Iowa State Media Relations
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – No. 4 David Carr defeated Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink, 9-8, to win his second national title Saturday night inside the T-Mobile Center. He becomes the 17th Cyclone to win multiple national titles and the first since 2010 (Jake Varner, 2009-10).
His path to the title included wins over the No. 1, 2 and 5 seeds, and four of his five opponents in the tournament were All-Americans.
Carr is the first five-time All-American in program history and the 12th Cyclone to finish on the podium four times. The Cyclone legacy never placed worse than third at the national tournament, following his 2021 national title with a third-place finish in 2022, a runner-up in 2023 before securing a second title in 2024.
The Canton, Ohio native finishes his career with a 120-5 record, tied for the 15th-most wins in school history, and as a three-time national finalist. His .960 career winning percentage ranks fourth in program history behind Cael Sanderson (1.000), Dan Gable (.990) and Tim Krieger (.967).
Carr, along with his father Nate who won three national titles for ISU from 1981-83, are one of four father-son duos in Division I history to win two-plus national titles. Carr’s title is the 71st individual wrestling title in Iowa State history.
Carr led the resurgence of a program which finished tied for 57th at the 2017 NCAA Championships. In his final season, Iowa State finished in fourth place with 68.5 team points, it’s best finish and point total since 2010 when the Cyclones placed third with 75.0 points. ISU placed four wrestlers on the podium, its most since 2009.
The Cyclones finished just outside the top three of Penn State (172.5), Cornell (72.5) and Michigan (71.0). Rounding out the top five was Iowa with 67.0 points.
How it Happened
Carr struck early with a tough-nosed blast double within the first five seconds of the match. The Cyclone was tough on top and rode Mesenbrink until the Nittany Lion escaped with 1:11 remaining in the opening period.
Mesenbrink got back into the match with a stall point and escape early in the second period, but Carr widened his lead with another takedown off a re-shot single leg before the end of the period.
The Nittany Lion kept pressing forward in the third and would take a brief lead on a takedown with a minute remaining. Carr tied the match, 8-8, and fended off any remaining takedown attempts from Mesenbrink. The Cyclone held over two minutes of riding time when the clock hit zeros, giving Carr a 9-8 victory.
Match-by-Match Results
125: No. 24 Kysen Terukina – DNP (0.5 Pts)
First Round: L-D, 9-4 vs. No. 9 Patrick McKee (MINN)
Consis. Rd. 1: W-D, 4-2 vs. No. 25 Ethan Berginc (ARMY)
Consis. Rd. 2: LBF (5:34) vs. No. 7 Jakob Camacho (NCST)
133: No. 8 Evan Frost - 6th Place (9.0 Pts.)
First Round: W-D, 8-5 vs. No. 25 Braden Basile (ARMY)
Second Round: W-D, 4-1 vs. No. 24 Julian Chlebove (ASU)
Quarterfinals: L-D, 2-1 TB-1 s. No. 1 Daton Fix (OKST)
R12: W-D, 2-1 vs. No. 20 Tyler Wells (MINN)
R8: L-D, 4-1 vs. No. 2 Ryan Crookham (LEH)
Fifth-Place Match: L-MD, 17-6 vs. No. 5 Dylan Ragusin (MICH)
141: No. 5 Anthony Echemendia – 5th Place (13.5 Pts.)
First Round: W-TF, 20-4 (6:51) vs. No. 28 Greyson Clark (Purdue)
Second Round: W-D, 8-2 vs. No. 21 Josh Edmond (MIZ)
Quarterfinals: W-D, 5-3 vs. No. 4 Ryan Jack (NCST)
Semifinals: L-D, 6-4 vs. No. 1 Jesse Mendez (OHST)
R8: L-D, 4-0 vs. No. 3 Real Woods (IOWA)
Fifth-Place Match: W, MFF vs. No. 6 Lachlan McNeil (UNC)
149: No. 8 Casey Swiderski – 7th Place (7.5 Pts.)
First Round: W-D, 2-1 vs. No. 25 Matthew Williams (ARMY)
Second Round: W-D, 8-5 TB-1 vs. No. 9 Ethan Fernandez (CORN)
Quarterfinals: L-MD, 14-4 vs. No. 1 Ridge Lovett (NEB)
R12: W-D, 2-1 TB-1 vs. No. 14 Dylan D`Emilio (OHST)
R8: L-MD, 10-2 vs. No. 5 Ty Watters (WVU)
Seventh-Place Match: W-MD, 19-8 vs. No. 11 Quinn Kinner (RID)
157: No. 14 Cody Chittum – DNP (2.0 Pts.)
First Round: L-MD, 17-6 vs. No. 19 Tommy Askey (APP)
Consis. Rd. 1: W-TF, 20-4 (5:00) vs. No. 30 Colton Washleski (RID)
Consis. Rd. 2: L-D, 14-3 vs. No. 13 Michael Blockhus (MINN)
165: No. 4 David Carr – Champion (22.5 Pts.)
First Round: W-TF, 18-2 (4:52) vs. No. 29 Evan Maag (GMU)
Second Round: W-MD, 10-1 vs. No. 20 Hunter Garvin (STAN)
Quarterfinals: W-D, 5-0 vs. No. 5 Dean Hamiti (WIS)
Semifinals: W-D, 8-6 vs. No. 1 Keegan O’Toole (MIZ)
Finals: W-D, 9-8 vs. No. 2 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU)
174: No. 15 MJ Gaitan – DNP (4.5 Pts.)
First Round: L-D, 18-11 vs. No. 18 Benjamin Pasiuk (ARMY)
Consis. Rd. 1: WBF (4:11) vs. No. 31 Michael Wilson (RID)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-MD, 14-4 vs. No. 16 Jackson Turley (RUT)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-D, 13-8 vs. No. 8 Adam Kemp (POLY)
R12: L-D, 8-6 vs. No. 3 Edmond Ruth (ILL)
184: No. 17 Will Feldkamp - DNP (4.5 Pts.)
First Round: WBF (2:29) vs. No. 16 Nate Dugan (PRIN)
Second Round: L-TF, 19-4 (6:52) vs. No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-MD, 15-5 vs. No. 15 Reece Heller (PITT)
Consis. Rd. 3: L-D, 4-2 vs. No. 10 Dylan Fishback (NCST)
285: No. 2 Yonger Bastida – DNP (5.5 Pts.)
First Round: WBF (1:50) vs. No. 31 Bennett Tabor (MINN)
Second Round: W-TF, 20-5 (6:20) vs. No. 15 Lewis Fernandes (CORN)
Quarterfinals: L-D, 6-4 vs. No. 10 Lucas Davison (MICH)
R12: L-D, 8-3 vs. No. 13 Yaraslau Slavikouski (RUT)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – No. 4 David Carr defeated Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink, 9-8, to win his second national title Saturday night inside the T-Mobile Center. He becomes the 17th Cyclone to win multiple national titles and the first since 2010 (Jake Varner, 2009-10).
His path to the title included wins over the No. 1, 2 and 5 seeds, and four of his five opponents in the tournament were All-Americans.
Carr is the first five-time All-American in program history and the 12th Cyclone to finish on the podium four times. The Cyclone legacy never placed worse than third at the national tournament, following his 2021 national title with a third-place finish in 2022, a runner-up in 2023 before securing a second title in 2024.
The Canton, Ohio native finishes his career with a 120-5 record, tied for the 15th-most wins in school history, and as a three-time national finalist. His .960 career winning percentage ranks fourth in program history behind Cael Sanderson (1.000), Dan Gable (.990) and Tim Krieger (.967).
Carr, along with his father Nate who won three national titles for ISU from 1981-83, are one of four father-son duos in Division I history to win two-plus national titles. Carr’s title is the 71st individual wrestling title in Iowa State history.
Carr led the resurgence of a program which finished tied for 57th at the 2017 NCAA Championships. In his final season, Iowa State finished in fourth place with 68.5 team points, it’s best finish and point total since 2010 when the Cyclones placed third with 75.0 points. ISU placed four wrestlers on the podium, its most since 2009.
The Cyclones finished just outside the top three of Penn State (172.5), Cornell (72.5) and Michigan (71.0). Rounding out the top five was Iowa with 67.0 points.
How it Happened
Carr struck early with a tough-nosed blast double within the first five seconds of the match. The Cyclone was tough on top and rode Mesenbrink until the Nittany Lion escaped with 1:11 remaining in the opening period.
Mesenbrink got back into the match with a stall point and escape early in the second period, but Carr widened his lead with another takedown off a re-shot single leg before the end of the period.
The Nittany Lion kept pressing forward in the third and would take a brief lead on a takedown with a minute remaining. Carr tied the match, 8-8, and fended off any remaining takedown attempts from Mesenbrink. The Cyclone held over two minutes of riding time when the clock hit zeros, giving Carr a 9-8 victory.
Match-by-Match Results
125: No. 24 Kysen Terukina – DNP (0.5 Pts)
First Round: L-D, 9-4 vs. No. 9 Patrick McKee (MINN)
Consis. Rd. 1: W-D, 4-2 vs. No. 25 Ethan Berginc (ARMY)
Consis. Rd. 2: LBF (5:34) vs. No. 7 Jakob Camacho (NCST)
133: No. 8 Evan Frost - 6th Place (9.0 Pts.)
First Round: W-D, 8-5 vs. No. 25 Braden Basile (ARMY)
Second Round: W-D, 4-1 vs. No. 24 Julian Chlebove (ASU)
Quarterfinals: L-D, 2-1 TB-1 s. No. 1 Daton Fix (OKST)
R12: W-D, 2-1 vs. No. 20 Tyler Wells (MINN)
R8: L-D, 4-1 vs. No. 2 Ryan Crookham (LEH)
Fifth-Place Match: L-MD, 17-6 vs. No. 5 Dylan Ragusin (MICH)
141: No. 5 Anthony Echemendia – 5th Place (13.5 Pts.)
First Round: W-TF, 20-4 (6:51) vs. No. 28 Greyson Clark (Purdue)
Second Round: W-D, 8-2 vs. No. 21 Josh Edmond (MIZ)
Quarterfinals: W-D, 5-3 vs. No. 4 Ryan Jack (NCST)
Semifinals: L-D, 6-4 vs. No. 1 Jesse Mendez (OHST)
R8: L-D, 4-0 vs. No. 3 Real Woods (IOWA)
Fifth-Place Match: W, MFF vs. No. 6 Lachlan McNeil (UNC)
149: No. 8 Casey Swiderski – 7th Place (7.5 Pts.)
First Round: W-D, 2-1 vs. No. 25 Matthew Williams (ARMY)
Second Round: W-D, 8-5 TB-1 vs. No. 9 Ethan Fernandez (CORN)
Quarterfinals: L-MD, 14-4 vs. No. 1 Ridge Lovett (NEB)
R12: W-D, 2-1 TB-1 vs. No. 14 Dylan D`Emilio (OHST)
R8: L-MD, 10-2 vs. No. 5 Ty Watters (WVU)
Seventh-Place Match: W-MD, 19-8 vs. No. 11 Quinn Kinner (RID)
157: No. 14 Cody Chittum – DNP (2.0 Pts.)
First Round: L-MD, 17-6 vs. No. 19 Tommy Askey (APP)
Consis. Rd. 1: W-TF, 20-4 (5:00) vs. No. 30 Colton Washleski (RID)
Consis. Rd. 2: L-D, 14-3 vs. No. 13 Michael Blockhus (MINN)
165: No. 4 David Carr – Champion (22.5 Pts.)
First Round: W-TF, 18-2 (4:52) vs. No. 29 Evan Maag (GMU)
Second Round: W-MD, 10-1 vs. No. 20 Hunter Garvin (STAN)
Quarterfinals: W-D, 5-0 vs. No. 5 Dean Hamiti (WIS)
Semifinals: W-D, 8-6 vs. No. 1 Keegan O’Toole (MIZ)
Finals: W-D, 9-8 vs. No. 2 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU)
174: No. 15 MJ Gaitan – DNP (4.5 Pts.)
First Round: L-D, 18-11 vs. No. 18 Benjamin Pasiuk (ARMY)
Consis. Rd. 1: WBF (4:11) vs. No. 31 Michael Wilson (RID)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-MD, 14-4 vs. No. 16 Jackson Turley (RUT)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-D, 13-8 vs. No. 8 Adam Kemp (POLY)
R12: L-D, 8-6 vs. No. 3 Edmond Ruth (ILL)
184: No. 17 Will Feldkamp - DNP (4.5 Pts.)
First Round: WBF (2:29) vs. No. 16 Nate Dugan (PRIN)
Second Round: L-TF, 19-4 (6:52) vs. No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-MD, 15-5 vs. No. 15 Reece Heller (PITT)
Consis. Rd. 3: L-D, 4-2 vs. No. 10 Dylan Fishback (NCST)
285: No. 2 Yonger Bastida – DNP (5.5 Pts.)
First Round: WBF (1:50) vs. No. 31 Bennett Tabor (MINN)
Second Round: W-TF, 20-5 (6:20) vs. No. 15 Lewis Fernandes (CORN)
Quarterfinals: L-D, 6-4 vs. No. 10 Lucas Davison (MICH)
R12: L-D, 8-3 vs. No. 13 Yaraslau Slavikouski (RUT)
