2x U20 World Team Member Carroll Transfers to Iowa State

Christian Carroll, the #2 overall recruit in the high school Class of 2023, has announced today that he’ll transfer to Iowa State University. The transfer portal was open for 30 days after David Taylor took over the head coaching position at Oklahoma State and Carroll entered the portal on the final day of that extension. Carroll was listed in the portal with a “Do Not Contact” designation, which means he didn’t want coaches to contact him and likely had his own list of potential suitors. 

Carroll is a two-time U20 World Team member, making the squad in 2022 in Greco-Roman and a year later in freestyle. He was able to compete in the 2024 Olympic Team Trials at 97kg after winning the Last Chance Qualifying event. In State College, Carroll went 1-2 with an opening round win over 3x All-American Tony Cassioppi before falling 1-1, on criteria, to two-time world champion J’den Cox. 

Two weeks ago, at the U23 National Championships, Carroll finished in third place at 92 kg with wins over Oregon State All-American Trey Munoz and Campbell national qualifier Levi Hopkins. 

It’s still unclear what Carroll’s ideal collegiate weight will be. Initially, he was slated to be a heavyweight, but he’s rather short for the weight; however, he is extremely muscular and 197 lbs seems to be a difficult cut. He’d still need to drop five more pounds from his U23 weight. 

Carroll is one of only two transfers to leave the Oklahoma State program after Taylor took over (AJ Heeg was the other). 

One would assume he’ll still attempt to drop to 197 lbs at Iowa State. The Cyclones return Big 12 champion and NCAA #2 seed Yonger Bastida at 285 lbs. They also have brought in Evan Bockman, who was a three-time national qualifier at 197 lbs for Utah Valley. Bockman is in his final year of eligibility. 

Carroll got his #2 ranking in the Class of 2023 based on his Junior World Team accomplishments along with a pair of belt-winning performances at the Super 32 and a Junior freestyle title in Fargo (in 2021). 

During his redshirt year at Oklahoma State, Carroll went 2-1.