Mar 21, 2019 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – Illinois redshirt sophomore and South Fayette graduate Mike Carr suffered a heartbreaking loss to another Pennsylvania native in Iowa’s Max Murin during Thursday’s round of 16 action in the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at PPG Paints Arena.

Carr (13-6) dropped a 4-3 decision to Murin (17-8) at 141 pounds. Carr won an 8-2 decision over Binghamton’s Anthony Sparacio (28-11) in the round of 32.

Carr scored the first takedown for a 2-0 lead with 1:07 remaining in the first period, but Murin was able to escape and take a 3-2 advantage when he scored a takedown with one second left in the first.

Carr tied the bout with an escape in the second, but Murin broke the tie when he scored on a stand-up and fended off the former Lion for the victory. The match was delayed several times as both wrestlers were treated for bleeding.

“I got stitches last week and they kept opening up,” Murin said. “It was (bothering) me during the match, but I was able to get the win and move on, and that’s all that really matters. I felt like I could have done better all year. I kept losing all these close matches, so it feels like I am rounding into form at the right time. I am winning these close matches now.”

Carr was unavailable for comment.

Murin, who won two state championships for Central Cambria out of District 6, never wrestled Carr in high school, but the two have developed a rivalry wrestling in the Big 10 at the collegiate level.

“Every time we have wrestled there has always been something different,” Murin said. “He (Carr) is a really good competitor and I have known him since high school. He was always a little bit bigger than me in high school, but I think we’ve wrestled four times in the last two years.”

Carr, who was 161-15 with two state titles in high school for the Lions, was 20-7 last season for the Illini. He qualified for the national tournament, but wasn’t able to medal, as he fell one win shy of All-American status.

Carr and Murin are two of the 52 Pennsylvania wrestlers competing at the national tournament.

“It is awesome having some many wrestlers from Pennsylvania competing in this tournament,” Murin said.

Carr, who is also one of 20 WPIAL grapplers at the NCAAs, is also the only Keystone State native on his team.

Murin, who is the 22nd seed at 141, wrestles Penn State’s Nick Lee (29-9) in this morning’s quarterfinals. Lee is the No. 3 seed.

“I need to finish my shots against him (Lee),” Murin said. “I was in probably four times at Big 10s and I kept hesitating. I love being the 22nd seed. I came in, and I don’t really look at seeds, but someone told me I was the 22nd seed, and my goal was to wrestle my match no matter what the seed is.”

Carr escaped in the second period to break a scoreless tie and scored a takedown for a 3-0 lead 11 seconds into the period in his opening match. Sparacio escaped with 59 seconds left in the second to cut the deficit to 3-1, but Carr added another takedown with four seconds remaining in the period for a 5-1 advantage heading into the third.

Sparacio got within 5-2 when he escaped with 1:34 left in the third but Carr earned a third takedown and was awarded one point for riding time.

Waynesburg Central graduate and University of North Carolina redshirt junior AC Headlee (20-11) dropped a 6-4 decision to Ohio University’s Cameron Kelly (20-3) in the round of 32, but battled back to win by fall in his first consolation bout at 141. Headlee pinned Chattanooga’s Chris Debien (24-13) in 4:05. He wrestles Carr in the second round of consolations this morning.

Headlee is coached by fellow Raiders’ graduate Coleman Scott, who won three state titles in high school and one national championship at Oklahoma State University before winning a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics.

Belle Vernon graduate and Bucknell University freshman Zach Hartman (27-8) earned a 12-9 decision over Brown’s Christian Labrie (17-19) in his first consolation bout. Hartman dropped a 6-4 decision to Purdue’s Griffin Parriott (16-12) in the round of 32. He meets Army’s Luke Weiland (25-11) in his next consolation bout at 157.

Action begins this morning at 11 a.m. with the quarterfinals and the second and third round of consolations. The semifinals and fourth and fifth round of consolations will begin at 8 p.m.