David Carr

NEWARK, N.J. — Former Iowa State national champion wrestler David Carr earned his spot on Team USA with two victories over Mitchell Mesenbrink on Saturday at Final X. Carr won the best-of-three series over Mesenbrink, avenging a loss to the Penn State graduate in the US Open finals in April, to punch his ticket to the 2025 World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, where he will represent the United States at 74 kg.

It marks the first time in Carr’s career that he has made the senior level world team.

Carr took the first match of the day over Mesenbrink, 4-3, despite falling into an early 3-0 hole. The former Cyclone chased a pair of takedowns in the final 1 minute, 45 seconds, to complete the comeback victory.

In match two, Carr tallied two more takedowns as he pulled out a 4-4 victory via criteria. Mesenbrink registered two step-out points, a caution point and a passivity point in the match.

Carr held a 4-0 advantage in the takedown column across the two matches.