Takedown Report

Penn State Wrestling Star Carter Starocci Eying History At NCAA Tourney

Penn State’s Carter Starocci is five wins away from becoming the first five-time NCAA wrestling champion.
Carter Starocci’s quest for college wrestling immortality begins on March 20, 2025. Starocci is already a four-time NCAA champion, but he could become the first five-timer if he wins five straight matches at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The Penn State superstar can take advantage of a unique historical window. College athletes were given an extra season of eligibility after the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Five wrestlers were given a rare opportunity granted to college athletes following World War II. The NCAA Championships were cancelled from 1943-45 due to the war, meaning the NCAA granted freshmen eligibility to boost participation numbers when the war was over.
Freshmen were not allowed to compete, so the maximum number of NCAA titles a wrestler could win was three. That rule remained until the 1968 NCAA Championships, when freshmen were finally allowed to participate. 
Five wrestlers took advantage.
Dick Hauser and Lowell Lange of Cornell College, Bill Nelson of Northern Iowa (known as Iowa State Teachers College at the time), Joe Scarpello of Iowa, and Dick Hutton of Oklahoma State (known as Oklahoma A&M at the time) were eligible to go four for four after winning the 1947 NCAA Championships as freshmen. 
None succeeded in their quest. 
Oklahoma State’s Pat Smith became the first four-timer at the 1994 NCAA Championships in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Six wrestlers — including Starocci — followed. …. more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/13914314-penn-state-wrestling-star-carter-starocci-eying-history-at-ncaa-tourney

March 15, 2025 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized