Snacks

This week's Snacks takes a stroll into the past to look at the legendary high school career of Jimmy Carr.

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Is Jimmy Carr the Greatest High School Wrestler of All time?

To clarify—“high school wrestler” here refers to accomplishments between the ages of 14–18, not limited to school-based competitions, but also including national, international, college-level, and senior-level competition while still in high school.

Currently, we’re seeing some of the greatest high school wrestlers we’ve ever seen. Guys like Jax Forrest, PJ Duke, Marcus Blaze, and Bo Bassett are bursting onto the senior-level scene—defeating past NCAA champions, World Team members, and placing at or winning senior national events and Olympic/World Team Trials events. Notably, two high school-aged wrestlers (Jax and PJ) are set to compete in Final X for a chance to make the Senior World Team and represent the United States at the World Championships. I can’t remember a time we’ve had two high schoolers on the brink of making a Senior World Team.

With this in mind, there’s been a lot of chatter online about who is considered the greatest high school wrestler of all time, as some of the names above start to creep into that conversation. It’s a hard thing to quantify because there are many variables. Often, we can get caught up in recency bias and can forget about the greats from the past.

Here’s a list of notable names that typically appear when talking about the greatest high school wrestlers ever:

• Cary Kolat: Undefeated 4X State Champion (137–0), Cadet World Champion, placed twice at Midlands while in high school, and had wins over NCAA All-Americans during that time.

• Sean Hage: 4X State Champion (117–1), 8X Fargo National Champion (2X Cadet, 6X Junior), Cadet World Silver Medalist, Cadet World Bronze Medalist, Junior World Champion.

• Nick Simmons: Undefeated 4X State Champion (211–0) with 178 pins.

• Brent Metcalf: Undefeated 4X State Champion (228–0), 6X Junior National Champion.

• Henry Cejudo: 4X State Champion, 2X Junior National Champion, Junior World Silver Medalist. Competed at the senior level while still in high school and became the first high school wrestler to win the U.S. Open. He also made the finals at the Senior World Team Trials that same year.

• Chance Marsteller: Undefeated 4X State Champion (166–0), 3X Cadet National Champion.

• Kyle Snyder: Undefeated 3X State Champion (179-0), spent his senior year training at the United States Olympic Training Center, 3X high school national champion, Junior World Bronze Medalist, Junior World Champion.

• Aaron Pico: 1X State Champion (42–0). After his freshman year, he chose to pursue a professional MMA career and signed a management contract, making him ineligible for high school and collegiate wrestling under NCAA rules. U17 World Champion, U20 World Silver Medalist, U20 World Bronze Medalist. Competed and medaled at multiple senior-level tournaments while still in high school—including a 3rd-place finish at the U.S. Open Senior Nationals. Also earned a notable win over Senior World Champion David Safaryan during that time.

• Mark Hall: 6X State Champion (278–5), Cadet World Champion, 2X Junior World Champion, reached the quarterfinals at the Olympic Team Trials in 2016 as a high school senior.

• Spencer Lee: 3X State Champion (144–1), U17 World Champion, 2X U20 World Champion.

I’m sure I’m missing some great ones, and the accolades above aren’t exhaustive—but these athletes are frequently mentioned due to their legendary high school careers, Fargo success, world championship results, or notable wins at the college or senior level while still in high school.

The Case for Jimmy Carr

Enter Jimmy Carr: In 1971, at 16 years old, Jimmy won a U.S. Junior National title (pre-Fargo Nationals). He then went on to win an AAU Junior National title, making him a 2X Junior National Champion that year. But he didn’t stop there—his coach encouraged him to try out for the Senior World Team for a chance to compete in Bulgaria for Team U.S.A.

He made the team and competed at the Senior World Championships as a 16-year-old, where he placed 6th in the world.

In 1972, Jimmy was 17 years old and made the U.S. Olympic Team. Yes—that same Olympic team with wrestling legends like Dan Gable, Rick Sanders, Wayne Wells, John & Ben Peterson, and Chris Taylor. At 17, Jimmy is still the youngest American wrestler to ever make an Olympic team.

In Munich, Germany, he roomed with heavyweight Chris Taylor, who weighed over 400 lbs, while Jimmy came in at just 114.5 lbs. In a Sports Illustrated interview he joked that the two of them set the Olympic snacking record that year.

In 1973, Jimmy entered the prestigious Midlands Tournament and became the first high school wrestler to ever win this elite collegiate-level tournament. He defeated an NCAA National Champion in the finals (11-7) and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. Jimmy paved the way for elite high school wrestlers to compete at this prestigious tournament. Some of the names mentioned earlier would go on to do the same, but Jimmy was the first.

That same year, Jimmy made the Junior World Team and went on to win a Junior World Championship. By that point, before even competing in his own age-level world championship, he had already wrestled in the 1971 Senior World Championships and the 1972 Olympics.

While still in high school, Jimmy also earned a 5-3 win over Roman Dmitriyev of the Soviet Union—the 1972 Olympic gold medalist. That achievement puts him on a very short list—if not a list of one—of American high school wrestlers who have ever defeated an Olympic gold medalist.

To fully appreciate what Jimmy accomplished, you have to understand the timeline. He didn’t just succeed at each level—he overlapped them. What makes his journey so unique is that his international success didn’t begin at the age-group level like most—it began at the Senior level.

When you stack up Jimmy Carr’s high school career—Senior World Team member at 16, Olympian at 17, Midlands Champion (defeating an NCAA Champion), Junior World Champion, and a win over an Olympic gold medalist—all before stepping foot in college, the case speaks for itself. Jimmy broke barriers and made history as a high schooler. His résumé might just be the greatest high school wrestling career of all time in terms of success at the highest, most competitive level available at the time.

So I’ll ask the question again… Is Jimmy Carr the greatest high school wrestler of all time?

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