Bo Bassett weighs in on Carter Starocci and Gable Steveson's match order after NCAA finals

IOWA Hawkeyes recruit Bo Bassett recently shared his thoughts on the order of Carter Starocci and Gable Steveson's matches during the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championship finals. Starocci's match (184 lb) was the first match to start on the day, while Steveson's contest (285 lb) was the final one.

Following the event, Starocci had also expressed his dissatisfaction about the order of the matches. Notably, he won his final bout against Parker Keckeisen while Steveson faced a defeat against Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestler, Wyatt Hendrickson.

In a recent interview, Bassett took his stance regarding the scheduling of the matches. He affirmed that questions had arisen in his head about the reason for placing Starocci's match at the beginning of the finals.

He further added that he was proved wrong after watching the Steveson and Hendrickson contest, which he also remarked as the "best one" among all the final bouts. He said via Wrestling Mindset:

"I'm not gonna lie, we were kind of questioning, why they would start with Starocci first and I guess they proved this wrong, because that last match was probably the best one. The heavyweights put on a show with some action, so I think both of them wrestled amazing."

During the interview, Bo Bassett also heaped praises on Hendrickson's performance during the finals and mentioned that he had met the latter during his Oklahoma State visit.

Bo Bassett names his favorite wrestler whom he looks up to

Bassett in Oklahoma State Cowboys colors during visit (Image via: Bassett's [email protected])

Bo Bassett recently revealed the name of his favorite wrestler. In an interview with Flowrestling earlier this year, Bassett stated that IOWA alum Spencer Lee is his favorite wrestler. Lee has spent five years at the IOWA Hawkeyes program, where he won three National titles along with three Big 10 conference titles.

During the interview, Bassett also said that Lee has been a role model for him and mentioned he has also trained with the latter when he was 11-12 years old. He said (35:14 onwards):

"I gotta go Spencer Lee, that's my guy, I've looked up to him since I was young, there's a picture where I am maybe 12 years old, maybe younger and he was a junior senior in high school and we trained for those years in the Young Guns roomm, he's a still great role model."

During the interview, Bo Bassett also expressed his belief in faith and said that he wouldn't be in this position without the Almighty.