Nate Carr (born June 24, 1960) is an American former collegiate and international senior level

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling i ...

. He grew up in a family of 16 children in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

. Five of these, including Nate, would become All-American wrestlers (an NCAA record) and two, again including Nate, would compete in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. In 2003, Carr was inducted into the

National Wrestling Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stillw ...

as a Distinguished Member.NAte Carr
''National Wrestling Hall of Fame''. Retrieved October 3, 2022.

High school

During his high school career at Erie Tech High School, Carr was coached by Tom Carr (no relation) and posted a record of 115-7, winning a

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

state championship.

College

Upon his graduation from Erie Tech, Carr received a wrestling scholarship to

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

. There he had a career record of 117-20-1 in the 150 pound weight class. He earned three NCAA wrestling championships and two

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

Titles.

Senior level

After graduation from Iowa State, Carr continued his freestyle wrestling career at the international level. In 1983 Carr earned a spot on the US World Team. In 1986 he won both the World Cup and the Pan-American Championships. He began training for the

1988 Olympic Games 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul ...

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 focus toward winning gold. At the 1988 Olympics, Carr lost in the semifinal match and wrestled back to earn the bronze medal. There have been accusations of a scoring error by a judge during his semifinal match, which may have adversely affected his placement. He returned as a member of the US World Team in 1990 and also won his weight class at the

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

Subsequent career and family

Carr continued his participation in the sport as an assistant coach at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

. After his retirement from WVU, he moved to

Jones County, Georgia Jones County is a county in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,347. The county seat is Gray. The county was created on December 10, 1807, and named after U.S. Representative James Jo ...

. There, his son, Nate Carr, Jr. was a nationally ranked high school wrestler and three-time state champion. Nate, Jr. originally committed to

, but instead opted to attend

Iowa Central Community College Iowa Central Community College is a public community college in Fort Dodge, Iowa, with satellite campuses in Webster City and Storm Lake. History The college was organized in 1966 on the foundation of three area junior colleges which had been ...

, where he won the

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

157 lb. National Title. Nate Carr currently works as the head club coach for the Regional Training Center at

, where his youngest son

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

is a member of the

Iowa State Cyclones wrestling The Iowa State Cyclones wrestling team represents Iowa State University (ISU) and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I. The Cyclones are 8 time National Champions, 17 time National Runners-Up, and have 45 Top 4 "Trophy" Finishes. ...

team.

References

External links

"Nate Carr"
at

National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stillw ...

"Nate Carr"
at

Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling The University of Iowa men's wrestling program is one of the most successful athletic programs in NCAA Division I. The University of Iowa Hawkeyes are a member of the Big Ten Conference. Iowa is second in NCAA history with 24 National Championship ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Nate 1960 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American sport wrestlers American male sport wrestlers American wrestling coaches Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Iowa State Cyclones wrestlers Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in wrestling Sportspeople from Erie, Pennsylvania Wrestlers at the 1988 Summer Olympics