Olympic wrestling dreams light up Perry High School graduate David Carr. What's next?
Does Perry graduate and Iowa State senior David Carr want to continue wrestling now that he’s out of eligibility at Iowa State?
Oui.
OK. He didn’t exactly say that, and the message was more detailed, but if the five-time state champion and two-time NCAA Division I national champion has it his way, you’ll see him wrestling in Paris as a member of the U.S. Olympic team.
Carr wrapped up his college career over the weekend with a 9-8 win over Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink to become a two-time NCAA Division I national champion.
The win made him a four-time All-American with the Cyclones and cemented the 165-pounder’s legacy at the school.
The next step is an obvious one with the trials set for April 19-20.
In order to qualify, he’ll have to return to the belly of the beast at Penn State with the hopes of making it out.
“I’ll keep training freestyle,” Carr said in his postgame interview after winning the national title. “I’ll take a few days off, talk to my parents and my coaches and start working on that freestyle game. The Olympic Trials. Yeah, that's what the next step will be.”
He'll wrestle at 74 kilograms (163 pounds).
Who are the main characters David Carr's weight class in the Olympic Trials
Kyle Dake: Olympic bronze medalist, four-time World and NCAA champion, two-time U.S. Open champion
Jordan Burroughs: Olympic gold medalist, six-time World champion, four-time U.S. Open champion, two-time NCAA champion,
Carter Starocci: Four-time NCAA champion, World bronze medalist
Jason Nolf: Three-time NCAA champion, two-time U.S. Open champion
Keegan O’Toole: Two-time NCAA champion, Two-time World Champion
Quincy Monday: Two-time NCAA runner-up, three-time All-American
Alex Marinelli: Four-time All-American
Tyler Berger: U.S. Open champion, three-time All-American, 2019 NCAA runner-up
There's success in 'the new style' with David Carr, expect freestyle success
If it is, there’s a history of success in freestyle as well.
In high school, Carr was a freestyle champion at Fargo in the Junior Nationals and as a UWW titlist in Las Vegas.
Carr was a 2022 member of the senior national team and a U23 World Team member the same year. In 2020, he finished sixth at the Senior Freestyle Nationals and in 2018 was fourth at the Dave Schultz Memorial International.
“Well, my dad has three national titles, so I'll be right next to him,” Carr said. “He also was in the Olympics. He got bronze, so I got a lot of shoes to fill. This is just what was expected by my family. It's a hard ask, but being a part of the Carr legacy, it's tough.”
The Carr legacy at Iowa State is rich in tradition, success
The legacy Carr leaves at Iowa State is nothing short of spectacular.
One of six father-son national champion duos, he exits as a five-time NCAA qualifier, four-time Big 12 champion, two-time Iowa State Male Athlete of the Year, 2021 Big 12 Wrestler of the Year and adds a 2023 runner-up and 2022 third-place finish to an already exploding resume that finished with a 120-5 record.
“When I first got to Iowa State, my goal was to win a national title and help bring the team back,” he said. “So we were able to win a Big 12 title and I had a lot of leadership roles the coaches put on me, but I didn't mind.
“I love leadership and helping the team. I'm a big team guy and then to see how many All-Americans we had, (Evan Frost, Anthony Echemendia, Casey Siderski and Carr), I mean that's a part of my legacy. I think more than even just the titles. It gets harder when you win. People will wrestle you harder. They try to get you, so I think this one took a lot of grit, took a lot of heart. Both my matches came down to the wire and I had to really wrestle hard.”
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: NCAA champion David Carr looks ahead to Wrestling Olympic Trials
