Mitchell Mesenbrink reflects on loss to David Carr, previews Final X rematch

Mitchell Mesenbrink will run it back with David Carr at Final X on June 14 for the Team USA spot at 74 KG. The two have some unfinished business from the 2024 NCAA Finals.

Mesenbrink already got one leg up on Carr on the freestyle scene last month, beating Carr 16-6 at the US Open Finals. Carr wound up winning the World Team Trials Tournament earlier this month to get to Final X and a best-of-three rematch with the Penn State Nittany Lion.

Both guys have won NCAA titles, two for Carr and one for Mesenbrink (so far). The Nittany Lion revealed he learned quite a lot from his 2024 loss to the former Iowa State Cyclone.

“I think it taught me a lot about myself and my relationships with the people here,” Mesenbrink said of the loss on Nickals and Dimes. “(After the loss I kept saying) I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it … I actually couldn’t grasp the idea that I had just lost … It was weird, because I felt like I was tricked … Was that what was supposed to happen? And that sounds really weird, but that was like, that’s how my head  wrapped around it … But now there’s not really those questions that are (there) anymore in my brain because I know what that did in the offseason, and has done to me as a man, and just all those things and as a wrestler.”

Carr beat Mesenbrink 9-8 in Kansas City in 2024. At the end, Mesenbrink appeared to not realize riding time was a factor, giving Carr a point at the end of the match rather than going to overtime.

His late rally fell short but Mesenbrink came back to win the 2025 NCAA title at 165 pounds in Philadelphia. Now that he got a win over Carr on the freestyle scene, he’s feeling good about where he’s at going into Final X.

“I love these, you know, we’re transitioning like summer workouts now, where there’s a little less instruction, so I can kind of, you know, maybe go a little harder,” Mesenbrink said. “I love that stuff and I think those are the biggest leaps and bounds … I want to get better, and just being able to put you and Dake and coach Cael in one week … guys like Rocco or whoever it is, like, just savages, just every day. 

“And it’s awesome. And I think that’s what excites me. I love that, like, I love being able to scrap … That’s when you become dangerous, (when you’re) having fun competing, but when you have fun training, too.”