Big 12

Keegan O'Toole Faces David Carr In The Showdown Of The Season

Keegan O'Toole Faces David Carr In The Showdown Of The Season

NCAA champions Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) and David Carr (Iowa State) face off for the fourth time during a Feb. 25 dual in Ames, Iowa.

Feb 21, 2024 by Kyle Klingman
Keegan O'Toole Faces David Carr In The Showdown Of The Season

What: #1 Keegan O’Toole, JR, 16-0 (Missouri) vs #2 David Carr, SR, 18-1 (Iowa State)
Weight: 165 pounds
When: Sunday, February 25 at 2 p.m. CT
Where: Ames, Iowa (Hilton Colesesium)
How to watch: ESPN+/Big XII NOW

College wrestling’s best current rivalry is finally here — and it has only just begun.

Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole and Iowa State’s David Carr are locked in a battle for 165-pound supremacy with a script similar to last season. The two returning NCAA champions didn’t meet until the final dual of the 2023 season then faced off in the finals of the Big 12 Championships and the NCAA Championships. 

Carr struck first with a 7-2 win during a dual on February 15 then struck again with a sudden victory fall in the Big 12 finals on March 4. O’Toole turned the tables with an 8-2 win in the NCAA finals on March 16 for his second title in as many years.

They will run it back in 2024 with possibly three more rounds. The two have seven combined losses during their respective college careers with three to each other, but that number will inevitably increase this weekend. 

Carr and O’Toole are in a class of their own. Each is an NCAA champion and U20 World champion and both met for the first time in college when Carr moved up from 157 pounds. 

“This is the biggest individual match of the season up to this point and it’s the last weekend of the regular season,” Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser said. “That’s how big it is: pound-for-pound #2 vs pound-for-pound #4.”

Below is everything you need to know about the match-up including archives from last year’s dual and the NCAA Championships. 

Common Opponents This Season

#2 David Carr (Iowa State), 18-1#1 Keegan O'Toole (Missouri), 16-0
LOST - Julian Ramirez (Cornell), 4-3 on Dec. 2, 2023WON - Hunter Garvin (Stanford), FALL 5:34 on Jan. 10, 2024
WON - Hunter Garvin (Stanford), 15-0 on Dec. 2, 2023WON - Peyton Hall (West Virginia), 8-7 on Jan. 26, 2024
WON - Izaak Olejnik (Oklahoma State), 8-1 on Jan. 27, 2024WON - Julian Ramirez (Cornell), 13-5, on Jan. 28, 2024
WON - Peyton Hall (Missouri), 10-5 on Feb. 2, 2024WON - Izaak Olejnik (Oklahoma State), 5-1 on Feb. 4, 2024

Match History

February 15, 2023: David Carr over Keegan O’Toole, 7-3
March 5, 2023: David Carr over Keegan O’Toole, Fall 7:38
March 18, 2023: Keegan O’Toole over David Carr, 8-2

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Carr defeated O'Toole, 7-3, in Columbia, Missouri on Feb. 15, 2023

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O'Toole won the 2023 NCAA Championships with an 8-2 victory over Carr in the 165-pound finals

Last Five Matches

Keegan O’Toole
WON - Connor Gaynor (SDSU), 22-5 on Feb. 18
WON - Brendan Howes (NDSU), Fall 5:46 on Feb. 16
WON - #3 Izaak Olejnik (Oklahoma State), 5-1 on Feb. 4, 2024
WON - #4 Julian Ramirez (Cornell), 13-5, on Jan. 28, 2024
WON - #8 Peyton Hall (West Virginia), 8-7 on Jan. 26, 2024

David Carr
WON - Jack Thomsen (UNI), 20-3 on Feb. 11
WON - #8 Peyton Hall (West Virginia) on Feb. 2
WON - #3 Izaak Olejnik (Oklahoma State), 8-1 on Jan. 27, 2024
WON - Mannix Morgan (Oklahoma), 21-3 on Jan. 26
WON - Jaxon Garoutte (Utah Valley), Fall 2:28 on Jan. 12

Key Credentials

Keegan O’Toole
— 3rd at the 2021 NCAA Championships (165 pounds)
— 1st at the 2022 NCAA Championships (165 pounds)
— 1st at the 2022 NCAA Championships (165 pounds)
— 1st at the 2021 Junior World Championships (74 kg)
— 1st at the 2023 U23 World Championships (74 kg)

David Carr
— 1st at the 2021 NCAA Championships (157 pounds)
— 3rd at the 2022 NCAA Championships (157 pounds)
— 2nd at the 2023 NCAA Championships (165 pounds)
— 11th at the 2023 U23 World Championships (74 kg)
— 1st at the 2019 Junior World Championships (74 kg)
— 3rd at the 2016 Cadet World Championships (69 kg)

Interviews

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Carr discusses his win over O'Toole after the 2023 Missouri dual

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Carr discusses his win over O'Toole after the 2023 Big 12 Championships

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O'Toole discusses his victory over Carr in the 2023 NCAA Championships finals