Photo Courtesy of Iowa State Wrestling
David Carr will walk into day three of the NCAA Championships with only seven minutes standing between him and making his dream come true — Becoming an NCAA Champion just like his father.
“My dad’s prepared me for moments like this. I’ve been training for this since I was a little kid,” Carr said.
The Ohio native became the first Cyclone to reach the NCAA finals since Kyven Gadson in 2015, who won the title.
“My dad, being who he is, I knew that coming to Iowa State wasn’t more pressure. It was just that I would come here, have fun try to score points and break his records.”
Nate Carr earned three-straight NCAA titles for the Cyclones. In his first season in the starting lineup, however, he lost in the quarterfinals.
In his first tournament appearance, David is 4-0. He won twice by major decision on Thursday then pulled out two impressive wins Friday with an overtime 4-2 win over Braylon Lee of Minnesota in the quarterfinals and defeated Hayden Hidlay of North Carolina State 6-4 to earn his ticket to the finals.
“I was just so happy. So grateful. Glory to God,” Carr said following his win over Hidlay.
Carr was able to secure his trip to the finals by staying on his offense and securing a late takedown in the first period to give him the advantage the rest of the match even after Hidlay fought his way to a reversal. The pivotal takedown of the match came with 48 seconds left in the third period by Carr.
“It gave me a lot of confidence,” Carr said about securing the takedown. “The underhook is kind of overwhelming a little bit but I knew that I needed to get to my offense. (Assistant Coach Brent) Metcalf has been my guy all year and he’s been telling me to stay the same. Me, staying the same, is going to get the takedown no matter how much time is left. At the end, icing it, that’s what Metcalf preaches and that’s what Dresser preaches icing the match. A wins a win.”
The redshirt sophomore became the 300th All-American in school history and seventh in his respective weight class at 157. Plus, Carr has contributed 18 points to the 32.5 overall team score for the Cyclones thus far.
Head coach Kevin Dresser attributes Carr’s NCAA success to his ability to adjust quickly and stay focused.
“David make’s really good adjustments. David talked about icing matches and not letting it come down to a lucky takedown or a call by the red and getting the takedown in the third period iced that match for him,” Dresser said. “David just didn’t get rattled all day. That’s the progress from this year to last year. He keeps his composure, and that’s why he’s winning these big matches.”
Carr will face off against Jesse Dallavecchia of Rider in the race for the championship.
Dellavecchia is coming in off one of the biggest wins in Rider history. He defeated the top-seed Ryan Deakin of Northwestern by pin.
“This guy (Dellavecchia) is pretty tough if he beat Deakin,” Carr said.
Carr was looking forward to wrestling Deakin who was riding a 30-match winning streak.
Both wrestlers will enter the match with a lot to prove: Dallavecchia attempting to make history for Rider, which has never had a national champion, and Carr, who is ready to start his own legacy.
All Carr has to say about his match up tonight:
“I’m excited.”
