After winning his third national championship earlier this month, Penn State wrestler Carter Starocci indicated in his post-match interview that his Penn State career was over.
“This (college wrestling) is cool,” Starocci told ESPN, “but I want the peak of the sport. I don’t look past this because this is what I wake up to do every single day. It’s been fun smacking the head of the college team, but I want that Olympic gold.”
Seemed straightforward enough, no?
With nothing left to prove at the college level, Starocci would move on and pursue an Olympic gold medal and, after that, go after an MMA career.
Almost two weeks after Starocci’s national title win, he sent a series of tweets. In one of them, he wrote that he’s considering returning to Penn State to pursue a fourth national title, something only five wrestlers at any weight class have accomplished.
sport. So with that being said there’s options on the table. I will talk with the people I trust and make a decision on either finishing my college career early, train strictly for my Olympic strap and then go right into MMA, or run down the college scene one last time for my 4th
— Carter Starocci (@carterstarocci) April 1, 2023
Get it, imma want more of that shit. I’m addicted to success.
— Carter Starocci (@carterstarocci) April 1, 2023
The thread’s first tweet reads as a follow-up to Starocci’s post-national title interview.
“After 3 of them thangs (national championships),” Starocci tweeted, “I am extremely grateful for the plan and opportunities Hid has given me thus far. I enjoy being with the Penn State family and dominating with the best program in the world. However, the Olympics is around the corner and that’s what I want.”
But in the thread’s second tweet, Starocci said he’s still weighing his decision.
“There’s options on the table,” he wrote. I will talk with the people I trust and make a decision on either finishing my college career early, train strictly for my Olympic strap and then go right into MMA, or run down the college scene one last time for my 4th Natty Daddy, then head to Paris.”
Paris is where the 2024 summer games will be.
Carter Starocci, who has two years of eligibility remaining, made it clear that he’s confident in dominating whatever he decides to pursue.
He ended the thread by saying he will “want more of that shit. I’m addicted to success.”
With a 61-2 college record and 52-match win streak, it’s safe to say Starocci’s fed his addiction well. His return certainly wouldn’t hurt Penn State’s bid for a third straight national title and 11th in 13 seasons.
Four pictures accompanied Starocci’s thread—the last one of his head coach. Cael Sanderson finished his college career 159-0 with four national titles for Iowa State, the only man in the sport’s history to go undefeated and win four championships. The picture was of Sanderson dominating an Oklahoma opponent, accompanied by a Sanderson quote.
“Unless you continually work, evolve, and innovate, you’ll learn a quick and painful lesson from someone who has.”
