Carr Defeats Takatani In Night in America Freestyle Event

In a change of pace before the college postseason gets underway, FloWrestling’s Night in America: Lee vs Ono freestyle event, pitted some of our country's top freestyle wrestlers against each other in a fun exhibition in Coralville, Iowa. Additionally, a pair of Japanese stars participated in the main event and co-main event against two of the best recent wrestlers from Iowa universities. 

The co-main event was an action-packed contest that saw Iowa State’s two-time national champion David Carr take on 2024 Olympic silver medalist Daichi Takatani at 76 kg. 

The pair started off with plenty of handfighting and fakes but no dedicated offensive attack through nearly the first two minutes of the bout. That led to the former Cyclone getting placed on the activity clock. With the :30 second clock about to expire, Carr struck with a low leg attack for a takedown and immediately transitioned into a leg lace. Carr was able to get a pair of turns from the leg lace and was suddenly ahead, 6-0. 

Takatani countered with less than :10 seconds remaining in the first period with a big double leg for two points. That narrowed Carr’s lead to 6-2 at the break. 

Carr showed no signs of slowing down in the second with a head fake and a snap down, followed by a spin and two more points with a takedown. Once again, Carr was able to take advantage on the mat and turned Takatani with a gut wrench. As he went for a second turn, his Japanese counterpart stepped over for a pair of exposure points of his own. Takatani was also able to work from par terre and got an additional two points from a gut wrench of his own. Even so, Carr held a 10-6 lead. 

Later in the final period, Takatani was able to shoot Carr outside of the activity circle and was rewarded with a step-out point. The 10-7 score was how the match would end as Carr evaded all offensive attacks from Takatani. 

In the main event 2024 Olympic silver medalist Spencer Lee faced off with Masanosuke Ono, who was a U20 and Senior world champion last year at 61 kg. During his Senior title run, Ono outscored the competition 55-2 over the course of five matches, including a 12-0 tech over Vito Arujau in the semifinals. 

Despite having two of the most high-scoring lightweights in the world on the same mat, this bout was largely a defensive struggle. Ono’s three points all came from Lee step-outs. Lee received a pair of points for technical violations from Ono. One came from two hands locked on the American’s head while on their feet and the other came on a caution for failing to engage in the waning second of the match. 
 

Full Results

Undercard

175 lbs - Lincoln Jipp over Riley Johnson  14-0

125 lbs - Jake Knight over Abdi Unle  12-11

115 lbs - Cruzer Dominquez over Ethan Humphrey 11-0

Main Card

62 kg - Nathan Tomasello over Daniel DeShazer  7-0

97 kg - Jay Aiello over Marcus Coleman  12-1

62 kg - Melanie Nahomi Jimenez over Xochitl Mota-Pettis  7-1

57 kg - Zeltzin Hernandez over Amanda Martinez  8-2

86 kg - Nate Jackson over Kennedy Monday  11-7

62 kg - Seth Gross over Austin DeSanto  10-0

72 kg - Austin Gomez over Bryce Andonian  11-0

88 kg - Zahid Valencia over Trent Hidlay  5-0

76 kg - David Carr over Daichi Takatani  10-7

59.5 kg - Masanosuke Ono over Spencer Lee  3-2