Iowa State's David Carr renews old family wrestling rivalry with victory at NWCA All-Star Classic

A legendary wrestling rivalry was renewed — at least for one night.

The National Wrestling Coaches Association's All-Star Classic returned Tuesday, held at the FloSports Events Center in Austin, Texas. After a four-year absence, this early-season wrestling exhibition was contested again, with a 15-match card that featured many of college wrestling's biggest stars.

In addition to the event itself making its valiant return, one of the sport's old rivalries took on a new form as well.

David Carr, Iowa State's two-time All-American, beat Princeton's Quincy Monday, 2-1. Carr, ranked third nationally at 165 pounds by InterMat, used a strong third period to accumulate 76 seconds of riding time, which was enough to earn him the match's deciding point and top Monday, who's ranked No. 1 by InterMat at 157.

Those names will sound plenty familiar to diehard wrestling fans and old-school Big 12 wrestling fans, if only because their fathers, Nate Carr and Kenny Monday, wrestled each other many times in the 1980s.

Kenny Monday, repping Oklahoma State, beat Nate Carr, a Cyclone wrestler, in the finals of the Big 8 Championships in both 1982 and 1983. Carr then returned the favor in the finals of the national tournament those same years.

Nate Carr, who now works with the Cyclone Regional Training Center, finished as a three-time NCAA champ and then won bronze at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Kenny Monday, now the head wrestling coach of the newly formed Morgan State program, won an NCAA title in 1984, won gold at both the 1988 Olympics and 1989 world championships, and then won silver at both the 1991 world championships and 1992 Olympics.

Both Carr and Monday continued to wrestle each other throughout their Senior-level freestyle careers, and now their sons are forging their own successful college careers. David Carr won an NCAA title in 2021 and finished third at last year's national tournament. Quincy Monday reached the national finals last year.

More:Iowa State wrestlers blank Grand View, end college wrestling’s longest dual-meet win streak

Tuesday's match was the first meeting between David Carr and Quincy Monday. They both acknowledged their family's respective histories in the lead-up. Carr is now the third from his family to win at the NWCA All-Star Classic, joining his dad, who won in both 1981 and 1982, and uncle Jimmy, who won in 1975 for Kentucky.

It may also be the last meeting, at least for a while. Carr is firmly entrenched as an NCAA contender at 165 pounds. Monday made the preseason decision to drop down to 157, where he will be among the favorites to win come March.

But on Tuesday, they rekindled an old family rivalry, and despite the low score, wrestling fans everywhere were treated to an extraordinary matchup between two high-level competitors. It has been decades since the last Carr-Monday wrestling match, but like all those that came before, this one was one to remember.

Iowa Wesleyan's Adaugo Nwachukwu defeats McKendree national champ

One of college wrestling's best pound-for-pound women's wrestlers competes for Iowa Wesleyan.

The NWCA All-Star Classic featured four women's freestyle matches between some of college wrestling's top women's wrestlers. Iowa Wesleyan's Adaugo Nwachukwu was one of the combatants, and she actually bumped up in weight and knocked off McKendree's Alara Boyd, 6-0.

Of the four women's matches, this one had the most intrigue, as both wrestlers are collegiate stars. Nwachukwu, NAIA's top-ranked women's wrestler at 136 pounds, won a national title last year and then won a bronze medal at the Junior women's freestyle world championships last summer. Boyd, ranked No. 2 at 143 in the NWCA's NCAA women's rankings, is a past NCAA women's champ and won bronze at the Cadet world championships in 2016.

On Tuesday, it was all Nwachukwu. She scored a takedown and a step-out point in the first period for a 3-0 lead, then another step-out and another takedown in the second for the final score. Boyd never truly threatened Nwachukwu, who can now add this monster individual win to her still-growing wrestling résumé.

More:Iowa women's wrestlers win 5 individual titles in debut competition at Missouri Valley Open

Mizzou's Rocky Elam tops Iowa's Jacob Warner in thrilling OT match

Tuesday was not the best night for the Hawkeyes.

To start, three Iowa wrestlers were originally scheduled to compete, but that shrank to two last week when Real Woods, who transferred to the Iowa wrestling program from Stanford, pulled out of the event due to an undisclosed injury. Iowa coach Tom Brands said last week that Woods is considered "day-to-day."

Then Iowa's two remaining representatives, Jacob Warner and Tony Cassioppi, both lost close matches.

Warner lost to Missouri's Rocky Elam, 8-6 in overtime. Elam, a two-time All-American, scored takedowns in the first and third periods for a 5-2 lead, then, over the final 26 seconds, Warner scored a reversal, gifted Elam an escape, then countered a late Elam shot to score his own takedown and tie the match at 6-6, forcing overtime. Elam quickly converted a head-outside shot for a takedown in sudden victory to win.

Iowa's Tony Cassioppi falls to Penn State's Greg Kerkvliet at heavyweight

Cassioppi then lost to Penn State's Greg Kerkvliet, 8-5, in a battle of two-time heavyweight All-Americans.

Before Tuesday, Cassioppi had beaten Kerkvliet three consecutive times during their college careers. Cassioppi won 9-0 during the 2021 Big Ten Championships, then won twice last year: 7-2 in the January dual, and 6-4 in a sudden-victory thriller in the Big Ten semifinals.

But on Tuesday, Kerkvliet scored three takedowns on Cassioppi and piled up more than two minutes of riding-time in a decisive victory. Cassioppi made it interesting, scoring a reversal at the end of the second period to come within 5-3, then escaped to start the third and was in deep on a shot as regulation wound down. A finish would've forced sudden victory, but Kerkvliet adjusted his defense and ultimately scored again to ice the match.

The good news for the Hawkeyes: it's still November, and a lot that can be learned from their performances on Tuesday. Bummer that they struck out in such a high-profile event, but their larger goals for the 2022-23 season are still in front of them.

More:Five takeaways from Iowa wrestling's wins over Sacred Heart and Buffalo

Parker Keckeisen falls to Penn State's top-ranked Aaron Brooks

Parker Keckeisen has compiled a 48-3 overall record through his first two college seasons, both of which have ended with him earning All-American honors. Two of those losses have come to Penn State's Aaron Brooks: 6-4 in the 2021 NCAA semifinals, and 3-2 last year when Northern Iowa wrestled the Nittany Lions in Florida.

On Tuesday, they met again — and Brooks won again, 12-8. He scored five total takedowns against Keckeisen, building an 11-5 lead midway early in the third period. Keckeisen got a takedown back at the end of the third period to stave off a potential major decision.

Both guys could be on a collision course during the 2022-23 season. Brooks is InterMat's top-ranked 184-pounder while Keckeisen is ranked No. 2. If all goes according to plan — and the madness of March will obviously have a say in that — they could hit again on Saturday night at the NCAA Championships.

It will be a subplot worth following, at the very least.

Minnesota's Pat McKee pins Iowa State's Kysen Terukina

Iowa State's Kysen Terukina was a late addition to the event after Arizona State's Brandon Courtney backed out of the 125-pound match. He took on Minnesota's Pat McKee, a two-time All-American, in the opening match — and McKee made it a quick one, pinning Terukina in the second period.

Up 3-0 in the second, Terukina used heavy hands to snap McKee to his knees, but McKee jumped back to his feet and defended Terukina's ensuing shot, then immediately re-attacked with an underhook, which he used to take Terukina feet-to-back on the edge. McKee adjusted for the fall in 3:48.

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

2022 NWCA All-Star Classic

FloSports Event Center in Austin, Texas

Men's Matches

• 125: #4 Pat McKee (Minnesota) pinned #19 Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) in 3:48

• 133: #6 Lucas Byrd (Illinois) dec. #4 Michael McGee (Arizona State), 3-2

• 157: #3 Will Lewan (Michigan) dec. #5 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech), 3-1

• 197: #4 Rocky Elam (Missouri) dec. #2 Jacob Warner (Iowa), 8-6 (SV)

• 285: #2 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) dec. #4 Tony Cassioppi (Iowa), 8-5

• 184: #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) dec. #2 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa), 12-8

• 141: #4 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) dec. #1 Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh), 4-2 (SV)

• 165: #3 David Carr (Iowa State) dec. #1 Quincy Monday (Princeton), 2-1

  • Monday is ranked #1 at 157 pounds by InterMat.

• 165: #1 Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) dec. #5 Dean Hamiti Jr. (Wisconsin), 7-1

• 149: #2 Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) dec. #3 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State), 10-9

• 174: #1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) dec. #2 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech), 2-0

Women's Matches

• 191: Sydnee Kimber (McKendree) over Kelani Corbett (Missouri Valley), 6-0

• 170: Yelena Makoved (North Central) tech fall Jessie Lee (Life), 10-0

• 143: Adaugo Nwachukwu (Iowa Wesleyan) over Alara Boyd (McKendree), 6-0

• 109: Emily Shilson (Augsburg) over Peyton Prussin (Life), 8-4

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: College wrestlers' sons renew family rivalry at NWCA All-Star Classic