David Carr wins 4th conference title, Iowa State wrestling takes 3rd at Big 12 Championships

Kevin Dresser stood on the floor of an empty BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla., on Sunday night and made a comment he's made hundreds of times before — and will likely say a hundred times in the years ahead.

"David Carr is pretty darn special," Dresser, Iowa State's wrestling coach, said in reference to his star 165-pounder, David Carr. He continued: "I think there's a lot more highlights of David Carr to come in the future."

Carr, ranked No. 1 nationally by InterMat, provided another pretty special highlight on Sunday night at the Big 12 Championships. In a second high-profile meeting against Missouri's second-ranked Keegan O'Toole, Carr recorded an emphatic overtime fall to win the Big 12 title at 165 pounds.

In doing so, Carr became Iowa State's second-ever four-time Big 12 champion, joining Cael Sanderson, who won four from 1999-02. (Tim Krieger and Pete Galea were also four-time conference champs, but they both won four during the Big 8 Era. Krieger won four from 1986-89; Galea won four from 1973-76.)

Carr was one of two individual Big 12 champs for the Cyclones, who finished third in the team race at the Big 12 tournament this weekend. Iowa State totaled 131 team points to finished behind first-place Missouri, who scored 148, and second-place Oklahoma State, who scored 134.

Paniro Johnson joined Carr as an individual Big 12 champion — and he also beat a Tiger wrestler in the finals. Johnson, a true freshman, beat Missouri's Brock Mauller 10-4. Mauller pinned Johnston in overtime when Missouri beat Iowa State last month in a dual. On Sunday, Johnson rolled behind a trio of takedowns.

The Cyclones put all 10 wrestlers on the podium, and seven finished fourth or better at their respective weights. But it was not enough to run down team champions Missouri, who finished with just one champ but six total finalists, or even catch the second-place Cowboys, who had two champs and eight top-five place-winners.

Northern Iowa finished in a distant seventh, with just 73 team points. After a rough Saturday, only five Panther wrestlers earned podium finishes. Parker Keckeisen led the way, with a first-place finish at 184 pounds. He beat Iowa State's Marcus Coleman, 6-2, in the finals. Keckeisen is now a three-time Big 12 champion.

Keckeisen could join Carr as a four-time champ next season. Both will be on the hunt for individual national titles in two weeks. Both the Cyclones and Panthers, plus the Big 12's best and the rest of the country, will return to the BOK Center for the NCAA Championships, set for March 16-18.

Carr is expected to be the No. 1 seed at 165, and will be the heavy favorite to win his second NCAA title. After Sunday's triumph over O'Toole, Carr is now 22-0 this season, with 5 pins, 3 technical falls, and 4 major decisions. He has also recorded 14 wins over other 165-pounders currently ranked in InterMat's latest poll.

Dresser suggested that there could be a lot more highlights from David Carr on the way. He was likely referring to years from now, when Carr embarks on his Senior-level men's freestyle career. He could've just as easily meant two weeks from now at the national tournament.

Weight-by-Weight analysis from Day Two of the Big 12 tournament

125lbs: Only Iowa State's Corey Cabanban wrestled on Sunday, and he lost by fall to Utah Valley's Kase Mauger to finish eighth. Northern Iowa's Kyle Gollhofer went 0-2 on Saturday. Neither wrestler is expected to land an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships.

133lbs: After Iowa State's Zach Redding's 4-1 semifinal win over Northern Iowa's Kyle Biscoglia on Saturday, both guys ended up in the top-four at this weight. Redding fell 10-2 to Oklahoma State's Daton Fix, now a four-time Big 12 champion, in Sunday's finals. Biscoglia secured a 4-1 consolation semifinal win over North Dakota State's McGwire Midkiff, a Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson grad, to reach the third-place match. There, Biscoglia lost 9-3 to Oklahoma's Wyatt Henson, a one-time Iowa wrestler, to finish fourth. Midkiff then finished fifth and earned an automatic bid to the national tournament along with Redding and Biscoglia.

141lbs: How about Iowa State's Casey Swiderski? After a first-round loss, the true freshman won three in a row — 8-6 over Northern Iowa's Cael Happel, 3-1 over Wyoming's Job Greenwood, then by default over Oklahoma State's Carter Young — to reach the third-place match, qualifying him for the NCAA Championships. Swiderski ultimately finished fourth after a 4-3 overtime loss to South Dakota State All-American Clay Carlson. Carlson beat Swiderski in Saturday's opening round, too, 6-3.

Happel finished 0-2 — a 10-4 quarterfinal loss to Missouri's Allan Hart, who finished second, then to Swiderski in the wrestlebacks — but should be well-positioned for an at-large bid.

149lbs: Iowa State's Paniro Johnson became a freshman Big 12 champion with a come-from-behind 10-4 win over Missouri's Brock Mauller in Sunday's finals. Mauller scored a takedown six seconds into the match, but from there, it was all Johnson. A takedown in the first tied the match at 3-3, another at the end of the second gave Johnson a 5-4 lead to start the third, then in the final moments, Johnson took Mauller feet-to-back for 6 points to ice a 10-4 victory. Mauller pinned Johnson in overtime when Missouri beat Iowa State last month in a dual.

"It’s not done," Johnson said in a post-match interview on the ESPNU broadcast. "I plan on winning an NCAA title, and I plan on never losing again. Two more weeks, we’re right back at it on the big stage."

Johnson later added: "Tell you the truth, I wanted that get-back. I wanted that pin at the end."

Part of Johnson's path to the Big 12 title included a 3-2 semifinal win over Northern Iowa's Colin Realbuto. Realbuto ultimately finished fifth. He lost a barnburner, 11-10, to North Dakota State's Kellyn March in the wrestleback semifinals, but rebounded with a 3-2 win over Oklahoma State's Victor Voinovich for fifth. Both Realbuto and Johnson qualified for the national tournament, too.

157lbs: Similar to Swiderski, Jason Kraisser made a run through the wrestlebacks after an early loss to finish fourth. He won three in a row — 9-1 over West Virginia's Alex Hornfeck, 5-2 over Missouri's Jarrett Jacques, then 5-4 over South Dakota State's Cael Swensen — to reach the third-place bout. There, he lost to Wyoming's Jacob Wright, 7-6, for fourth. He entered the weekend on the bubble, but secured his bid to the national tournament. Northern Iowa's Derek Holschlag finished 1-2 on Saturday and will need an at-large bid to keep going.

165lbs: The match of the tournament — and maybe the entire conference weekend — was David Carr's emphatic overtime pin over Missouri's Keegan O'Toole in the Big 12 finals. Carr led 3-2 after a third-period takedown, but a couple of late stall calls against Carr tied the match at 3-3, forcing overtime. There, Carr picked up a single and patiently finished for a takedown on a cradle, which he took and pinned O'Toole in 7:38.

"My coaches told me to go get it," Carr said in a post-match interview on the ESPNU broadcast. He added: "It was a good battle. We were the last match here, last match in the dual, and the fans really enjoyed it."

Carr is now a four-time Big 12 champion, the second in Iowa State history, alongside Cael Sanderson, who was pretty good, too. Carr is also 22-0 this season and likely solidified his position as the 1-seed for the NCAA Championships in two weeks.

Behind Carr, Northern Iowa's Austin Yant — who lost 21-6 to Carr in the quarterfinals — rallied for fifth place to punch his ticket to the national tournament. Yant posted back-to-back shutouts to reach the consolation semifinals, but lost 7-2 to North Dakota State's Michael Caliendo III. Yant then accepted a forfeit to take fifth.

174lbs: Only Iowa State's Julien Broderson competed on Sunday, and he dropped his seventh-place match, 7-4, to West Virginia's Scott Joll. Broderson beat Northern Iowa's Lance Runyon, 6-2, in the wrestlebacks on Saturday, which eliminated Runyon from the competition. Both guys will have to hope for at-large bids to the NCAA Championships. Broderson later lost to South Dakota State's Cade DeVos, a Southeast Polk grad, who ultimately wrestled all the way back to third place, which secured a bid to the NCAA Championships.

184lbs: Northern Iowa's Parker Keckeisen became a three-time Big 12 champion, the first in Northern Iowa history, with his 6-2 win over Iowa State's Marcus Coleman in the finals here. Keckeisen outscored his first three opponents 45-14 to reach Sunday's finals, then scored two first-period takedowns and added another point for riding-time to beat Coleman for the second time this season and fourth time in the last two years. Both guys are headed to the national tournament and should both be seeded among the top eight.

197lbs: Iowa State's Yonger Bastida took a pair of losses to fall to sixth place here this weekend. Bastida ultimately finished 2-3, winning his first two matches to reach the semifinals, where he lost to Missouri's Rocky Elam, 6-0. Bastida then lost to North Dakota State's Owen Pentz, 4-2, then to Utah Valley's Evan Bockman, 3-2. Bastida beat Bockman, 9-5, in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Elam went on to win 2-1 over South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan, an Alburnett grad, in Sunday's finals. Northern Iowa's Noah Glaser went 0-2 on Saturday.

285lbs: Both Iowa State's Sam Schuyler and Northern Iowa's Tyrell Gordon secured top-four finishes and will head to the national tournament in two weeks — but their finishes came after Schuyler's 6-0 win over Gordon in the quarterfinals. Gordon responded by winning three matches in a row to reach the third-place match, but finished fourth after a 10-4 loss to Missouri's Zach Elam. Schuyler beat Elam, 3-2, in the semifinals on Saturday to reach Sunday's final, but gave up two takedowns and a turn in the third period in an 8-2 loss to Air Force's top-seeded Wyatt Hendrickson.

2023 Big 12 Wrestling Championships

Final Team Scores

1. Missouri, 148

2. Oklahoma State, 134

3. Iowa State, 131

4. Oklahoma, 97.5

5. North Dakota State, 89

6. South Dakota State, 86.5

7. Northern Iowa, 73

8. Air Force, 64.5

9. Northern Colorado, 50

10. Wyoming, 41

11. Utah Valley, 37.5

12. West Virginia, 34.5

13. California Baptist, 1

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: David Carr becomes 4-time Big 12 champ, Iowa State wrestling takes 3rd