Will Penn State wrestler Carter Starocci return in 2024? He's leaning 60/40 in one direction, he tells Flo

Penn State wrestler Carter Starocci expects to be back on the mat today when the U.S. Olympic Team Trials kick off in State College, Pa. The four-time NCAA champion at 174 pounds is bumping up to 86 kilograms, or 189.5 pounds, for the chance to make the world team by getting to the finals and then beating fellow Nittany Lion great David Taylor, who is waiting for a challenger in the best of three finals.

Starocci gutted out his most recent college crown. After suffering a knee injury in late February, he medically forfeited out of the Big Ten tournament, which qualified him for NCAAs but hurt his seeding. It didn’t matter. The Erie, Pa., native surrendered more takedowns than he would have liked to but otherwise rolled to another individual championship despite wrestling with a sleeve covering protective equipment over his right knee. Whether or not it would keep him from the Trials was up in the air, but it sounds like he will give it a go, at the very least, in a way similar to NCAAs.

What’s the latest on Carter Starocci’s future at Penn State?

Whether or not the Trials end with Starocci coming out on top like he did at NCAAs, however, remains to be seen. Penn State fans will be watching those and other results closely. But, they’re also wondering if Starocci will be back with the Lions for 2024-2025. And, while he has not made up his mind one way or the other, the standout did provide what can only be described as encouraging news for fans during a Thursday interview with Flo Wrestling. Starocci told the outlet that he was previously leaning toward not coming back. But, there is now a 60 percent to 40 percent chance that he does. And, he could do so at 197 pounds, where Penn State currently has a hole in its lineup.

“I thought about it a little bit,” Starocci told FLO. “We’ve already talked a little bit and, and I kind of laid out some of my thoughts and things like that and, and [Cael Sanderson] laid some of his ideas out, and so we said after the Trials, we will have another conversation and another meeting. I was 60-40 not coming back like immediately after NCAAs. But, I’m maybe 60-40 coming back. And so, it’s up in the air. So we’ll see and it’ll be a decision I’m going to make because I’m excited to do it, and things like that and, and so we’ll see.”

Listen to the BWI Wrestling Show that previews the Olympic Trials

Starocci had this to say about the potential weight change, which he said Sanderson first brought up, perhaps jokingly and perhaps not, the morning after this year’s NCAA Tournament:

“I just love wrestling. So, I just think whatever makes sense and obviously what’s best for the team too. Because, like, that room, there are so many guys, and you’re thinking like, where’s [Shayne] Van Ness going to go in the lineup? Where’s Haines going to go? Because, he doesn’t want to cut any more. So it’s just, I guess, whatever is best for the team. And so but yeah, I mean, I can get a crack at ’97 too.”

If Starocci does come back, it seems likely he will be going up in weight. If he does go to 197, it means 174 could be filled by Alex Facundo, while a wrestle-off that starts with redshirt freshman Josh Barr will be had for the 184 spot. Time will tell how it all shakes out, though. First, Starocci must join Beau Bartlett in officially announcing his return for 2024-2025, and it sounds like that won’t happen until next week at the absolute earliest.