In his four-year career in college wrestling, Carter Starocci dominated the NCAA by snagging four consecutive NCAA championships. Even though this is no ordinary feat, the 23-year-old isn’t nearly done. He’s looking forward to chasing history this season. The wrestler wants to go where no one before him has been. In his fifth and final NCAA season, Starocci hopes to become the first 5x national champion in NCAA Division I. Wouldn’t that be something? 

However, here’s the catch. For the past 4 years, he’s triumphantly dominated the 174-pound category. Yet, this time, he will compete in the 184-pound class category. Part of this is due to the challenge of managing his weight, which his Penn State coach, Cael Sanderson, agreed with as well. But his first challenge came up at the NWCA All-Star Classic on Saturday. The wrestler faced off an old rival, Parker Keckeisen, on the mat, taking him down in the sudden victory period and winning 4-1. Yet, the defending champion pulled off something no one had against the No. 1. What is it?

Carter Starocci comes across a major block despite victory

Leading up to the 2024 NWCA All-Star Classic, Carter Starocci warned the world that “There is only One Champ” on Instagram. So, it’s safe to say many fans looked forward to the duel. Even though the 23-year-old emerged victorious, there’s one impressive thing to point out. For the last three matches, the wrestler had won each duel without giving away any points. However, that wasn’t the case with this event. Parker Keckeisen might have been defeated. Yet, he managed to snag 1 point against his opponent. 

What’s even better is that 2 of his opponents have been National Champions. However, scoring a point against the Nittany Lion is often difficult. The 2x Big Ten champion had an unbeatable record in the championships. Unless we count the two losses from the Big Ten Championships, which technically are injury defaults. The wrestler’s last loss, except for these, was during the 2021 Big Ten finals against Michael Kemerer.

What went down at the tight bout? On November 16, Carter Starocci locked horns with Parker Keckeisen in an 184-pound showdown at Rec Hall. A crowd of 5,000 patiently waited to witness an incredible outcome. The wrestlers went at it for three whole periods. In the first period, the Penn State star worked the center of the map, constantly attacking the No. 2 as he did his best to defend himself. As a result, they moved into the second period with 0-0. 

Here’s where things change. The 2022 U23 World bronze medalist snagged a quick 1-0 lead. Even though Keckeisen tried to level the scores, the Nittany Lion held on to his lead going into the third period. However, 4x NCAA All-American managed to bag a point, leading them to a sudden victory of 1-1. Starocci attacked first in the SV, which Keckeisen defended. Yet, he couldn’t defend the second with 35v seconds remaining, resulting in his 4-1 loss. But what if we tell you this isn’t the first time they’ve faced each other on the mat?

Parker Keckeisen had the upper hand going into the match-up

Even though Carter Starocci pulled off an incredible victory at the NWCA All-Star Classic, it doesn’t count toward official records. On the other hand, it does give him an advantage over his new weight class. However, his rivalry with Keckeisen has been on since 2018. The duo locked horns at the Fargo Championship, and the 23-year-old lost 9-6 in the 170-pound category. Yet, throughout the grueling mat, both showed off their incredible skills. 

Unfortunately, it just wasn’t meant to be for the Nittany Lion. So, their matchup in the All-Classic was nothing short of exciting, and the 4x NCAA champion definitely looked forward to redeeming himself. Although, this would offer the PSU wrestler an undue advantage when they face off in the NCAA Championships again. So, why did Keckeisen agree to this thrilling bout? Well, we’ll let the wrestler answer that for you!

While the world looked forward to their much-anticipated face-off, the 2019 U20 World Team runner-up had nothing but good things to say about his opponent. In fact, he described him as one of the best collegiate wrestlers ever. Keckeisen simply couldn’t let this opportunity go. According to him, it would be interesting to see how things turn out.

“So, just an opportunity to have two great competitors to go at it, and just see where, well, win or lose, there’s going to be areas where you can learn from.” Quite a unique way to look at it. However, he reiterated that he could pick up on a few things after looking at Carter Starocci’s highs and lows. Even though the 23-year-old has embarked on an impossible yet historic journey, we can’t wait to see if he can pull off this incredible NCAA miracle.