In the collegiate wrestling world, two teams are at the top of the spectator’s list. While Penn State has already concluded the match against Michigan, Iowa Hawkeyes are still competing on the wrestling mat to secure a win. Penn State Wrestling won its 49th consecutive dual meet in the tournament on this Friday night. However, this is not the only reason for Penn State’s wrestling team are under the spotlight.

Even though the Penn State Wrestling team won a recent match, the absence of Carter Starocci from the squad grabbed everyone’s attention. Recently, the wrestler spilled the beans behind the exit.

A mature decision to handle difficulties

Flowrestling took it to their Twitter account and posted a short video clip of Carter to share the reason for his exit. Along with the video clip, they penned, “An update from Carter Starocci“. The Penn State multi-time national champion revealed that he withdrew himself from the showdown because of health complications. 

As per the radio program announcer Jeff Byers, Carter did not work out two days before the match before sitting out. In the same video clip, Carter said, “Just some health complications, a lot of people can’t stay apart enough to be out there, so it was a last-minute decision, so it’s just realizing, I think the old me, I went out there and wrestled, but just being mature and, and just leveling up in life, I think just, it’s a mature decision not to go out there.”

When asked if there was something major, Carter added, “No, no, I’m gonna shoot for Sunday, so we’ll see; it’ll be another game-time decision, but, um, yeah, we’ll see.” Since the national champion, Carter Starocci’s spot was vacant, someone had to grab the opportunity and match his standards in the game. 

Who replaced Carter Starocci?

As Carter was out of the lineup on Friday night because of his sudden illness, Terrell Barraclough impressed the spectators in his absence. Bumping from the 165-pound weight category, Terrell lost only one bout by decision. Interestingly, the only bout he lost in the match was by 201 decision, and that too to no.4 Shane Griffith. 

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Therefore, it was a good loss for the Nittany Lions. However, Carter Starocci is not the only athlete out of the lineup. At 149 pounds, Nittany Lions ensured a replacement as Shayne Van Ness was out from wrestling because of a sports injury. Since he was not available, Junior David Evans not only filled his place but also won the match by a 5-2 decision over the opponent. 

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