Nate Carr

Nate Carr
	Carr in 2015
Personal information
Born	June 24, 1960 (age 65); Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Children	David Carr
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Wrestling
Event(s)	Freestyle and Folkstyle
College team	Iowa State
Club	Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club
Team	USA
Coached by	Harold Nichols
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Goodwill Games
World Cup
Pan American Championships
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing the Iowa State Cyclones
NCAA Division I Championships

Nate Carr (born June 24, 1960) is an American former collegiate and international senior level freestyle wrestler. He grew up in a family of 16 children in Erie, Pennsylvania. Five of these, including Nate, would become All-American wrestlers (an NCAA record) and two, again including Nate, would compete in the Olympic Games. In 2003, Carr was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member.^[1]

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 Class AAA state championship.^[2]

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 earned three NCAA wrestling championships and two Big Eight Conference 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 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.

Subsequent career and family

Carr continued his participation in the sport as an assistant coach at West Virginia University. After retiring, he moved to Jones County, Georgia. There, his son, Nate Carr, Jr. was a nationally ranked high school wrestler and three-time state champion.

Nate Carr currently works as the head club coach for the Regional Training Center at Iowa State University, where his youngest son David was a member of the Iowa State Cyclones wrestling team.

Carr was presented with an honorary RAF Legends Championship at RAF 06 on February 28, 2026.^[3]