Iowa wrestling star Gabe Arnold has never competed against Penn State on the mat but the redshirt freshman has plenty of history with PSU off it.
When No. 1 Penn State takes on No. 2 Iowa in a dual meet of dual meets Friday night at the Bryce Jordan Center, the match that many fans will be looking forward to most is at 184 pounds.
That’s where Arnold, who’s ranked fifth in his weight class by InterMat, could well take on No. 1 Carter Starocci, a four-time national champ who’s going for an unprecedented fifth title and first at 184.
Iowa could also send out Angelo Ferrari, a redshirt freshman who is 5-0. But the fans probably wanna see Arnold.
So if Arnold has never wrestled against Penn State, how do the two have such history?
The answer to that question dates back to before Arnold even got to Iowa’s campus.
‘OVERATTED’
Starocci beat Iowa’s Nelson Brands when the two wrestled at the Jordan Center two winter’s ago. But Arnold, then a high school senior, wasn’t impressed.
“Overrated,” Arnold, then a blue-chip Iowa commit, tweeted on the night of the dual meet. “I said what I said #seeyousoon.”
overrated…i said what i said #seeyousoon 😉
— Gabriel Arnold (@Gabe174Arnold) January 28, 2023
Arnold explained what he said.
”I was just letting my presence be known,” Arnold told FloWrestling the day after Penn State-Iowa. “I want the college world to know that I’m here, and everyone says, ‘oh, you’re a punk.’ There were some chirps back. ‘Punk high school kid,’ this, that, (people saying I) trashed an NCAA champ. Whatever.”
Arnold claimed he “wasn’t taking anything away from Carter Starocci.”
”Carter Starocci is one of the best at 174 pounds,” Arnold said, “and that’s who I have in my mirror every single day. That’s who I see. That’s who I’m going to beat next year. So, these are goals that I have set for myself, and whether people like me or not, I honestly could care less. But my goal is to beat Carter Starocci. My goal is to be a 2024 NCAA national champ at 174 pounds. So, by any means necessary, that is what I will do. So, hate me or love me, I’m Gabe Arnold.”
Well, a few days later, Starocci had a chance to say something himself.
‘HE CAN GET WHOOPED IN FRONT OF HIS MOM AND DAD’
Photo by NCAA: Carter Starocci
As anybody who knows anything about Carter Starocci could probably guess, Starocci jumped at the chance to respond to Arnold.
”If you can kiss enough butt and get in the starting lineup,” Starocci told reporters, “I’ll take care of business there, and it’ll be in his home dojo, too. He can get whooped in front of his mom and dad. So, that’ll be fun.”
Carter Starocci had some words for Iowa commit Gabe Arnold, following the latter’s tweet that Starocci was “overrated”.
READ: https://t.co/w5qCuo78sp pic.twitter.com/QZj481Pq9R
— Kyle J. Andrews (@KyleJAndrews_) January 31, 2023
Because Tom Brands decided to redshirt Arnold as a true freshman in 2023-24, the clash between Starocci and Arnold never happened.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.But that doesn’t mean Starocci or other Penn State wrestlers forgot about Arnold’s chirping.
‘HE TALKS A LOT ABOUT MY TEAMMATE’
Although Arnold has never wrestled a guy wearing a Penn State singlet, he has competed against a Penn State wrestler before.
This past June, Penn State wrestling commit Zack Ryder would have been ecstatic to make it to the U.S. U20 World Team regardless of who he had to beat to get there.
Beating Iowa’s Arnold was a bonus.
To be clear, Ryder respects Arnold, telling reporters after his triumph that he feels Arnold is a “great wrestler.”
But when Ryder had the chance to wrestle Arnold in a best-of-three series at 79KG, he beat him, first 5-4 and then 4-2, and loved it.
“I wanted to prove a point out here. Gabe Arnold, he talks a lot about my teammate, Carter Starocci,” Ryder told reporters afterward. “I just took him out, so I’m very proud of myself.”
THE LATEST CHAPTER
Ryder’s words were the last of the Penn State wrestling-Gabe Arnold beef for a while. But come late January, there was a new chapter. After Arnold beat Ohio State’s Ryder Rogotzke in sudden victory, he had a chance to talk with reporters, and he had something to say about Penn State.
“We have Penn State next week, and we didn’t get the job done last year and that kind of sucks,” Arnold said. “We’re going to get it done this year. This time, we’ll be in your home dojo, and I promise, your head is mine.”
Gabe Arnold calls his shot for next week vs Penn State pic.twitter.com/ZMiMeukCJj
— Ross Bartachek (@rossbchek) January 25, 2025
Arnold then slapped the table and said “book it.”
Two days later, Starocci had a chance to respond.
He’s their starter,?” Starocci asked. “I thought the other guy (Angelo Ferrari) was their starter. Didn’t the other guy win the (Soldier Salute)?
“I have to gameplan for the other guy. The other guy is a better wrestler. I don’t know. Maybe he’s trying to sell tickets, but I think our crowd comes out every time, so there’s nothing to say. I’ll be there Friday night ready to go.”
Carter Starocci on Gabe Arnold’s trash talk
“I think the other guy’s a better wrestler” pic.twitter.com/J0AlI3zWSM
— Evan Smith (@EvanRGSmith) January 27, 2025
Penn State-Iowa is scheduled to begin at 7 on the Big Ten Network.
