SYRACUSE - To understand why Darrell and Kevin Carr are wrestling in tonight's state finals, you have to go back a year.

February 19, 1996, to be exact. That was the day.

Three Carr brothers advanced to the state finals last season, held on Feb. 17. Freshman Kevin placed fifth and finished with a 40-9 record. Sophomore Jason did not place but finished with a 29-7 record. Junior Darrell placed seventh and went 39-8.

It was here, on the mats at Market Square Arena, that the Carr boys bolted down their future. The next time we get back here - next season - we will win championships, the Wawasee Warrior grapplers decided.

"All three made a pact they would return to the state finals," says Darrell Carr Sr., father and Wawasee assistant wrestling coach.

Darrell and Jason and Kevin's 1997 season started Feb. 19, 1996, two days after last year's state championship. They took the day after, Sunday, off. That Monday, training for today's state finals began.

They would hit the mats. Lift weights. Run around Wawasee Lake.

Then they were done for the day.

"We kept in shape," Darrell says. "We spent seven hours a day training on some days during the summer. We wrestled year round."

Only two of the three return to Market Square Arena this year. Kevin, 125 pounds, and Darrell, 135 pounds, will wrestle in tonight's state finals. They won semistate championships.

Jason, 145 pounds, does not return.

Strep throat kept Jason under the weather all last week. He wrestled at less than 100 percent at the semistate and lost.

Darrell knows this is it for him. He's a senior. He is 38-1 and has several impressive wins. He pinned Bellmont's Jim Mankey, who boasted a 29-0 record before that match. He defeated Andy Bertsch 6-4 at last week's semistate. Bertsch was 30-0 before he faced Carr.

Darrell wrestles Roncalli sophomore Mark Koers, who is 13-3, in tonight's first round.

But the kid who tagged him with one loss lurks on down the line.

"Billy Maldonaldo," he says. "We've been rivals since the seventh grade. He's beaten me three times. I've beaten him twice."

Maldonaldo, from East Chicago Central, won the 130-pound title at state last year. Now, he's at 135, Darrell's weight class. Maldonaldo is 37-2. Maldonaldo beat Darrell 4-2 in an early season match in Mishawaka.

"I didn't wrestle that good," Darrell says. "I'll be ready this time."

Being ready, that counts for something. Darrell owned a sparkling 33-0 record his sophomore year. His season ended before he had a chance to go to the state finals.

He didn't make his weight class.

"I thought I was going to win state that year," he says.

"Instead, it all went down the drain."

The shot to win the state finals, yes, swirled down the drain. Darrell's determination, however, surfaced.

Kevin noticed a change in Darrell. He expects the change to happen to Jason, now.

"The more adversity they go through," Kevin says, "the tougher they get. I know Jason will recover and set his goals even higher."

Kevin has been lucky. He has tagged along with his older brothers and kept a close eye on them. When Darrell or Jason makes a mistake, he learns from it.

He can do something they have not done. He can go to the state finals all four years of high school. He is 2 for 2 now. He wrestles Clinton Prairie junior Mike Boesch, who is 33-5, in tonight's first round.

Kevin latched onto wrestling in the fifth grade, when he went to his fatcher's practices. His father was a junior high coach.

"Kevin has more years as far as wrestling and will probably be the better wrestler later on," Darrell Sr. says.

Darrell is 110-9 since his sophomore year. Jason is 88-24 since his freshman year. Kevin is 79-10.

Combined, that is 277-43.

Wrestling and the Carrs began with Dad and his two brothers, Roy and John. They lived in Chicago, and their mother put them in a wrestling program that was part of the Mayor Daley Foundation.

That was 1964. Darrell Sr. was eight. The brothers were AAU state champions.

"Wrestling," Darrell Sr. says, "was our gold mine."

Dad, a talented grappler, is one reason for their success. But the biggest reason, the boys say, goes back to dedication. Yes, they are dedicated to training for their sport.

They are also dedicated in serving God. The three Carr boys are Christians.

"I think our secret to success is our belief in God," Kevin says. "He gives us the strength to make it through every match."

The disappointing sophomore year? A lesson in patience from God, Darrell explains.

"Everything happens for a reason," he says. "God is one reason we're going to state. Jason didn't make it through, but I know there was a reason for that."

The two boys had something in common that took them to state, Darrell Sr. says.

Dedication.

"They determined they would be state champions this year," Darrell Sr. says. "That's what it takes. You have to have a goal.

"You have to have a dream."

59TH ANNUAL INDIVIDUAL WRESTLING STATE FINALS

Market Square Arena

Friday-Saturday, Feb. 21-22, 1997

6 p.m. Friday - First-round matches

9:30 a.m. Saturday - Quarterfinals

1:30 p.m. Saturday - Semifinals

5 p.m. Saturday - Consolation

7:30 p.m. Saturday - Championship

Local wrestlers competing

First-round matches:

125 pounds - Kevin Carr (Wawasee, 39-1) vs. Mike Boesch (Clinton Prairie, 33-5)

135 - Darrell Carr (Wawasee, 38-1) vs. Mark Koers (Roncalli, 13-3)

152 - Shaun Belin (Wawasee, 38-2) vs. Jason Berndt (Mishawaka, 41-1)

Returning Champions

This year's weight class/records listed:

112 - Leroy Vega (Portage, 46-0)

119 - Nick Hull (Lawrence Central, 38-1)

125 - Steven Bradley (Beech Grove, 34-0)

135 - Billy Maldonaldo (East Chicago Central, 37-2)

160 - T.J. Hayes (Bellmont, 33-0) [[In-content Ad]]