Mar 6, 2022: David Carr and Ian Parker embrace each other after Carr’s championship match win to become a three-time Big 12 Champion. / Jacqueline Cordova
When David Carr stepped off the podium after receiving his third Big 12 championship medal, all he wanted to talk about was his team.
“It means a lot, you know, we had kind of had a rough day,” Carr said. “I wanted to wrestle for my teammates and wrestle for the Lord and my family. I had a lot of stuff to wrestle for.”
His pursuit of becoming a two-time national champion continues, but above all else Carr wants people to know that he’s a big “team guy.”
When reflecting on if he achieved his goal of having fun and wrestling free at the tournament, his mind immediately goes to how his team experienced the tournament.
“I would say for the most part it was pretty fun. Besides maybe not seeing my teammates have fun too. I’m a big team guy,” Carr said. “I still think there are a lot of great things that happened this weekend with some of the guys. A lot of great matches, a lot of good wrestling, and a lot of great fight. I think we’re still going to have an amazing NCAA Tournament. We’re going to surprise some people.”
Carr won his match to become the first Cyclone to win three-consecutive conference titles since Kyven Gadson did so from 2013-15.
When approaching Kevin Dresser about what it means to have Carr accomplish those milestones for his program it all comes back to Carr’s impact beyond his win-streaks.
“David, you know, obviously he’s a great wrestler. He’s evolved into a really great wrestler but it’s everything else he brings to our team right now that is super special. He’s probably one of the biggest team guys we’ve got,” Dresser said. “He’s all about his teammates, obviously, he takes care of things for himself. But you know, he’s the first guy cheering for everybody up and down, all 10 ways. It’s neat to see a guy that can get it done but that really still cares about his team.”
Dresser feels Carr becomes an extension of the coaching staff with his constant encouragement to his teammates that they are capable of achieving anything.
“David keeps everything pretty light, and he’s super positive all the time with our guys. You know, at times he’s almost like another coach in there. He really gets the guys thinking, setting goals, and stuff that you don’t see many 22-year-olds do. He’s unique.”
Carr will now shift his focus to becoming a two-time NCAA champion. He’ll continue to grow the collage wall he puts together every year that he fills with photos, drawings, and quotes that all help keep his eyes on becoming a national champion.
If you ask Carr about moving on to the next step, he’ll leave out any mention of himself and remind you that the team is ready for the next challenge to prove themselves.
“We’re not done yet,” Carr said. “We still have a lot of wrestling to do at nationals. I think we can place to a really high degree, do really great things and just continue to expect those great things to happen.”
