Carter Starocci drops 4-word reaction on Penn State's future after ending historic NCAA career

Carter Starocci recently silenced questions about Penn State wrestling's prospects slowing down in his absence the following year. Starocci won his fifth National title in his final year with the Nittany Lions in the recently concluded NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships 2025.

Starocci returned to his alma mater as the defending NCAA wrestling champion in the 174-pound category. He competed in the 2025 edition in a higher weight category of 184 pounds, becoming the first-ever five-time National champion with a win against Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa.

Following the monumental feat, Carter Starocci was asked whether Penn State's wrestling team will go down after he bids his farewell. In response, the 24-year-old said to Joe Smeltzer on X:

"That's not gonna happen."

Starocci defeated Caden Rodgers of Lehigh to earn his 100th career victory. The following win against Jaxon Smith and the semi-finals against Dustin Plott cleared his path for a title defense on March 22, 2025.

The 2025 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year revealed that winning the NCAA Championships for the fifth time was a cakewalk since he practiced with more seasoned wrestlers in the build-up. He said,

"You're almost wrestling a lot better opponents in the practice room that you actually do on gameday.. Honestly, when I go to competition, I almost feel like that's the easy part."

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Carter Starocci addressed media's decision to keep the 184 pounds match the first in the list as he went for title defense

Carter Starocci at the 2025 NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championship - (Source: Getty)

Carter Starocci has been beaming with pride after winning his fifth National title. However, in a post-match press conference, he addressed ESPN's move keeping two of the top-seeded athletes' matches first. He was more disappointed since he didn't get the hype he needed despite being the most disciplined in his sport. He said,

"You guys just hype it up. A guy like me, you're not going to hype it up. You know, I stay focused on all the tasks at hand. So, I do my job and that's what I'm out there to do. As far as the next question, I mean I was the first match-up."

"I'm not sure why ESPN elected the 184-pound match to be the first match. I mean you have a guy going for his fifth title and you have the reigning champ and I think whoever wins that match is the hottest trophy winner. We've been dominant all year. To put that match first for whatever reason ESPN kind of makes me laugh and giggle because of some of these rules that wrestling has in place..."

The Pennsylvania native was in the running for the Olympic podium in 2024 Paris and 2020 Tokyo. In both events, he couldn't make it through to the finals. Carter Starocci won three Big Ten titles representing the Nittany Lions and the U23 bronze at the World Championships as part of the US National team.