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Penn State's Carter Starocci Chases NCAA Wrestling History, But One Record Will Elude Him

Starocci can become the first Division I wrestler to win five NCAA championships. But Carlton Haselrig once won six.

Mark Wogenrich

Penn State wrestler Carter Starocci celebrates after winning his fourth NCAA Wrestling title.
Penn State wrestler Carter Starocci celebrates after winning his fourth NCAA Wrestling title. / Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Penn State's Carter Starocci is perhaps the most intriguing wrestler at the 2025 NCAA Wrestler Championships, one who can plant a remarkable flag in college wrestling history. Starocci can became the first five-time champion in NCAA Division I wrestling history, the product of NCAA wrestlers getting a free season of eligibility because of COVID in 2021. The moment is unlikely to be repeated, as Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said.

"With these unique circumstances, having a chance to go after a fifth [title] is pretty cool," Sanderson said recently on the Penn State Coaches Show, "something that hopefully will never happen again."

Last year Starocci and former teammate Aaron Brooks became the sixth and seventh wrestlers in NCAA history to win their fourth Division I titles (Sanderson is in that group as well). And if Starocci wins his fifth, that record likely (and hopefully, as Sanderson said) would stand alone in the NCAA record books forever. But it won't be a college wrestling record for most NCAA titles. That belongs to the late Carlton Haselrig, who compiled one of the most unique careers in college wrestling history.

Competing for Pitt-Johnstown in the late 1980s, Haselrig won an unprecedented six NCAA heavyweight wrestling titles. How? Through a quirk in the NCAA rules at the time.

When Haselrig competed, wrestlers in Division II also could compete in the NCAA Division I championships. Haselrig wrestled for Division II Pitt-Johnstown, where he compiled a career record of 143-2-1. Haselrig was particularly successful in March. From 1987-89, Haselrig won three NCAA Division II championships at heavyweight. Two weeks after winning those titles, Haselrig went to the NCAA Division I championships, where he also won three heavyweight titles.

Haselrig sent an NCAA record by winning 122 consecutive bouts at Pitt-Johnston, according to hisNational Wrestling Hall of Fame biography. He was particularly dominant at the national tournaments. Haselrig went 15-0 at the NCAA Division I championships.

Until 1990, national champions in Divisions II and III earned bids to the NCAA Division I championships, according to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. After Haselrig won three Division I titles, the NCAA rescinded those bids, as Division I coaches suggested they provided lower-division coaches with a recruiting advantage. The decision became known as the "Haselrig Rule." As a result, wrestlers no longer can compete in multiple NCAA wrestling championships, meaning Haselrig's record is unlikely to be broken. Even Starocci's potential five titles would go down as an outlier.

Haselrig also was well known for what he did after college. In 1990, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Haselrig in the 12th round of the NFL Draft. Haselrig played five NFL seasons, four with the Steelers, and was a Pro Bowl offensive lineman in 1992. Haselrig died in 2020 at age 54.

"At the time, I definitely didn't understand the magnitude of it," Haselrig told the NCAA for a 2018 story. "It was no easy task to win even just one, but it makes me happy and proud to look back at what I accomplished."

Penn State's Starocci begins his quest for a fifth national title Thursday at the 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. He is the No. 1 seed in the 184-pound weight class, bringing a 21-0 record to his fifth NCAA championships.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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