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Kolat in high school

Yet, Jimmy could not get through the NW regional until his senior year when he did win his only state title. Even then as his gas tank emptied he had to hang on to barely pull that out.
Jimmy Carr was unbelievably athletic and obviously outside the PIAA quite accomplished, but nowhere near the best wrestler in PIAA history. Heck, Jimmy was only the second best Carr, ranked behind Nate.
I think that was actually his junior year of hs. I was there in Harrisburg and local kid Larry Kepp from CDEast (who I knew a little bit from hanging in the locker room prior to the finals of a Christmas tournament that season) had him on the ropes in the finals. Nobody gave Kepp any shot coming in - after all, Carr had won Midlands a couple months earlier.
 
I'm going to add Steve Sefter to the list of all time greats because I knew him a little as a kid and he was an AA for PSU at unlimited while weighing a max of 215. His football weight was listed as 232, must've includedshoulder pads and helmet. I've never heard of a kid progressing up thru the 4 heaviest weights with his level of success. 3 losses as a FR, 1 as a SO and undefeated as a JR & SR.
1976-1977: State 2nd (AAA) 156
1977-1978: State 2nd (AAA) 167
1978-1979: State 1st (AAA) 185
1979-1980: State 1st (AAA) Hwt
 
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When I was a kid, Mike Johnson was the god of PA wrestling. I saw him win his last title in '61. He beat a guy I knew in the finals in '60, Dick Hamilton of Upper Darby. He was quick and powerful.
I saw his NCAA finals match in '63 when he was decked in OT. It was obvious he was gassed. And I couldn't figure out what he was doing wrestling 123. I was at the Lehigh-Pitt dual that year and he was beaten by Pat Smartt at 130. (My brother got slammed in the freshman dual that night and they took him to the hospital. His girlfriend was hysterical. I thought it was kinda embarrassing.)
Because I saw a couple of his college losses, I moderated my opinion of him in the GOAT category even back then.

But Joey Wildasin was mentioned above. I saw Joey throughout his youth and HS career. His style was so unique, so aggressive, that I started to change my coaching style to emphasis offense. Joey wanted to put you on your back, no matter what position he was in: top, bottom, standing--- he was trying to deck you.

Coincidentally, just like Johnson, I saw two of Joey's losses, though neither loss lessened my opinion of him. When he was 10 or 11, one of my wrestlers met him in the MAWA finals at Shippensburg U. He had a 100-0 record, my kid was 80-0. Between them they wrestled 180 matches in one season and won them all. Weird. My kid slipped a takedown by him and hung on for the win. Then in the PIAA finals, Joey lost as a freshman to Finacchio of North Penn in one of my favorite all-time PIAA matches.
If you are bored, here is something to add some excitement to your life:



btw, my kid who beat Joey when they were 10, met him in the PIAA finals about 7 years later. The result wasn't the same.

I just watched it again. There have been threads here about folk vs free. This match illustrates what can be generated by mat wrestling. You'll never see this in free.

I can't shut up. Finacchio's teammate who also won states that year (and 2 more years) was Chris Kwortnik. When talking pure high school wrestlers, Kwortnik and Kolat were in the mix for buttkickers of the century.

Here's Kwortnik vs Kevin Smith, Northampton. Smith was really tough till Kwortnik literally ground him down.
Don't shut up. Good stuff.
 
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I think that was actually his junior year of hs. I was there in Harrisburg and local kid Larry Kepp from CDEast (who I knew a little bit from hanging in the locker room prior to the finals of a Christmas tournament that season) had him on the ropes in the finals. Nobody gave Kepp any shot coming in - after all, Carr had won Midlands a couple months earlier.

It was Carr's Jr Year - Carr wrestled his Sr Year in Kentucky (he moved in with his older brother Fletcher, who had just taken the UK HC job.). Carr's HS record was 58-2 with both losses coming in NW Regional... and both losses were reffed in a completely bullshit manner from Neutral - Jimmy's opponents were permitted to stall their asses off and refuse to wrestle from Neutral (contrary to what the poster who just made another incorrect claim about Carr has said). Folk-Style refereeing is utterly corrupt in terms of bias reflected through how stalling is not called -- and Jimmy Carr is proof positive of that.

The poster is correct that Carr won Midlands that same year (his Jr year in school) defeating a returning NCAA Champion in the Finals (Carr was also named OW of the Tournament). Another fun fact that hasn't been mentioned here, is that Jimmy Carr won the Olympic Trials as a 16 year old (a year earlier) with ZERO training going into the trials as he had a broken leg. In fact, Jimmy's mother was not going to let him wrestle in the trials at all, so Jimmy went to Kentucky where his brother Fletcher was wrestling at UK - Jimmy then cut the cast off himself, told his mom that he had been medically cleared to participate by Kentucky doctors (a lie) and proceeded to wrestle in, and win, the Olympic Trials!

So if you really believe that Jimmy lost the only 2 high school matches of his career in NW Regionals his Fr and So year without some really bullshit officiating from Neutral, I don't know what to tell you.
 
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It's not about Jimmy Carr directly but I have to add that the entire Carr family are some of the nicest people in the world! What a great job Jimmy, Nate, Fletcher, Joe, Michael's, Solomon, etc. parents did raising them. World-class wrestlers and wrestling family without any of the ego you often see in superstar athletes.

As Nate said in an interview once: “Faith, family, friendship and a future” were stressed by their parents.
 
It's not about Jimmy Carr directly but I have to add that the entire Carr family are some of the nicest people in the world! What a great job Jimmy, Nate, Fletcher, Joe, Michael's, Solomon, etc. parents did raising them. World-class wrestlers and wrestling family without any of the ego you often see in superstar athletes.

As Nate said in an interview once: “Faith, family, friendship and a future” were stressed by their parents.
Met Jimmy at a tourney in North East one Saturday YEARS ago. He was coaching and being a major DBag the entire day until he yelled at a woman behind him in the first few rows of bleachers. He must not have seen her husband and he came down right then and clocked Jimmy. The tourney director called the cops and JIMMY is the one who got escorted out of the gym. He walked past the wildly clapping stands full of spectators with the middle finger flying.
Best part…. This was a NOVICE tourney!!

Only Carr I ever saw act like that, total loser.
 
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