Carter Starocci dug himself out of an early deficit Thursday and then cruised to his first victory in 26 days. 

Wrestling with a heavy brace on the right knee he injured Feb. 25 in his final match of the regular season, the three-time national champ from Penn State spotted Minnesota’s Andrew Sparks an early takedown and then rolled to a 12-6 win at 174 pounds in the opening round of the NCAA Championships.

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Starocci carried a 64-match winning streak into the postseason but that string ended in the opening round of the Big Ten Championships when he injury defaulted and later medical forfeited out of the tournament. Those defeats dropped the Penn State star to the #9 seed at the national tournament. 

Starocci’s status in his pursuit of a fourth national title became one of the tournament’s top storylines entering Kansas City. He insisted Wednesday during the pre-tournament news conference that he was "100 percent." 

He surrendered a rare takedown early in his opening round bout when Sparks passed a leg off a Starocci shot, latched on to the Penn State senior’s braced right leg and finished a takedown to go up 3-0. 

But Starocci quickly escaped, got back in again and took Sparks to his back to grab a commanding 8-3 lead at the end of the first period. He tacked on another takedown in the second period. 

The win sets Starocci up for a second-round bout against #8 seed Adam Kemp of Cal Poly. Kemp opened the tournament with a 4-3 win against Oklahoma State’s Brayden Thompson. 

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NCAA Wrestling Championships 2024 Brackets 

NCAA Wrestling Tournament 2024 Schedule

The 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championship will be held at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri from March 21-23. 

Complete schedule

                                  ROUND                                        DAY             DATE    TIME (ET)    NETWORK

• Session 1 - Championship First Round    Thursday    March 21    12pm    ESPNU/ESPN+
• Session 2 - Championship Second Round + Consolations    Thursday    March 21    7pm    ESPN/ESPN+
• Session 3 - Championships Quarterfinals + Consolations    Friday    March 22    12pm    ESPNU/ESPN+
• Session 4 - Championship Semifinals + Blood Round    Friday    March 22    8pm    ESPN/ESPN+
• Session 5 - Medal Round    Saturday    March 23    11am    ESPNU/ESPN+
• Session 6 - Championship Finals    Saturday    March 23    7pm    ESPN/ESPN+

Where Are The NCAA Wrestling Championships 2024

The 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championship will be held at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri from March 21-23.

The 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Wells Fargo Center while the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships are set for Cleveland, Ohio at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. 

NCAA Wrestling Championships 2024 At Large Bids

      WEIGHT    TEAM    FIRST NAME    LAST NAME    CONFERENCE

• 125    California Baptist    Elijah    Griffin    Big 12
• 125    Oregon State    Brandon    Kaylor    Pac 12
• 125    Rider    Tyler    Klinsky    MAC
• 125    Ohio State    Brendan    McCrone    Big Ten
• 125    Northern Colorado    Stevo    Poulin    Big 12
• 125    Harvard    Diego    Sotelo    EIWA
• 133    Ohio State    Nic    Bouzakis    Big Ten
• 133    Pennsylvania    Michael    Colaiocco    EIWA
• 133    Northern Iowa    Julian    Farber    Big 12
• 133    Missouri    Kade    Moore    Big 12
• 133    Minnesota    Tyler    Wells    Big Ten
• 141    Gardner-Webb    Todd    Carter    SoCon
• 141    Cornell    Vince    Cornella    EIWA
• 141    Virginia Tech    Tom    Crook    ACC
• 141    Maryland    Kal    Miller    Big Ten
• 141    Columbia    Kai    Owen    EIWA
• 141    West Virginia    Jordan    Titus    Big 12
• 149    Rutgers    Michael    Cetta    Big Ten
• 149    South Dakota State    Alek    Martin    Big 12
• 149    Pittsburgh    Finn    Solomon    ACC
• 149    Pennsylvania    Jude    Swisher    EIWA
• 157    Virginia Tech    Bryce    Andonian    ACC
• 157    Little Rock    Matty    Bianchi    Pac 12
• 157    Minnesota    Michael    Blockhus    Big Ten
• 157    Northern Colorado    Vinny    Zerban    Big 12
• 165    NC State    Derek    Fields    ACC
• 165    Michigan State    Caleb    Fish    Big Ten
• 165    Pittsburgh    Holden    Heller    ACC
• 165    Bucknell    Noah    Mulvaney    EIWA
• 165    Ohio    Garrett    Thompson    MAC
• 174    Pittsburgh    Luca    Augustine    ACC
• 174    Northern Iowa    Jared    Simma    Big 12
• 174    Penn State    Carter    Starocci    Big Ten
• 174    Navy    Danny    Wask    EIWA
• 184    Gardner-Webb    Jha`Quan    Anderson    SoCon
• 184    Iowa State    Will    Feldkamp    Big 12
• 184    Pennsylvania    Maximus    Hale    EIWA
• 184    Campbell    Caleb    Hopkins    SoCon
• 184    Arizona State    Tony    Negron    Pac 12
• 197    Northwestern    Evan    Bates    Big Ten
• 197    Utah Valley    Evan    Bockman    Big 12
• 197    Franklin & Marshall    John    Crawford    EIWA
• 197    Virginia Tech    Andy    Smith    ACC
• 285    Maryland    Seth    Nevills    Big Ten
• 285    Pittsburgh    Dayton    Pitzer    ACC
• 285    Minnesota    Bennett    Tabor    Big Ten
• 285    Cal Poly    Trevor    Tink    Pac-12

NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Rankings

The updated NCAA D1 Wrestling rankings can be found HERE.

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