| Team: | Syracuse '92 |
Syracuse University was known for its NCAA championship ‘big men’ – Art Baker, Jim Nance, Tom Schlendorf – in the collegiate wrestling era of the 1960s. A generation later, Mark Kerr joined that exclusive group.
A native of Toledo, Ohio, Kerr played football, baseball, track and wrestling at Toledo Waite high school. He was best at wrestling, winning the Ohio Division 1 state championship at 175 pounds in 1986.
Kerr then headed to Syracuse University where he excelled on the mats. Kerr placed second at the EIWA tournament during his freshman year. His sophomore year, Kerr won the 190-pound EIWA title, defeating Lehigh’s future NCAA champion, Matt Ruppel, in the finals.
He sat out the following season but came back in 1991 to take home another EIWA title at 190 pounds. Although just a junior, Kerr won the Fletcher Award, presented to the wrestler who has scored the most team points during his EIWA tournament career.
Kerr’s senior year was his finest. He won his third EIWA title at 190 pounds breezing through the tournament by earning bonus points in all his matches. He became just the second wrestler in the history of the EIWA to win the Fletcher Award twice.
While shut out at the NCAA tournament during his first three years of qualifying, Kerr dominated the 190-pound NCAA field in 1992 at Oklahoma City. Seeded fourth, Kerr defeated the top-seed, Rex Holman of Ohio State, in the semifinals. He then faced 28-year-old Randy Couture of Oklahoma State, the prior year runner-up, in the finals. Kerr won his NCAA title by recording a 12-4 major decision over the local favorite.
Kerr enjoyed a successful Freestyle wrestling career after college. In 1993 and 1994 he was the USA World Team Trials champion. He placed 7th at 220 pounds in the FILA World Championships in 1993 in Toronto. In 1994 Kerr won the USA Senior Freestyle championship at 220 pounds and finished second at the World Cup. He was a silver medalist at the 1995 Pan-American Games.
After narrowly missing out on making the 1996 USA Olympic team, Kerr turned his attention to a career in Mixed Martial Arts where he became a two-time UFC heavyweight champion.
Kerr resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.