(Photo: Penn State Athletics, 247Sports)
First round: W – pin – 6:38 vs #33 Connor O’Neal (Rutgers)
Starocci received O’Neal after the latter earned a pin in a pigtail match. Staorcci started the game with a quick takedown and took a 2-0 lead. O’Neal earned a run when the two of them went out of bounds. Starocci sent O’Neal to the mat for his second takedown, 4-1. He freed him, making the score 4-2. Starocci immediately pulled off another takedown to take a 6–2 lead. With the turn, Starocci earned two points almost in the fall to go 8-2 up at the end of the period. O’Neal decided to start the second period. After skating, Starocci eliminated O’Neal to make it 8–3. He made a second table call to make it 9-3 and then had a takedown but was punished by a call with a handlock to make it 11-4. Starocci ended the spell at the top and chose to lose to start third. Starroci worked fast and earned a turnaround to take a 13-4 lead. The exchange of defeats made the score 17-6 in favor of the reigning national champion. Starocci clipped O’Neal to make it 17-7. He then pulled off a quick takedown to make it 19-7. Finally Starocci locked the cradle and pinned O’Neal.
Round of 16: W – Dec – 10-4 vs. No. 16 Adam Kemp (Cal Poly)
It didn’t take long for Starocci to pull off the takedown, winning 2-0 in the first period. Kemp managed to escape, making it 2–1. The score remained the same in the second period. Starocci started with a loss and then fled to start the second period with a 3-1 up. Eventually Starocci laid another takedown right at the end of the period and went up 5-1. Kemp went down to start the third. He ran off to make it 5-2 but Starocci re-attacked for another takedown to take a 7-2 lead. Kemp added a run with less than a minute left to make it 7-3. Starocci earned a takedown and went up 9-3, knocked Kemp out of his hands and then tried to earn another takedown but couldn’t finish. He added driving time to reach the quarter-finals.
Quarter-finals: B – Dec. – 6-1 vs. #9 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska)
Both wrestlers had a good fight in the first period, but Starocci caught on his leg, putting Labriola into first place, but the referee called for a stalemate and reset in the center. Both guys went back and forth, but the first period was zero. Starocci decided to start the second period. Starocci earned a run to go up 1–0 and then pulled off a takedown to give him a 3–0 lead. Nittany Lyon managed to wait out Labriola until the end of the period, with Husker opting to start third. Labriola ran off to make it 3-1. After attacking again, Starocci grabbed Labriola’s leg and completed a takedown, ending the match and advancing to the semi-finals.
Semifinals: W – Dec – 10-3 vs #4 Hayden Headley (NC State)
Starocci and Headley exchanged good looks at the neutral position, but Nittany Lion had the first takedown with less than a minute left in the first period, but Headley slipped away to make it 2-1. With less than 10 seconds left in the period, Starocci fought his way to another takedown. scoring 4-1. Starocci started from the bottom in the second period and took the lead 5-1. After re-attacking, Starocci landed another takedown to go 7-1 up in the second period. Headley earned the escape by making it 7–2 and then started the third period from bottom. Headley escaped to make it 7-3. Starocci added a takedown plus ride time to seal his second straight finals performance.
Finals: W – Dec – 6-5 TB1 vs. No. 2 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)
Lewis had the first punch but Starocci defended him very well with a shin kick that ended in a stalemate. The two went back and forth with hand-to-hand combat and feints, and the first period ended without points. Starocci started the second period from the bottom and earned an exit to go up 1-0. Lewis then landed a beautiful shot and knocked Starocci near the boundary, recovered both legs and thought he was done. However, the referee called it a foul, and the Virginia Tech bench issued a challenge. After watching, Lewis got two points and a 2–1 lead. Starocci eventually managed to escape with a 2–2 equalizer. The second period ended neutrally, and then Lewis started the third period from the bottom. Lewis pulled ahead and led 3:2. Starocci then responded with a takedown of his own to take a 4-3 lead, ride time didn’t matter. Lewis eventually managed to escape with less than a minute left in the match to equalize at 4–4. The two were locked up and went to work overtime. Lewis received a stall warning after pressure from Starocci. Lewis almost parried the shot, but they went out of bounds. The two went into a tiebreak after a last-second Starocci shot, but Lewis defended. Starocci chose to lose in the opening 30 seconds to take a 5-4 lead, but Lewis had six seconds of driving time advantage. Lewis chose a down in the next 30 seconds. Lewis escaped, but Starocci had the time advantage. Lewis pursued Starocci but failed to catch him, giving the Nittany Lion his second straight national title.