Nate Carr


Nate Carr is an American collegiate and international level freestyle wrestler. He grew up in a family of 16 children. Five of these, including Nate, would become All-American wrestlers and two, again including Nate, would compete in the Olympic Games.

High school

During his high school career at Erie Tech Carr, coached by Tom Carr, posted a record of 115-7 and collected a Pennsylvania State Championship.

College

Upon his graduation from Erie Tech, Carr received a wrestling scholarship to Iowa State University. There he had a career record of 117-20-1 in the 150 pound weight class. He would earn three NCAA championships and two Big Eight Conference Titles.

International competition

After graduation from Iowa State, Carr continued his freestyle wrestling career at the international level. In 1983 Carr earned a spot on the World Championship team. In 1986 he won both the World Cup and the Pan-American Championships.
He began training for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul while working as an assistant coach at West Virginia University. While staying in the Olympic Village Carr did not participate in any of the recreational activities offered to the athletes because he felt it would interfere with his singleminded focus toward winning gold. At the Games he wrestled to the semifinal match and won a bronze medal. There have been accusations of a scoring error by a judge which may have adversely affected his placement.
He returned as a member of the World Championship team in 1990 and also won his weight class at the Goodwill Games in Russia.

Subsequent career and family

Carr continued his participation in the sport as an assistant coach at West Virginia University. After his retirement from WVU, he moved to Jones County, GA. There, his son, Nate Carr Jr was a nationally ranked high school wrestler and 3-time state champion. Nate, Jr. originally committed to West Virginia University, but instead opted to attend Iowa Central Community College where he won the NJCAA 157 lb. National Title. Nate Carr currently works as the head club coach for the Regional Training Center at Iowa State University where his youngest son David is a member of the wrestling team.