 years old getting beat on by his 3x Champ older brother, & this is equally as brutal"

Screenshot of Fan's comments/ Source: Instagram/@b1gwrestling)

Carter Starocci has had an outstanding career, winning four All-American titles and four NCAA Championships from 2021 to 2024. He claimed two Big Ten titles in 2022 and 2024 and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2021.

After winning the 2021 NCAA titles at 174 pounds, he repeated his success as a sophomore and junior, earning both Big Ten and NCAA titles.

Carter Starocci talks about his love for wrestling

Carter Starocci during Penn State v Rutgers - Source: Getty

On Friday, February 14, during a match between Nittany Lion and Ohio State, Carter Starocci ranked No.1 at 184, dominated No.19 Ryder Rogotzke with a 22-7 tech fall, and secured the victory with seven takedowns and 2:02 riding time at 7:00.

During a post-game interview with B1G Wrestling, the 24-year-old talked about his passion for wrestling and how it motivated him to return to the sport. He credited his coaches for instilling that same love for the sport in him and his teammates, saying (1:01 onwards):

"I love wrestling and that's part of the reason why I came back is because I love the sport so much and so that's just kind of honestly the approach that we take and I think that comes from our coaches you know what I mean because they really love it and that's kind of the energy that they feed us and I feel like that's kind of how our team carries ourselves as well."

In the 2024 season, Carter Starocci became one of only two wrestlers from Penn State to earn four NCAA championships, achieving this milestone with a perfect 5-0 record at the national championships.