Injuries heading into the postseason nothing out of ordinary for Penn State wrestling

It was the injury heard around the wrestling world.

Penn State’s Carter Starocci lay on his back in the middle of the mat after securing a 22-5 technical fall over Edinboro’s Joey Arnold on Sunday. Rec Hall went dead silent at the sight of Starocci unable to get up and reaching for his right knee.

Coach Cael Sanderson and trainer Dan Monthly raced to the three-time NCAA champion’s aid.

“We carried him off the best we could. Thankfully, it was at the end of the match, so he could kind of just get off the mat and be finished,” Sanderson said after the match. “We still have a couple of weeks to (Big Tens) and then another week and a half before the nationals. Carter has always been a very quick healer.”

The extent of Starocci’s injury is still unknown, and it’s hard to say if that will change, as Penn State is very good at keeping that kind of stuff internal.

However, Sanderson and Co., along with Starocci, have a history of dealing with injuries heading into the postseason.

For the champ, he won his second NCAA title with a broken hand, which he let loose during the post match press conference after defending his crown.

For the Nittany Lions’ coaching staff, six years ago Jason Nolf suffered a knee injury during the Rutgers dual. Nolf’s injury did happen a month and a half before the postseason, but he still wasn’t 100 percent.

Nolf wrestled two matches in the Big Ten tournament, and then injury defaulted out. He went on to win his second straight NCAA title.

Starocci’s injury comes two weeks before the Big Ten Championships, which isn’t a whole lot of time to recover, but Sanderson said he is a “quick healer.”

So, how does this impact not only Starocci’s postseason, but also Penn State’s?

Starocci still needs three more matches to be eligible for a Rating Percentage Index (RPI) ranking. Without an RPI ranking, he wouldn’t be eligible for a top seed even though he is a three-time champion.

He has to “compete” in the Big Ten Championships in order to be eligible for the NCAA Championships. The competing could be much like Nolf did, but maybe Starocci just wrestles one match and then defaults out to get to 15 matches, which makes him eligible for those RPI rankings.

Starocci would get an at-large bid should he go in the Big Tens.

When it comes to the Nittany Lions as a team, it doesn’t change too much other than the fact they won’t have as many champions crowned. Right now, they are projected to score nearly double the points of the second place team in North Carolina State, according to Intermat’s Tournament Team Rankings.

If Starocci doesn’t wrestle, Terrell Barraclough could get the call like he has all year when Starocci was out due to sickness. Barraclough would have to get one of the Big Ten’s automatic qualifying spots, which is still to be determined, to be make the NCAA championships.