Penn State wrestling is legend Carter Starocci has been accused of misconduct.
A user by the name of Nittany Lion posted The Wrestling Roomโs Facebook forum that Starocci was being investigated for โstealing from other PSU teammates.โ
Pat Mineo of the Wrestling Room later confirms the post.
โWhich sounds really odd if true, because heโs the highest paid wrestling athlete,โ Mineo wrote. โWhy would he need to steal?โ
Syd Bartlett, the wife of Starocciโs former teammate Beau Bartlett, responded to Mineoโs post.
โHe (Starocci) was being investigated for theft,โ Bartlett wrote. โAside from that investigation, he violated several of his teammates that are absolutely not appropriate in any way and to my knowledge faced no repressions for that behavior. I do not care how talented an individual is, how beneficial they may be for a teamโs optics or results. If they are causing discomfort of ANY DEGREE in the locker room or outside of it, IN MY OPINION, action should be taken. End of story.โ
Beau Bartlett wrote a long, cryptic post to Happy Valley Insiderโs message board.
Part of it read โAny one person does not make an entire program.โ
Another excerpt said
โShe has had to listen to the things Iโve gone through while here, sheโs had to listen to the even worse things her friends and other women have personally gone through over the years due to this same individual, sheโs had to listen to the stories of my teammates and what theyโve experienced at the hands of this person, and sheโs remained quiet through all of it despite being the most outspoken person I know, because there is a certain sense of intimidation that looms throughout the room and outside of it, and so many people, myself included, will more than likely never feel safe coming forward with their full stories.โ
Itโs important to note that Beau Bartlett didnโt mention Starocci by name, and it remains to be seen what more Bartlett will reveal.
Starocci ended his college wrestling career at Penn State this March with his fifth national championship, the first person in DI history to accomplish that feat.
This is a developing story and Nittany Sports Now will have updates when more information becomes available.
