“Gotta turn that kill switch on,” Carter Starocci said as he vies for his 5th NCAA crown. The freestyle wrestling sensation has returned to the mat yet again after suffering an injury setback last year. However, his return has been nothing short of dramatic. Ahead of this season, he had a beef with none other than AJ Ferrari, which caught the eyes of the wrestling world. As the 24-year-old Starocci readies to rule on the mat once again, he made a candid revelation which was in fact a perfect response to the controversy with Ferrari.

Starocci, Penn State’s star, has dominated the 174 lbs division over the past four years in the NCAA. Interestingly, during the U.S. Olympic Trials in April last year, Starocci made a surprising revelation, saying, “Yeah, I can get a crack at 197 (lbs) too. I don’t mind.”  This was, in fact, the weight division of AJ Ferrari, and Starocci’s statement led to a war of words between the two. However, Starocci’s latest revelations affirm that he was right to bump up his weight division, though he hasn’t gone up to 197.

Taking to his official Instagram handle, Starocci shared a clip of his training via an Instagram story, which indicated that he was fit and raring to win his 5th NCAA title. Additionally, in the caption, he wrote, “Going up in weight was a great thing and even better with the training from @flexibility.maestro to keep me flexible/mobile and even stronger!” This bold statement from the 24-year-old seemed like a direct shot at Ferrari, who had earlier mocked him for wanting to move up weight classes.

Earlier, when Starocci nonchalantly suggested that the 197 lbs weight class was perfectly doable for him, AJ Ferrari took a dig at him, retorting, “There’s a lot of talk about some little punk kid Carter Starocci bumping up. A safe recommendation for Carter is to stay down at 174 or 184 pounds—don’t come up to 197 pounds—you can’t handle this horsepower.”

Nonetheless, Starocci has trained hard and will enter the postseason with his eyes fixed firmly on the main prize. Ahead of his bid for his 5th NCAA title, he revealed the main reason behind his return.

Carter Starocci intends to continue his dominant run

Last year, Starocci suffered a wrestler’s worst nightmare as he twisted his leg during the regular season finale back in February. Subsequently, he had to be carried off the mat as he sustained a grave injury. However, being the ‘quick healer’ and a ‘tough kid’ that he is, according to coach Cael Sanderson, Starocci was back in no time and now will be eyeing a record 5th NCAA title.

Asked about why he was eager to return to the mat, Starocci said, “Even a lot of matches that I win, I’m still very angry. I want to dominate guys. And that was a big reason I chose to come back after last year’s NCAA tournament and the injury. I won, and everybody was like, ‘Man, I can’t believe you did that with the knee.’ Everyone kept saying it. Every time someone said it, it made me more mad.”

With Starocci’s time with the Nittany Lions coming to an end after the season, he would be hoping for a fairytale finish, marking the perfect end to the time he’s spent in Pennsylvania. After capping off yet another undefeated year by winning 50-3 against American University, Starocci and the Nittany Lions will be firmly focusing on the Big Ten Championships.

With the form they’re in, there’s no doubt they’ll qualify for the NCAA Championships, but will they win it all yet again? Carter Starocci certainly looks up for it. It’ll be interesting to see if he can create history with a 5th NCAA title before he bids adieu to Penn State.