Injured Penn State star, Cathedral Prep grad Starocci expects to wrestle in Big Ten meet
The definitive answer won’t be known until Friday.
Based on Carter Starocci’s social media post, though, the Penn State University senior strongly suggests he’ll be active throughout this weekend’s Big Ten Conference wrestling tournament at the University of Maryland’s XFINITY Center.
It was Feb. 25 when Starocci, a 2019 Cathedral Prep graduate, suffered what appeared to be right knee injury at the end of his 174-pound match vs. Edinboro University’s Joey Arnold at Penn State’s Rec Hall. That dual was likely the last home appearance in a Nittany Lions singlet for the three-time NCAA Division I gold medalist.
Although Starocci won by a 22-5 technical fall, his health for the postseason became an instant concern. The two-day Big Ten meet will determine which wrestlers represent the conference in the March 21-22 NCAA tournament at Kansas City, Missouri.
Starocci has over-the-top incentive to compete in it. The two-time PIAA Class 3A titlist as a Rambler, who’s 73-2 overall for Penn State, seeks to become the sixth wrestler to win four Division I national championships.
Thus, the rabid interest for Lions’ fans over Starocci’s March 1 post on X.
“A true champion,” he said, “can adapt to anything. You can either run from your adversity or face it head on and conquer it. There’s only one way in and one way out and I’m going that way.
“This game teaches you a lot and one thing I learned for sure is my mind is absolutely bullet proof.”
Penn State coach Cael Sanderson ended his silence surrounding Starocci during a media availability session Monday and in a flowrestling.org post.
“He’s doing pretty good,” Sanderson said. “I don’t know if it’s a situation that me talking (about it) really does a lot of good but what his plans are, they haven’t really changed. I think it’s search and destroy, basically.”
"It's like a day-to-day thing where he's getting better, significantly, over time," Sanderson said. "So his plan is to do what he does and go compete."
Starocci, who won the 2022 NCAA championship wrestling with a broken hand, was called a "very quick healer" by Sanderson.
The Erie Times-News left a cell phone message with Starocci about his social media post, but it wasn’t returned.
More: Former Cathedral Prep wrestler Carter Starocci injured in final home match for Penn State
How it happened
Before last Friday, Penn State and Starocci were mute about the injury on Feb. 25. That’s when the Nittany Lions dominated the Fighting Scots 55-0 in the teams’ first dual since 2011.
The Lions’ shutout included Starocci’s technical fall of Arnold in only 2 minutes, 45 seconds.
However, the enthusiastic vibe throughout Rec Hall was negated at the end of his three-point near fall that concluded the match.
Video showed Starocci’s right knee pinned under the right leg of Arnold, who was flat on his stomach. Starocci sought to flail loose but couldn’t free his leg from under the weight of the Edinboro junior until an official’s whistle indicated the match was over.
Starocci sat for several minutes in the middle of Penn State’s blue and white mat. Although he was finally able to place weight on his right leg, he still required upright support from Sanderson and trainer Dan Monthley while he left the mat.
Sanderson, himself a four-time NCAA titlist while at Iowa State, didn’t speculate on Starocci’s status during the dual’s ensuing news conference.
He did say at that time if there was a positive to Starocci’s situation it was he had nearly two weeks to heal and rest ahead of this weekend’s Big Ten competition.
“Carter has always been a quick healer,” Sanderson said.
Alternate course to K.C.
Big Ten tournament officials opted to look past the uncertainty surrounding Starocci’s status. They still seeded the 12-0 senior first for this weekend’s 174 division.
Shane Griffith, a University of Michigan graduate student, will be seeded second (12-2). Griffith was the NCAA’s 2021 champ at 165 while he attended Stanford University.
Starocci and Griffith didn’t wrestle Jan. 19, when Penn State beat Michigan 27-9 at Ann Arbor.
If Starocci truly is ailing this weekend, he could qualify for nationals with minuscule time on Maryland’s mats. A Feb. 27 Centre Daily Times article detailed how it’s possible for him to only physically wrestle one match and take medical forfeits for two others.
Starting three conference matches would make Starocci eligible for a Rating Percentage Index ranking that would leave him high enough to qualify for NCAA action. He would only get at-large berth, but still be in line to make NCAA wrestling history at Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center.
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Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PSU star wrestler Carter Starocci expects to compete in Big Ten meet
