Why losing his varsity debut could be a ‘blessing’ for Penn State wrestling’s Carter Starocci
As Carter Starocci walked off the mat with his head down in late January, Mark Hall couldn’t help but see a lot of himself in the Penn State redshirt freshman.
Starocci, the then-No. 5 174-pound wrestler in the country, had just fallen 10-9 to Indiana’s unranked Donnell Washington in his Nittany Lions varsity debut. After a year of anticipation for one of the most highly touted recruits in the Class of 2019 to compete, Starocci failed to deliver.
And, boy, does Hall know that feeling all too well.
In January 2017, the 174-pound Hall — who capped off an All-American collegiate career last spring — had lost unexpectedly in his varsity debut, too. But Hall went on to win an NCAA title that same season, and he finished as the national runner-up the next two years.
“In that loss, I learned a lot about myself,” Hall told the Centre Daily Times last week. “I learned a lot about what it takes to be that consistent guy that I turned into after that match.”
Now, Hall, Starocci’s mentor and former Penn State teammate, expects Starocci to bounce back in a similar fashion. And others who know Starocci well also have full confidence that the loss will be merely a blip on the radar of what they believe should be an illustrious career.
Mike Hahesy, Starocci’s high school coach at Erie’s Cathedral Preparatory School, has seen Starocci overcome a hurdle like this before. Hahesy won’t soon forget how Starocci handled losing in the state finals as a high school sophomore.
“He was all bummed out and saying how he sucks and he’s no good,” Hahesy said. “His mindset’s 180 degrees from there.”
After that match, Starocci went undefeated his junior and senior years, en route to becoming a two-time Pennsylvania state champion and one of the most sought-after recruits in the nation.
Hahesy credits Starocci’s mental toughness for allowing him to not be down on himself for too long. In over a decade at Cathedral Prep, Hahesy hasn’t seen another wrestler with quite the attitude and edge that Starocci has.
“He’s been the hardest worker and the most dedicated wrestler I’ve ever had,” Hahesy said. “I’ve had a lot of good ones, but he’s been the best.”
The sky-high expectations that Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson had for Starocci when he recruited him haven’t changed at all, either. Sanderson thinks Starocci has what it takes to follow Hall’s path of redemption and be crowned an NCAA champion this season.
“It’s up to him to go win matches, but we feel confident that he’s gonna be competing for a national title this year as a freshman,” Sanderson said. “Of course, that’s up to him to do that and to have the right mindset and to wrestle boldly and fearlessly and to go score points against some really good competition.”
Even in the January loss, Hall admired the way Starocci fought until the final whistle. Starocci was down 10-1 to start the second period, then scored eight consecutive points to cut the deficit to one before time ran out.
Hall is almost certain that “there wasn’t a second in that match” that Starocci didn’t think he could win.
After Hall lost that first varsity match four years ago, he had to start spending less time focusing on wins and losses and more time on the process it would take to get to where he wanted to be.
Today, as Hall reflects on his Penn State career, he calls his first loss “a blessing.” Without the lesson that came with it, he doesn’t believe he would’ve reached the heights he did as a Nittany Lion.
“From that point on, there was never any time I wrestled where I was anxious or nervous overwhelmingly,” Hall said.
And, because Hall sees the same qualities in Starocci that he used to help himself grow from that moment, Hall expects the same from the freshman.
“Yeah, it sucks losing,” he said. “But now, he doesn’t have to worry about losing ever again.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 6:10 PM.
