Man, WHAT a match. Two TITANS head to head, zero backdown. A LOT of Greco influence in this match.
Classic Matches: Schultz vs Banach
- Thread starter 21Guns
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Yes, I agree. I have this match in the top 10 NCAA finals matches of all time.
I travel a lot for work and when I need some inspiration I watch my favorite wrestlers and favorite matches. With the exception of watching films of my son winning his first tournament this match is my favorite. I was a senior in high school coming off of a couple prep school tourney wins when this match stunned the world! The image of Mark Schultz being picked up by Andre Metzger said it all.
Here's a classic between his brother and Kenny Monday - a true battle of titans with some epic exchanges (Monday went on to win Gold for US in 1988):
Think about this one - Kenny Monday only won a single NCAA title despite appearing in 3 finals because Nate Carr, a 3-time NCAA Champion, beat him the first two times he appeared in the finals and he didn't win his NCAA Championship until the year after Carr graduated. Nate Carr won 3 NCAA titles - two of the three defeating the legendary Kenny Monday in the NCAA Finals.....
Speaking of Andre Metzger, here is a classic match of Nate Carr just demolishing Metzger in the finals of the 1988 US Olympic Qualifier:
You should have seen the show that Nate Carr put on at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle. He had three big 5 point throws in four matches. His quickness and explosive execution was really phenomenal.
Here was his Bronze Medal match after getting absolutely screwed in the Semi-Finals by corrupt officiating:
Here are a couple stories confirming that FILA agreed that the match was incorrectly officiated illegitimately robbing Carr of his shot at the Gold, but lamely claiming they couldn't do anything except sanction the officials (who had likely been paid-off by Korea, the host country in 1988): HIT THIS LINK and HIT THIS LINK.
Carr rightly should be viewed as among the greatest American wrestlers given his accomplishments on the mat (3X NCAA Champion with two of the crowns earned by defeating Kenny Monday in the Championship Match - Kenny Monday would earn his only NCAA crown the year after Carr graduated). Carr wins the Gold in 1988 - his legacy is cemented. What the officials did in that match is disgraceful. Park was running the entire match and had 2 cautions going into the 2nd Period (he scored off a Carr "slip" while trying to turn Park after a caution). The move in question was a clear 3rd Caution for "fleeing the mat" and Carr still ended up getting the TD, but they didn't even give him that point! Essentially, Carr has Park in a "body lock" at the center of the mat and is preparing to throw him to his back for a 3 point move....Park begins to furiously back-pedal and turns his head to see where the OB is and is essentially almost running sideways at that point.....the final couple feet, Carr still elevates Park off the mat and throws him down DESPITE Park literally furiously running OB. Had Park not illegally "fled the mat" and continued to wrestle as he is required to do, Carr throws him to his back for a 3 point move, but even as it was, Carr clearly takes him down and they don't even award him the 1 point for the TD and they completely ignore Park clearly intentionally "Fleeing the Mat" which is illegal and an AUTOMATIC caution, which would have been his 3rd Caution and an Automatic Disqualification.....but the officials called nothing.
In fact, Park went into the 2nd period with two cautions and fled the entire 2nd period (Carr scored two additional TDs aside from the controversial move) - the officials refused to call the 3rd Caution on Park who was completely gassed and even let Park FAKE INJURY and refuse to continue to wrestle after his illegal fleeing the mat while being thrown that the officials did not penalize him at all for, nor did they give Carr even the point despite clearly taking down Park who was illegally fleeing!!! Here is a video of the match from FLO: HIT THIS LINK (the move in question starts at about the 6:37 mark on video)
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If Carr had not been jobbed in that match, he would have gone against Arsen Fadzaev for the gold. Fadzaev was one of the best wrestlers that ever came out of the Soviet machine, but there was a consensus among the US team that Carr was wrestling so well that he would have had a legitimate chance to win the gold. Fadzaev even approached him afterwards and told him something to the effect that he was twice the Korean wrestler's equal.
PS. I think that the Korean wrestler was one of the guys who Carr threw at the 1990 Goodwill Games. I know he got another shot at him sometime after the 1988 Olympics and beat him pretty soundly.
Nate wrestled Guy Petroski, from my High School, in the 1979 State Finals .... good friends with Guy's family. His dad kept the finals ticket in his wallet for years.
Guy went on to walk on at PSU for a few years. His younger brother Marc gave Ray Brinzer his toughest match in semis at the 1990 states. Guys son Andre lost in state finals about 6-7 years ago.
Guy went on to walk on at PSU for a few years. His younger brother Marc gave Ray Brinzer his toughest match in semis at the 1990 states. Guys son Andre lost in state finals about 6-7 years ago.
National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum
September 8, 2016 ·
Greatest college wrestling rivalry ever? Kenny Monday of Oklahoma State Wrestling (bottom) and Nate Carr of Iowa State Wrestling (top) faced each other in the Big 12 Conference and the NCAA Wrestling finals in 1982 and 1983.
136 Likes8 Comments46 Shares
September 8, 2016 ·
Greatest college wrestling rivalry ever? Kenny Monday of Oklahoma State Wrestling (bottom) and Nate Carr of Iowa State Wrestling (top) faced each other in the Big 12 Conference and the NCAA Wrestling finals in 1982 and 1983.
136 Likes8 Comments46 Shares
Iowa State Wrestling
March 26, 2015 ·
TBT: Harold Nichols and Willie Gadson coaching Nate Carr Sr. at the 1982 NCAA Championships in Ames. #Cyclones
842 Likes32 Comments64 Shares
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Yep, that's Kyven's dad - he was an All-American for the Cyclones in the early-to-mid 70s and an Assistant Coach under Nichols after he graduated.
March 26, 2015 ·
TBT: Harold Nichols and Willie Gadson coaching Nate Carr Sr. at the 1982 NCAA Championships in Ames. #Cyclones
842 Likes32 Comments64 Shares
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Yep, that's Kyven's dad - he was an All-American for the Cyclones in the early-to-mid 70s and an Assistant Coach under Nichols after he graduated.
National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum
September 8, 2016 ·
Greatest college wrestling rivalry ever? Kenny Monday of Oklahoma State Wrestling (bottom) and Nate Carr of Iowa State Wrestling (top) faced each other in the Big 12 Conference and the NCAA Wrestling finals in 1982 and 1983.
136 Likes8 Comments46 Shares
Check out Nate Carr's picture from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, he looks like Mr. America:
Check out Nate Carr's picture from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, he looks like Mr. America:
Beast. Born to be great, Nate Carr was the man.
Iowa State Wrestling
March 26, 2015 ·
TBT: Harold Nichols and Willie Gadson coaching Nate Carr Sr. at the 1982 NCAA Championships in Ames. #Cyclones
842 Likes32 Comments64 Shares
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Yep, that's Kyven's dad - he was an All-American for the Cyclones in the early-to-mid 70s and an Assistant Coach under Nichols after he graduated.
Yep. As a child, I saw Willie vs former PSU All American Jerry White in the quarter finals of Nationals. Jerry gave Willie a very, very close match, but Willie prevailed 6-5. Great match. Not sure but I think Willie was the only loss that Chris Campbell ever had in his career, but again not sure.
Here is a link to the Intermat article where Cary Kolat talks about his relationship with Nate Carr, who was coaching at WVU when he was in high school - HIT THIS LINK. Nate is the party who made the call to the Midlands Tournament Director and got Cary into The Midlands during the winter of his Sophmore year in high school. Nate is also how Cary became so knowledgeable about Nate's older brother Jimmy.
Loved this answer by Kolat - it really does put it into perspective:
Kolat is right, it really does put it into perspective - can you imagine an 8th or 9th grader calling Jason Nolf and saying, "Hey, are you going to be home this summer? Because I want to make the U.S. National Team and would like to workout with you...." (Craig Turnbull was from Erie - was a graduate of Iroquois High School....IOW, this phone call actually happened!).
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I am leery about kids' wrestling grown men in competition, when the men would go all out.
I think about anecdotes: Carr got hurt; Spencer got hurt; Anthony Valencia did not come back as promising as before; Pico never came back; etc., etc. In other sports, Michelle Wei and Jennifer Capriati did not fulfill their early promise ...
I know anecdotes are a bad way to generalize, in general, but I don't like the downside of rushing expectations by actively trying to be precocious.
Carr wrestled adults from the time he was 13 or 14 on - his body paid the price, no doubt, but he also accomplished his goal making the 1972 US Olympic Team at the age of 16. He won The Midlands, and was named OW of the Tournament, at the age of 18 in the winter of his Senior Year in high school and he finished 2nd at the 1976 US Olympic Trials at the age of 20. While you may be right, his International career may have even been better had he gone slower (your body can only compete so long at that level), he certainly didn't have an unproductive career by any means even though it was over by the time he was in his early 20s having already competed at that level for almost a full decade. What he accomplished as effectively a teenager, against full grown men, is astonishing when you think about it.
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