KANSAS CITY — David Carr showed his flair for the dramatics here Friday night.

Down to two-time defending national champion Keegan O’Toole of Missouri late in the semifinals, Carr secured a takedown with 11 seconds left to claim an 8-6 victory inside the T-Mobile Center.

With the win, the former champion and defending runner-up avenged his loss to O’Toole and punched a third straight title to the finals where he will meet Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink for the 165-pound crown Saturday night.

After powering through O’Toole, Carr jumped to his feet and motioned towards the crowd. He finished off his celebration by leaping into the arms of his Cyclone coaches.

“I give all glory to God,” Carr said. “I’ve been praying and reading my bible every day. I prayed for him to give me unlimited energy and I felt like I had another gear of energy in the semifinals.

“I just kept telling myself to keep wrestling, keep moving.”

Iowa State is tied for fourth overall with Arizona State, a half-point back of Iowa. Penn State has already secured another team title with Michigan in second place.

Joining Carr in the finals from the state of Iowa will be Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen, as the unbeaten 184-pounder topped Trey Munoz of Oregon State, 10-2.

Keckeisen, the top-seed who was a runner-up last year and twice a third place finisher, will meet Dustin Plott from Oklahoma State. Plott knocked off Minnesota’s Isaiah Salazar in the other semifinal.

Carr, the No. 4 seed, is now 26-2 on the year and a five-time All-American. He advanced to the final four with a 5-0 win over Wisconsin’s Dean Hamiti in the quarterfinals.

Mesenbrink moved to 26-0 on the year with a 19-8 victory over Iowa’s Mike Caliendo in the semis.

Anthony Echemendia owned Ryan Jack of NC State in the 141-pound quarterfinals, 5-3, but was unable to get past Jesse Mendez of Ohio State, falling 6-4. Echemendia can still place as high as third.

Evan Frost, Casey Swiderski and Yonger Bastida all fell in the quarters for the Cyclones.

Frost bounced back at 133 with a 2-1 win over Tyler Wells of Minnesota to reach the Top-8, as did Swiderski at 149 with a 2-1 tiebreaker win over Dylan D’Emilio from Ohio State.

Bastida had his tournament run come to an end following a second straight loss.

Kysen Terukina, Cody Chittum and Will Feldkamp lost earlier in the day on Friday for the Cyclones. After winning three straight, MJ Gaitan fell in the consolation fourth round.

In the quarters, Keckeisen scored a technical fall over Navy’s David Key, 22-6. He earned bonus points in each of his first four matches of the tournament in becoming the school’s first-ever four-time Div. I All-American.

Jared Simma lost a pair of one-point matches after reaching the 174-pound quarterfinals. Shane Griffith of Michigan topped Simma, 8-7, and Benjamin Pasiuk from Army earned a 9-8 win.

Cael Happel won three straight to reach the bloodround at 141 before a 5-2 loss to Real Woods of Iowa ended his medal chase. Ryder Downey was also knocked off one win short at 157 after a 4-2 loss to Iowa’s Jared Franek.

Julian Farber, Jack Thomsen and Wyatt Voelker had their tourney runs come to an end in the early consolation session.