In the days after winning his first NCAA title, Carter Starocci went into Cael Sanderson’s office for a conversation that resonated with the Penn State star throughout the remainder of his career with the Nittany Lions. 

Sanderson told Starocci — then a 174-pound freshman in the spring of 2021 — that his first national championship would be the easiest one he’d win in college. 

“I kinda looked at him like, ‘I don’t know about that, I plan on getting better and making this thing easier,’” Starocci said in March of 2024 after winning his fourth of five NCAA titles. “Sure enough, looking back on it, I’d say each one has their own challenges, but (Sanderson has) earned everything, so you’ve got to listen to everything he says.” 

Starocci’s path to college wrestling history included two overtime wins in the NCAA finals, a run through the tournament on a banged-up right knee and a championship victory against a returning undefeated national champion. 

He became the sport’s first five-time NCAA champion and the second wrestler to win four national titles at the same weight. He went 25-0 during his career at the NCAA Championships and won 10 of those matches against NCAA finalists. 

“I wouldn’t say I do this for any titles or anything like that,” he said. “For me, what gets me out of bed is being able to take everybody out, and that’s kind of what scratches my ego a little bit — just knowing there’s no one who can beat me.

“Just going out there and beating people, that’s what’s fun for me.” 

Starocci lost the first match of his freshman season, dropped a decision in the Big Ten finals later that season and then never lost another contested bout with the Nittany Lions. 

Officially, Starocci went 103-4 during his five seasons in the Penn State lineup with a pair of defeats on his ledger from the 2024 Big Ten Championships, where the Nittany Lions pulled him out of the tournament with an immediate injury default to protect a knee injury sustained in the closing seconds of his final regular-season match. Those losses dropped Starocci to the #9 seed and an unfavorable bracket spot for the NCAA Championships in Kansas City. 

He responded by shutting out two fellow NCAA champions, taking down #1 seed Mekhi Lewis 4-0 in the quarterfinals before beating #4 seed Shane Griffith 2-0 in the semis. 

“I chose to come out here and wrestle,” he said after defeating Rocco Welsh 2-0 in the finals. “With that, the mindset’s like you can’t really have excuses. For me, I feel like talking about it doesn’t do any justice because that’s in the past. I’m moving forward, I’m focusing on healing and we’ve made a lot of progress. It was a long road. Twelve days ago I wasn’t even walking.”

Nobody in college wrestling locked down a weight class longer over the course of the last 25 years than Starocci did at 174, where he won four consecutive NCAA titles before winning a fifth in 2025 at 184. It’s little surprise he also won the fan social media vote to claim the 174-pound spot on the Flowrestling All-Quarter Century Team presented by Defense Soap. 

Starocci finished ahead of two-time Hodge Trophy winner Ben Askren and two-time NCAA champions Chris Pendleton and Zahid Valencia in the voting. 

The Results Are In 

The Flowrestling team started with every NCAA champion from the last 25 years and pared the list down to four at every weight after tabulating the results of a staff vote. We let wrestling fans weigh in with a social media vote, and the fan vote ultimately proved to be the deciding factor at 174 pounds. Here are the final results: 

1. Penn State’s Carter Starocci

2. Missouri’s Ben Askren

3. Oklahoma State’s Chris Pendleton

4. Arizona State’s Zahid Valencia 

The First-Teamers

125 — Iowa’s Spencer Lee

133 — Ohio State’s Logan Stieber

141 — Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis 

149 — Penn State’s Zain Retherford 

157 — Penn State’s Jason Nolf 

165 — Cornell’s Kyle Dake

174 — Penn State’s Carter Starocci 

Facts, Figures And Those Who Missed The Final Cut At 174

— The last quarter century has produced 17 different NCAA champions at 174 pounds. 

— There were five multi-time champs at the weight during that 25-year stretch — Chris Pendleton, Ben Askren, Chris Perry, Zahid Valencia and Carter Starocci. 

— Earlier this week we broke down how the top-tier established itself at 174 pounds since 2001. 

— Askren was the only Hodge Trophy winner at 174 in the last 25 years. He won the award in 2006 and 2007. 

— A dozen different schools won a 174-pound title during the past 25 years, led by Penn State’s seven. Oklahoma State was second with five and Arizona State and Missouri with two each. 

— Penn State led the field with 11 NCAA finals appearances at 174 during the last 25 years. Missouri and Oklahoma State were tied for second with five each, followed by Pittsburgh with four. 

— Oklahoma State went 5-0 in its five trips to the 174-pound finals since 2001. 

— Seniors collected 10 of the 24 NCAA titles at 174 pounds since 2001. Freshmen were second with four. Ohio State’s Myles Martin and Penn State’s Mark Hall won NCAA titles as true freshmen.