Thomas B. Carr

Category
2017
About This Inductee

Tom Carr was born in Wilkes-Barre, PA, and graduated from Meyers High School in 1951. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in vocational education and did post-grad work at Penn State and received his Masters of Education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1966. Tom’s dedication to wrestling spans more than half a century. While at Meyers High School he was a 4 time District 2 wrestling finalist and 2 time champion, was outstanding wrestler of first Wilkes-Barre tournament in 1950, volunteered at Meyers, Hanover, and YMCA from 1951-1959 and was assistant coach at Reading High School 1960-1961. In 1963 he became the head coach and teacher at Erie Tech and remained there for the next 27 years and proceeded in building a winning wrestling program from scratch, striving to put Erie wrestling on the map without a junior high wrestling program. He retired in 1990. The true measure of Coach Carr’s success was the outstanding individual wrestlers he produced: 59 Sectional Champs, 29 District Champs, 14 Regional Champions and five PIAA State Champions, 2 Runner-ups, and 6 Placers, also two Outstanding Wrestling Awards at the regional and State meet. From 1977-1983 placed in the top ten at the PIAA State meet, with the 1983 team finishing as the second best team in the PIAA State tournament. Six of his wrestlers competed in the Pittsburgh Press Classic. Two received the Outstanding Wrestling award. Carr was District X “Coach of the Year” 1979 and 1983, and served in the association as President in 1981. In 1999 he shared the memorial dedication and naming of the Wrestling gym area “Wall of Fame” and wrestling room with his son Major Tom Carr. He was inducted into the Erie Metro Chapter of the Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. He was honored with inclusion in the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 1993 and in 2001 the Pennsylvania Chapter National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum. He was selected with placement in the Erie Tech “Wall of Excellence” 2003, and in 2011 was inducted into Meyers High School Wrestling Hall of Fame. Tom is married to June Fetzer Carr from Kingston, PA. He and June lost sons, infant Michel Carr, and F-16 “Top Gun” Fighter pilot Major Tom Carr, and have one daughter, Cathy Rozantz, husband Tom and three amazing grandchildren Taylor, Derek and Raven.