Carter Starocci woke up early on Monday, ready for a busy day filled with workouts with Olympic and NCAA champions. 

Up first, at 8 a.m., it was Jake Varner followed by Kyle Snyder later in the afternoon.

Tilts with reigning NCAA champ Levi Haines, rising 197-pounder Josh Barr and former Penn State great Aaron Brooks are also on Carter’s schedule for later this week. 

“You can’t go anywhere in the world and get a better practice partner,” Starocci said.

Apparently, that includes NCAA-sanctioned dual meets and tournaments, where no one has come close to Starocci yet at 184.

None of Starocci’s matches have gone the distance this year. As he chases an unprecedented fifth NCAA title, Starocci insists this is how he maintains his edge.

“Wrestling guys like that, when you’re wrestling (outside opponents) it’s a whole different ballgame,” Starocci said. “I’ve almost gotta be smart in the room because these guys are just so good. And that’s what it’s about and that’s what I love.”

He also loves a little smack talk, and Starocci is no stranger to call-outs from prospective opponents.

Iowa’s Gabe Arnold is the latest foe to bark across the country in the four-time NCAA champ’s direction, promising that “your head’s mine” when the two teams meet at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center on Friday. It’ll mark exactly five years since Penn State lost it’s last dual, 19-17 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“They’re always prepared for these matches,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “We want to wrestle great, compete well and score points, but it’s also a great opportunity to see where we’re at and be able to make adjustments heading into the postseason.”

Starocci paused for a moment when informed of Arnold’s comments.

“I thought the other guy was the starter,” Starocci said, referring to freshman Angelo Ferrari, who’s 5-0 to Arnold’s 11-0. “I think (Ferrari) is a better wrestler, but I don’t know. Maybe he’s trying to sell tickets, but our crowd comes out every single time, so there’s nothing to sell. I’ll be there Friday night ready to go.”

Thanks to all the time he’s put in with his teammates. It’s been a theme for a while for Starocci, who has always sought ways to make up for shorter matches each year. 

Not counting injury defaults, 43 of the 105 matches Starocci has wrestled have ended in falls or technical falls, including every match he’s had this season.

“For me, I almost look forward to training just as much,” Starocci said. “So I’ve just got to keep the focus on competition days, just because when you’re out there wrestling — Levi hit the nail on the head last week — you can feel these guys, they’re OK with losing. You can feel that. They’re fine with losing, which is just a crazy mindset.”

Starocci likened it to simply surviving and maintaining a bit of pride in defeat. It’s the way he felt when he was a rookie in Penn State’s program, challenging Varner and Sanderson behind the scenes.

“Early on in the career, it’s not so fun because you’re on your back most of the time and you’re really annoyed,” Starocci said.

It didn’t take long for Starocci to not only establish himself as a star, but become the standard other newbies to the program wanted to pit themselves against.

Open Barr

When Barr arrived last year as a true freshman, Starocci was one of the first new teammates he sought out in the room.

The senior was eager to get his hands on Barr and the rest of the freshman class. It became a yearly right of passage for Starocci to see how long he could pound on the new guys before they gave up.

Barr was willing to go the distance and then some. Starocci called him “a lunatic.”

“I wanna see how long these guys can go for until they break,” Starocci said. “It’s always that one guy when you wrestle, ‘Alright bro, I’ve gotta go.’ So who is going to be that guy? And I remember we were going for like five straight hours and he just kept coming back to the middle.”

That experience, coupled with the results Barr has turned in as the team’s preferred 197-pounder, has led Starocci to conclude that Barr could stack trophies just as he has.

“He just won’t stop,” Starocci said. “He’s one of those guys that’s going to be really good and he’s going to be the next four-time champ.”

The next few weeks will be a good measuring stick. Barr will likely face Iowa’s top-ranked Stephen Buchanan on Friday with Michigan’s Jacob Cardenas waiting next week.

Like Starocci, Barr has made it a habit to end matches early. 

Only one of his bouts — a sudden-victory win against Little Rock’s Stephen Little — went beyond the 7-minute mark. Since then, he’s got two falls and three techs, including a 22-6 win over Rutgers’ John Posnanski that saw Barr tear the fifth-year junior apart with seven takedowns in the third period.

“Barr’s wrestling a high pace and he’s keeping the pressure on and he’s adding technique to that. He’s just got a lot of confidence and he’s just doing his thing,” Sanderson said. “He’s a guy that’s really kind of buying in and going to work and really using the technique of hustle, which is usually number one, I think, so he’s doing a great job.”