Penn State Wrestler Carter Starocci shared a confident message ahead of the NCAA Wrestling Championships this weekend. The 24-year-old is seen as one of the NCAA's most successful athletes as he has won multiple accolades, with his most coveted title being the NCAA Division 1 Championship, which he has won four times in a row (2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024).
In his sophmore season at Penn State, Starocci went undefeated with a 23-0 record. He repeated the feat in his junior season as well, going 24-0 and clinching his third NCAA title at the time. In his high school career, Starocci posted an incredible record of 172 wins and only 10 defeats. He served as a four-year letterman and was team captain for all four years. He also won state titles in his junior and senior years with undefeated seasons (50-0 as a junior and 46-0 as a senior).
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Carter is aiming to make history by becoming the first wrestler ever to win five NCAA Division 1 Championships. This will be his fifth and final year competing for Penn State, and he will be looking to end it on a high note. The Pennsylvania-born wrestler shared his thoughts on competing in the NCAA Championships for a fifth time this weekend.
"It’s time to re write the history books. I never go after records. But they seem to always come after me. I will etch my name in the FOREVER stone once again this weekend," Starocci wrote on X.
He also posted a video where he was quoted as saying at a press conference:
"I feel a lot of times I get asked, "Oh you have a target on your back," but for us we are always the guys hunting so that's kind of how we approach it."
The four-time champion is set to compete in the 184 pound weight class on March 20th.
Carter Starocci on valuable advice his father gave him
Carter Starocci shared an anecdote about his father, who shared a few words of wisdom with him that have helped him progress further in his wrestling career. The four-time All-American in a collaboration with The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau on YouTube, said:
"I'm already in my fifth year at Penn State, like this flew by like this. So I was always aware of that and just how life goes by quick and then my dad always told me every single day we have this choice to make, and it's either you choose to get better or you choose to get worse."
“There's no staying the same because everyone around you and everything around you is getting better so you're getting worse and he's right and so I'm like times's not on our side.”
Carter Starocci stressed upon the importance of always improving every day, and clearly it has worked as Carter looks to grab his fifth NCAA Championship in a row.
