David Carr

David Aaron Carr (born March 28, 1999) is an American freestyle and former folkstyle wrestler who competes at 165 pounds. In freestyle, Carr is a U20 World Champion and U17 World bronze medalist.

In folkstyle, he was a two-time NCAA Division I National champion and three-time finalist, as well as a four-time Big 12 Conference champion out of the Iowa State University.

Carr was a five-time state champion, one time in Kentucky as an eight grader and four times in Ohio. While wrestling in high school in Ohio, he won twice at Dayton Christian High School and twice at Perry High School. He also earned a bronze medal at the 2016 U17 World Championships. The top-recruit at his weight class, Carr received the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award for the class of 2018, in memory of Dave Schultz.

Carr arrived to ISU to wrestle as a Cyclone at 157 pounds after committing in October 2017.

While redshirting, Carr compiled a 23–1 record wrestling unattached at open tournaments. He claimed titles at four of the five tournaments he competed in and third place at the tournament in which he lost.

Carr had an outstanding freshman season competing as a Cyclone, compiling an 18–1 record overall and an unbeaten 9–0 at dual meets. His lone loss at the Cliff Keen Invitational to second-ranked Ryan Deakin. He became the fifth Cyclone freshman to claim a Big 12 Conference title, with notable wins over the #18 and #7-ranked wrestlers in the country. Carr was scheduled to compete at the NCAA championships as the third seed, however, the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the season, he was named a first-team NCAA Division I All-American due to his performance through the season.

In October 2020, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to winter athletes due to the previous season being cut short. Carr competed as a sophomore, and compiled a 12–0 record with three falls, four technical falls, three majors and two decisions during regular season. He claimed his second straight Big 12 title and his first NCAA championship at 157 pounds.

2021-22

Carr competed at 157 pounds for the Cyclones and compiled a 26-1 record including 13-0 in dual meet competition. He finished with four major decisions, six tech falls and five falls. Carr won his 3rd straight Big 12 title at 157 pounds. He suffered a 2nd round loss at the 2022 NCAA Championships, but wrestled back to a 3rd place finish earning All-American honors for the 3rd consecutive year.

2022-23

Carr moved up to 165 pounds from 157 pounds in 2022. He finished the regular season undefeated with a 10-0 dual record including a win over the returning 165 pound NCAA Champion, U20 and U23 World Champion Keegan O'Toole. Carr won his 4th consecutive Big 12 title with a second win over O'Toole. He finished the year with a 27-1 record including wins over Quincy Monday and former national champion Shane Griffith. Carr lost to Missouri's O'Toole in the NCAA finals, taking a 2nd place trophy back to Ames.

2023-24

In 2024, Carr wrestled his senior season looking to avenge last year's NCAA finals loss. He wrestled to a 27-2 record with a 65% bonus rate. He finished 3rd at the Cliff Keen Invitational and 2nd at the Big 12 Championship. He helped lead the Cyclones to their first Big 12 team title since 2010. Carr entered the 2024 NCAA Championships as a #4 seed, the lowest of his career. He beat the #1 seed O'Toole in the semi finals, taking a 3-2 series lead on O'Toole. In the finals, he beat the #2 seed, U20 World Champion, Mitchell Messenbrink 9-8 to claim his 2nd National Championship. He finished his collegiate career as a two-time NCAA Champion, four-time Big 12 Champion, and a five-time NCAA All-American with a 125-6 career record.

After the 2023–24 season, Carr was named by the Big 12 as the men's recipient of the Bob Bowlsby Award, described by the conference as its "most prestigious individual accolade." The award, voted on by Big 12 athletic directors, is presented to the men's and women's athletes deemed "the absolute best in the Big 12 for their leadership and excellence, on and off the field of competition."

Carr was a standout youth-level freestyle wrestler and his eligibility to compete at this level expired in early 2020. As a cadet, he was a World bronze-medalist, a US National champion and a two-time National finalist. As a junior, he became the 19' World Champion and was also a US Open and Fargo National champion.

Carr made his senior debut as an 18-year old at the Dave Schultz Memorial International. He won his first two bouts in a row with a notable win over four-time NCAA Division I All-American Dylan Ness before being thrown to the consolation bracket by the accomplished Olympian Frank Molinaro in a very close 8-9 decision. He then faced another DI All-American in Sammy Sasso, whom he also lost to on points.

Carr then went on to compete at the Granma y Cerro Pelado International. He once again defeated two opponents in a row with a victory over an NCAA Division I All-American in Anthony Collica. He was then defeated by four-time All-American Brandon Sorensen and three-timer Lavion Mayes, but still competed for the bronze-medal against Franklin Maren, whom he defeated to claim the medal.

Carr competed at the US National Championships (where he was the fifth seed) on October 10–11, making his senior debut at 74 kilograms. After a four-match winning streak (including a victory over Dan Hodge Trophy finalist Ryan Deakin), he was defeated three times in a row by the defending US National title holder Logan Massa, three-time All-American and U23 World Team Member Hayden Hidlay and Deakin, respectively, placing sixth.

Carr is the son of Olympic medalist and former Iowa State Cyclone Nate Carr. Carr is a Christian.