Nick Carr (Photo/Lisa Wilps)A two-time Pennsylvania state placewinner at 145 pounds, Nick has amassed an 87-15 record in three years of varsity competition. He expects to wrestle 149 in college but could see time at 141 as an underclassman or grow into a 157 as an upperclassman.
Carr chose Kent State over a list of schools that included Virginia, Pitt, and Penn.
"There were a lot of things that I liked about Kent State. The wrestling team has challenged themselves to get better every year to the point that they are consistently turning out All-Americans," said Carr when speaking of his decision. "They have a great coaching staff, some great wrestlers coming back, and a great recruiting class coming in. The location is perfect; I love the campus, and just think Kent is the ideal fit for me."
Not only has Nick been an outstanding wrestler he has been a standout student as a member of the National Honor Society with a 3.6 accumulative GPA.
"I have a lot of goals my senior year but I want to work hard to keep my grades up so I can earn some academic scholarship money to help out the team when I get to college," responded Carr. "I don't want to just maintain my GPA; it would be nice to improve it."
Looking ahead to his final season of high school wrestling he hopes to set the bar higher as well.
"It was great to win a state title last year so that goal doesn't change other than you want to defend. I want to have an undefeated season and work on the things that are going to make me a dominant wrestler,' commented Carr. "I want to work on top and I don't want to give up offensive points, it will make me a better wrestler and get me ready to compete in college."
Nick became the third wrestler in the Class of 2011 to give his verbal commitment to Kent State joining Oak Harbor's Ian Miller and Wheeling Park's Kyle Bauer. Miller, a two-time Ohio state place winner; Bauer, a three-time West Virginia state placer; and Carr are each expected to sign their National Letters of Intent during the November signing period. All three are expected to enroll for classes next fall and each hopes to be competing for a spot in the starting lineup.
Wrestling with Nick Carr
You can call Nick Carr an under the radar recruit as he can't be found in the InterMat top 100 but that doesn't mean he won't crack the all-class or individual weight class rankings by the end of the year. Without a national freestyle or Greco-Roman resume, Carr stands on his scholastic record and a potential second Pennsylvania state championship carries a lot of weight.
"It would be nice to be ranked but I don't wrestle for rankings…. I wrestle to win. I want to be the best wrestler I can be," offered Carr. "You can learn from your wins and you can learn from your losses. You can work on what you need to work on or you can spend time on what you do well. Simply put there is always something you can learn and something you can improve."
With three seasons in the varsity lineup Nick has shown progress each year.
Nick Carr (Photo/Lisa Wilps)"It was tough not making it to state as a freshman because I thought I could have placed if I was there. A lot of wrestling is mental and once I understood that it helped me the next year."
With South Fayette restarting their wrestling program in 2008 Nick stayed home to wrestle for the Lions, moved up to 145, won his first WPIAL title, and finished with a 38-8 record by placing fifth at state as a sophomore.
Last season Carr went 32-2 overall wrestling at 145 and 152 pounds. He won his section for the first time, took home his second WPIAL title and finished second at regionals. Making his second trip to state Nick knocked off a pair of undefeated seniors and future college wrestlers. He beat Aaron Fry 5-3 in quarterfinals and Jordan Moss 6-3 in the finals; Fry will be wrestling this season for Lock Haven while Moss will be at Pitt.
"I don't think I did anything different between my sophomore and junior years, it was more a case of just a lot of hard work coming together. While I may not compete year round I do train year round and that probably helps. I am probably on the wrestling mats three days a week and lifting five days a week," stated Carr when asked what took him from fifth to first.
Nick is expected to start next season at 152 pounds before dropping to 145 in January.
"It feels good to make my college decision before I start my senior year. It takes a lot of pressure off so I can have fun and focus on wrestling instead of recruiting," concluded Carr. "There are a lot of people that have helped me get to this point so it would be hard to mention everyone by name but I appreciate the support my coaches, my family, and my teammates have given me over the years. I am going to do my best to continue making them proud in the future."
InterMat was granted permission to republish this article from BuckeyeWrestling.com.
http://www.buckeyewrestling.com/?q=node/37585
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