FORT WORTH, Texas – Former Cathedral Prep wrestler Carter Starocci, who qualified for this weekend’s U.S. Olympic Trials as a new NCAA Division I gold medalist, was eliminated from the competition after Friday afternoon’s session.
David Carr, the son of Tech Memorial graduate and former Olympian Nate Carr, also went 1-1 in the tournament’s 74-kilogram (163-pound) bracket by the conclusion of the day’s matches at Dickies Arena.
David Carr, like Starocci, qualified for the Trials as an NCAA Division I gold medalist last month. He won that tournament’s 157 weight class as an Iowa State redshirt sophomore.
Starocci went 0-2 in Friday’s 86-kilogram (189-pound) action. The redshirt freshman for Penn State University qualified for the chance to earn a spot in the rescheduled Summer Olympics as the NCAA champion at 174 pounds.
The 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo were postponed until this July and August because of COVID-19.
David Carr won his opening match at the Trials. He used a four-point move for half of his points in an 8-0 shutout of Logan Massa, who just concluded his redshirt senior season at the University of Michigan.
Carr advanced to face Jason Nolf, a former three-time NCAA champ at Penn State, in the challenger bracket semifinals.
Nolf advanced with a 10-0 technical fall. It was a result that dropped Carr into a third-place bracket quarterfinal. He’ll face Thomas Gantt or Vincenzo Joseph in that match during Saturday initial session.
Four-time national champion and two-time world champ Kyle Dake is also in the 74 kilogram class. His rival, 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs, is already a finalist in that division.
Starocci initially lost to Bo Nickal, a three-time NCAA champion at Penn State.
Nickal, the 2019 Hodge Trophy recipient as Division I’s best wrestler, won a 6-1 decision. He then advanced to the semifinals with a 13-3 tech fall over Pat Downey.
Starocci then lost to former Ohio State national champion Myles Martin in the consolation second round. Martin scored four points over the match’s last 1 minute, 11 seconds to win 5-2. Martin was a four-time Big Ten and one-time NCAA gold medalist for the Buckeyes.