Carter Starocci reflects on celebratory lift after his final match at Penn State's Rec Hall as a Nittany Lion

The freestyle and former folkstyle wrestler, Carter Starocci played his last match with the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Rec Hall on Saturday. He shared his views on the long-standing tradition of being carried after getting his victorious pin in his final match.

Carter Starocci became one of the rising talents in wrestling from Penn State and won the bronze medal at the U23 World Championship in the 79 kg category. He has won four gold medals during his NCAA Division I Championships, competing in the 174 lb category. The star wrestler recently appeared with his teammates and head coach, Cael Sanderson, during “Penn State's Senior Night” via Locked On Nittany Lions and shared his thoughts on the tradition of being lifted down the tunnel.

“I think that's been a tradition that our seniors have done throughout the past and our teammate just he kind of wanted to do that so I just kind of said ‘all right’,” Carter Starocci mentioned [3:35 onwards].

Carter Starocci also mentioned that this tradition has been upheld by his seniors in the past and that his teammate and senior Aurelius Dunbar wanted to continue the custom, as per Nittany Sports Now. He also expressed that he was willing to continue with the tradition. The Penn State Nittany Lions concluded their regular season with 15-0 and also won the 2025 Big Ten Regular Season Championship. They will now be focusing on the 2025 Big Ten Wrestling Championships.

Carter Starocci shares his thoughts on embracing gratitude

Starocci at the 2022 NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championship - Source: Getty

Carter Starocci is a two-time Big Ten Conference champion and a notable wrestler from Penn State. He started wrestling at a young age and his passion grew with time. He is a four-time All-American and during his appearance in the “Nickals and Dimes” podcast, he shared his views on gratitude and growing up with positive nurturing.

“I do just a lot of gratitude. I do like a lot of visualization, a lot of meditation. I grew up Catholic and so I always had like a good upbringing. My mom always tell me about that stuff and always praying before we ate and things like that. I usually just like, tell God, ‘Hey just keep me focused; keep my mind pure and my soul clean,” he mentioned [34:09 onwards].

The 2021 Big Ten Freshman of the Year expressed his personal practices regarding his faith and his Catholic parenting. Starocci also shared how he has learned about “more backgrounds” and faiths from his time at Penn State and he intends to stay focused and virtuous. During his high school years, he also received academic honours twice.