Nate Carr
Olympic medal record | ||
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Men's freestyle wrestling | ||
Bronze | 1988 Seoul | lightweight |
Nate Carr (born June 24, 1960 in Erie, Pennsylvania) 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 (an NCAA record) 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(no relation), 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 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.
Current career
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. He has since signed with Iowa State University. Nate Carr works as a minister and has continued to help coach wrestling for Jones County High School and at camps and clinics across the country. He is also a commentator for Real Pro Wrestling on the PAX network.
References
- West Virginia University
- Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Brainy History
- West Virginia University Alumni Magazine
(all URLs accessed on June 2, 2006)
- Firsthand Information From Mr. Carr
currently coaches youth wrestling at prodigy gym where his son david wrestles
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