Wiltz

Another article on the Carr's

Iowa State wrestling: Son of ISU legend Carr to be Cyclone
By DAN McCOOL
Register Staff Writer


November 1, 2007
2 Comments



Nate Carr had an outstanding wrestling career at Iowa State in the 1980s.

Now his son, Nate Carr Jr., wants to do the same for the Cyclones, starting in 2008-09.

The younger Carr, a junior college national champion at 157 pounds for Iowa Central Community College last season, said Wednesday he'll wrestle for Iowa State.

Carr's father won three NCAA championships and 122 matches between 1981-83 before earning a bronze medal in freestyle at the 1988 Olympics - and a place in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla.

"I don't want to go any lower than being a three-time national champ," said Carr Jr., who is being withheld from competition this season at Iowa Central.

Carr will have three seasons of eligibility at Iowa State, which he chose over Iowa.

Iowa State's history in the sport and coach Cael Sanderson were appealing, he said.

"When I was on my recruiting trip, he said, 'All we want to do here is win, no exceptions, and we want you to be a part of that winning,' " Carr said.

Carr will be the fourth family member to wrestle for the Cyclones. Nate Carr Sr.'s brothers, Solomon and Michael, also were Cyclones.

Carr Jr. signed to wrestle at West Virginia in 2005 after winning three Georgia state championships and forging a 210-2 career record. He did not qualify academically, and enrolled at Iowa Central.

The Carr name owns an impressive place in wrestling history. Fletcher Carr, Nate Jr.'s uncle, was a two-time NCAA Division II national champion at the University of Tampa and was head coach at Kentucky.

Jimmy Carr, Fletcher's brother, was 17 when he earned a spot at 114.5 pounds on the 1972 Olympic freestyle team that included three from Iowa State - Dan Gable, Ben Peterson and Chris Peterson.

Reporter Dan McCool can be reached at (515) 284-8059 or dmccool@dmreg.com

ODH

So if Flectcher is Nate Jr.'s uncle and Jimmy is Fletcher's brother then all of the previous generation of Carrs (Nate, Jimmy, Fletcher, Solomon and Micheal) are brothers?

jpizar83

Yes all of the previous Carr's were brothers. In fact there were 17 kids altogether in that family. Don't know how many boys there were though.

goferphan

sounds like a used Carr lot...

__________________
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."

gg121and2

8.5 on the groan meter.

goferphan

i will take that...

__________________
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."

jpizar83

After looking at the wrestle-off results it seems that Carr will have a tough time breaking the lineup not just now but for much of his career. Sanderson and Mueller are sophomores; Reader and Artist are freshmen. Does anyone know if he is planning on redshirting this year? Somebody is going to be without a spot either this year and the years to come.

Louis Mancusi

As former 4 year Tampa team mate of Fletcher Carr I can add that the experience wrestling with Fletch had been much more than memorable. We often spoke of Jimmy's unbelievable accomplishments but I see no mention of Joe Carr, Junior Olympic Silver Medalist.
Fletcher remembered the reigning National Champ Geoff Baum as a wrestler from his home state of Pennsylvania. "BUT", Fletch would say, "Wait till you see Na-than-ual". Well, Nate was a little guy back then and Fletcher predicted to me that he would be the best of the Carr family. Fletcher was the inspiration of the Carr wrestling legend as he was the first to introduce it to his family. He actually went to try out for the swim team at his high school one afternoon and to the benefit of the wrestling world the pool was closed that day. Well, he thought he would just waste some time and roll around with someone in the wrestling gym next door knowing he had no experience. He wound up nearly beating everyone in the room that had been wrestling for a while. The coach asked if he would consider wrestling for the school and he eventually agreed. He was pinned his first match and swore it would never happen again as it was too humiliating. He kept his promise.
Fletcher went to Tampa on a full ride as their starting center in football. The team eventually won the national title in the NAIA, but it was the wrestling team that just admired his domination of the sport. He went four years undefeated. Our wrestling schedule included Florida, Florida State, Florida A&M. Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU, Alabama and points southeast of the United States.
May I be the first to say how I enjoyed his opponents walking onto the mat in his early years and thinking how they were going to cripple him, as they were often undefeated. PURE DELIGHT to see them go straight to their back within a minute of the match as another victim of his incredible, unstoppable bear hug-pinning combination. As his legend grew, his opponents just tryed to stay in the match. I can still feel the buzz in my head when he used it on me. You were concentrating on him one second and the next you would feel a whirl and see ceiling lights. I took Fletch down TWICE in four years of extreme brawls. The coach, Jerry Espy, had to stop the furious wrestling one night as we were circling each other and I grabbed him in a bear hug and stepped back to throw him against the double steel wrestling gym door and show him that I was sick and tired of him. Well, you may have guessed, Fletch reversed the hug at the absolute last second of the throw and threw me through the doors , which flew off the bolted hinges, ripped the bar locks off the door and slammed me into the adjacent basketball gym double steel doors, which were locked closed in the direction I was traveling. I never thought I had Fletcher beat again. I still remember the Georgia Tech Tournament when a local high school coach, who brought his team to watch the tournament, ran up to Fletch and asked if he would show his guys this awesome takedown to pin combination, he had already named the "Tampa Takedown".
Oh, by the way, there were 16 in the Carr family.