Photo courtesy of Grand View Athletics: Former Fort Dodge state champion Carson Taylor is the No. 1 seed at 141 pounds for the upcoming NAIA national tournament.

WICHITA, Kan. — The goal is of course to win it all, but this week is about much more than that for Grand View University senior wrestler Carson Taylor.

“I would love to win a national championship, but that’s just a pedestal,” Taylor said. “People won’t remember that. I think about it as something to work toward. If I win it, it would be cool…but a team title would be wonderful.”

The Fort Dodge Senior High graduate has his sights set on gold. At the same time, a fourth consecutive national team crown is a top priority for every Viking athlete on the mat.

“Winning a team title is the goal,” Taylor said. “If we win as a team, we would be happy.”

In his fifth (COVID) and final season, Taylor is looking to go down in history as a five-time All-American and five-time national medalist at GVU.

“It means everything to me to be at Grand View,” Taylor said. “They were the first school to reach out to me. It was great being a part of such a top team from the start.

“It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”

The 2020 Dodger state champ, who was also a runner-up and fifth place finisher in high school, just hit another career milestone, becoming a four-time Heart of America Conference gold medalist.

“The difference in college was I learned how to have more fun,” Taylor said. “My mindset changed a lot. I started not carrying what happened, but going out and focusing on the fight — not as much the wins and losses.”

Taylor (22-2) enters the national tournament as the top seed and is 12-4 in his career at nationals. Last season, he placed third.

As a sophomore, Taylor was a runner-up. He was fourth and third as an underclassman.

“The motivation is having good competition and not really getting nervous about it,” Taylor said. “Being the No. 1 seed is about facing solid opponents and wrestling the best people.

“The tougher, the better. I love carrying that kind of mindset.”

It will be a different view for the ex-Dodger, who was 121-19 in his prep career. For the first time in five years, Taylor was up a weight at 141 pounds this winter.

In his first four seasons at 133, Taylor posted a record of 101-17.

“It just always fit to wrestle at 133,” Taylor said. “I had thought about going up, but the team needed me at 133 (for four years), so I wanted to do what was best for the team.”

In the opening round on Thursday, Taylor will face Tristan Bremer of Providence.

“I feel good (heading into nationals),” Taylor said. “I’m really confident in my final year and both of my losses were to good opponents.

“It made me better to wrestle tough matches.”

The NAIA national tournament runs through Saturday.