Then there is Carter Ray.

The Southwestern middle schooler just happens to be proficient in all three, even winning the New York State Triple Crown when he was 10 years old in 2024.

“He did it in 2024 as well,” Carter’s father, Jon, said. “He’s a two-time Triple Crown winner now, which is kind of unheard of. There are three different state tournaments through USA Wrestling that you have to win all three.”

Two years later, Carter once again proved his might in the circle, winning the New York State Championships at 92 pounds in USA Folkstyle last month in New York City, and then the Greco-Roman and freestyle state titles in Elmira last weekend.

Carter Ray poses with Chris Adams of USA Wrestling in New York after winning the Triple Crown with victories in folkstyle, freestyle and Greco Roman styles. Ray will go on to compete for Team New York in the national tournament in Elkhorn, Nebraska from June 4-7. Submitted photo

“The difference this year was the national team implications,” Jon added. “This year, even more than two years ago, brought a ton of talent out from all around the state trying to make the national team. If anything, it was just that much more loaded with kids from every section in New York.”

There was plenty of excitement in the Ray household to accomplish the feat again, but this year there was another reward with more wrestling to come this season.

From June 4-7, Carter will represent Team New York in the Nebraska USA Wrestling Elementary Freestyle and Greco National Duals.

“I couldn’t be more proud,” Jon said. “He works super hard, he’s been wrestling since he was 4 years old and sometimes trains two times a day. We drive all around the state and in Pennsylvania for practices. Sometimes he doesn’t see his friends and (doesn’t) get to do things for the entire season. He’ll leave right after school and not get home until 9 or 10 at night. I’m super proud of him. He’s still been able to be a great student, made high-honor roll every single quarter this year. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

Carter is no stranger to traveling for competitions, but this time he will be competing at the national level against the best wrestlers in his age group.

“It means a lot,” Carter said. “I worked very hard this season, so it means a lot.”

While Carter’s family is committed to his wrestling career, Carter has been the driving force behind his success, on and off the mat.

“He’s the most disciplined kid that I’ve ever known,” Jon said. “I coach a lot of his buddies and they all work hard together. But he’s just so disciplined and, more than anything, he’s always been like a sponge where he’s a quick learner. He loves breaking down the sport, just with little things of the small adjustments. He writes in a notebook after practice all the time. He watches film on Team USA and the world level. He’s the most disciplined kid. During the season he’s practicing five days a week between Grove City, Pennsylvania, Erie, Pennsylvania, Buffalo and here at home. We have our own club, too.”

The training and studying, which has allowed Carter to master his craft, has continued to pay off this year and he put on a dominant display to capture the triple crown.

In the first weekend of March, Ray breezed through the New York/USA Wrestling Folkstyle State Championships. He started with an 18-2 technical fall over William Singer in the quarterfinals, posted another technical fall over Joseph Kosakavich (Green Machine Wrestling) in the semifinals 18-0, and then he pinned Ari Goldin (School of Grappling) in just 57 seconds to claim his first title.

Then, last weekend in Elmira, came the real challenge, winning both the Greco Roman and freestyle titles.

“That was the biggest part of it,” Jon said about the difficulty switching between each style of wrestling. “When he won the folkstyle title in March, we actually flew to that. It was one thing because he’s trained for it his whole life. He has done freestyle in the offseason, but not much Greco so we didn’t really know what to expect.”

Carter won the freestyle championship with a 6-2 decision over Lincoln Martinez (Frog Empire), but the real challenge came in the Greco Roman finals, facing his freestyle semifinal opponent, Kaiden Crowley of Journeymen Wrestling.

“Him being able to focus … it’s incredibly hard,” Jon said about switching to Greco. “I feel like you have to be laser focused because it is so much different than folkstyle. It is just a lot closer. If you make one mistake in Greco or freestyle, that is the match.”

Needing to beat Crowley twice, Carter proved up to the task, taking the pivotal third match with a decisive pin in 1:09 after winning the opening bout with an 10-1 technical fall and then faltering with an 11-4 decision in the second round.

Completing the trifecta of championships earned Ray the right to compete at the national stage in both Greco Roman and Freestyle next month in Elkhorn, Nebraska.