Four incoming Iowa Wrestling recruits are registered to compete at the U20 U.S. Open in Las Vegas this weekend.

Leister Bowling(77 kg) will compete in Greco-Roman on Thursday. 

Bo Bassett(65 kg), Tyrel Miller(79 kg) and Michael Mocco(125) will compete in freestyle on Saturday and Sunday.

This will be the first step in qualifying for Team USA at the U20 World Championships in Sophia, Bulgaria in August.

Bo was a 2021 Cadet world champion and won bronze at the 2024 U20 World Championships at 65 kg.

Mocco was a 2024 U17 world champion at 110 kg.

Miller and Bowling are in the Recruiting Class of 2025. 

Bo and Mocco are in the Recruiting Class of 2026.

FloWrestling will provide full coverage of the U.S. Open on their premium service.

I will have a follow up blog with results.

Freestyle

65 kg – Bo Bassett 

79 kg – Tyrel Miller

125 kg – Michael Mocco

Greco-Roman

77 kg – Leister Bowling

Greco- Roman U20 U.S. Open

Thursday, April 24

Noon – Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Semifinals & Consolation 

6 PM – Consolation, Consolation Semifinals, Medal Matches (3rd, 5th, 7th place matches) & Championship Finals

Freestyle U20 U.S. Open

Saturday, April 26

Noon – Preliminaries & Consolation

6 PM – Championship Rounds & Consolation

Sunday, April 27

Noon – Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Consolation & Consolation Semifinals

4 PM – Championship Finals & Medal Matches (3rd, 5th, 7th, place matches)

*Times listed are CST

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Iowa Wrestling will be represented at the Senior U.S. Open at The Expo at World Market Center in Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday.

Former Hawks Austin DeSanto and Real Woods will be competing. DeSanto is the #5 seed at 61 kg and Woods is #4 at 65 kg.

In December DeSanto won a gold medal at the Arvo Haavisto Cup in Ilmajoki, FInland and bronze at the Haparanda Cup in Haparanda, Sweden in Greco-Roman. DeSanto will be competing in Freestyle at the U.S. Open.

Massoma Endene is seeded #3 at 97 kg. On Monday Endene announced that he was transferring to Iowa from Wartburg for his final year of eligibility at 197.

Endene was a 2024 and 2025 U23 Pan American gold medalist at 97 kg for Team USA and placed seventh at the 2024 U23 World Championships 

FloWrestling will provide full coverage of the U.S. Open on their premium service.

I will have a follow up blog with results.

61 kg – #5 Austin DeSanto (Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)

65 kg – #4 Real Woods (Cliff Keen WC)

97 kg – #3 Massoma Endene (Burg Training Center)

Senior U.S. Open in Las Vegas

Friday, April 25

Noon – Preliminaries, Quarterfinals & Consolation

6 PM – Semifinals & Consolation

Saturday, April 26

Noon – Consolation, Consolation Semifinals & Medal Matches (3rd, 5th, 7th place matches)

8 PM – Championship Finals

*Times listed are CST

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Six Hawkeyes and one incoming recruit will be competing at the U20 U.S. Open at The Expo at World Market Center in Las Vegas on Saturday and Sunday.

The winner of each weight at the U20 U.S. Open will automatically qualify for the Best 2 out of 3 Finals at the U20 World Team Trials in Geneva, Ohio on May 31- June 1.

The 2025 U20 World Freestyle Championships will be in Sophia, Bulgaria in August.

Elite recruit Bo Bassett will be competing at 65 kg.

Bo won the U20 U.S. Open at 65 kg last year and won a bronze medal at the 2024 U20 World Championships in Spain. 

Bo is the #1 overall recruit in the Class of 2026 and ranked #1 at 145 and the biggest recruit in the country to come out of high school since Spencer Lee in the Class of 2017.

FloWrestling will provide full coverage of the U.S. Open on their premium service.

I will have a follow up blog with results.

57 kg – Dru Ayala

57 kg – Anthony Lavezzola

65 kg – Bo Bassett *

70 kg – Koye Grebel

74 kg – Joey Kennedy

86 kg – Jake Howell

92 kg – Brody Sampson

* – Incoming recruit from the Class of 2026

U20 U.S. Open in Las Vegas

Saturday, April 26

Noon – Preliminaries & Consolation

6 PM – Championship Rounds & Consolation

Sunday, April 27

Noon – Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Consolation & Consolation Semifinals

4 PM – Championship Finals & Medal Matches (3rd, 5th, 7th, place matches)

*Times listed are CST

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The Iowa Women’s Wrestling program will be well represented at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas on Thursday and Friday.

We will have past, current and future Hawks competing at The Expo at World Market Center.

This will be the first step to earn a spot on Team USA for the 2025 Senior World Freestyle Championships in Zagreb, Croatia in September.

Macey Kilty has already accepted a bid at 65 kg to Final X for the World Team Finals in June.

2024 Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades in the #1 seed at 68 kg after competing at 76 kg in the Olympics. 

Kylie Welker is the #1 seed at 76 kg. She won a bronze at 72 kg at the 2024 World Championships.

2024 NCWWC national champion Felicity Taylor is the #1 seed at 53 kg.

Incoming recruits Isabella Marie Gonzales is #8 at 53 kg and Bella Williams is #8 at 57 kg.

FloWrestling will provide full coverage of the U.S. Open on their premium service.

I will have a follow up blog with results.

Iowa Hawkeyes competing and their pre-seed:

50 kg

7. Ava Bayless (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)

8. Emilie Gonzalez (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)

53 kg

1. Felicity Taylor (Titan Mercury WC)

8. Isabella Marie Gonzales (Titan Mercury WC) *

Brianna Gonzalez

57 kg

8. Bella Williams (USOPTC) *

59 kg

6. Emily Frost (Iowa Women’s WC/Curby 3-Style WC)

62 kg

7. Nanea Estrella (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)

65 kg

2. Reese Larramendy (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)

68 kg

1. Kennedy Blades (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)

76 kg

1. Kylie Welker (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)

* – Incoming recruit from the Class of 2025

Senior Women’s U.S. Open in Las Vegas

Thursday, April 24

Noon – Senior Women Freestyle – Preliminaries, Quarterfinals & Consolation

6 PM – Senior Women Freestyle – Semifinals & Consolation

Friday, April 25

Noon – Senior Women Freestyle – Consolation, Consolation Semifinals & Medal Matches (3rd, 5th, 7th place matches)

6 PM – Senior Women Freestyle – Championship Finals

*Times listed are CST

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Former Iowa two-time NCAA national champion Jeff McGinness will be competing at Masters Nationals in Las Vegas. 

McGinness will compete at 78 kg/171 lbs. in the Class C Masters Division for ages 43-50 on Wednesday, April 23 at The Expo at World Market Center.

FloWrestling will provide full coverage of the U.S. Open on their premium service.

The 2025 Veterans World Championships will be in Budapest, Hungary on October 7-12.

McGinness was recently named as the 2025 U20 Women’s World Team Coach. The U20 World Championships will be in Sophia, Bulgaria on August 20-22.

McGinness has been the head coach since the beginning of the program and just finished up his third year as head coach of the Simpson Women’s Wrestling program. 

As one of the most successful wrestlers in Iowa High School wrestling history McGinness was an undefeated(172-0) four-time state champion at City High in Iowa City. McGinness won a Junior World Freestyle title in 1992 at 58 kg/127 lbs. and was named as the tournament O.W.

At the University of Iowa McGinness was a three-time All American and two-time NCAA National champion for Dan Gable. 

McGinness won a national title at 126 lbs. in 1995 and at 142 lbs. in 1998 and was a member of four NCAA National Champion Iowa Hawkeye teams. 

Masters Nationals in Las Vegas

Wednesday, April 23

Prelims – Noon 

All remaining matches – 6 PM 

*Times listed are CST

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Bella Williams announced on Instagram that she has committed to the University of Iowa.

Williams will be a member of the Iowa Women’s Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2025.

From Edmond(North HS) Oklahoma, Williams is #2 at 130 and #8 in the overall P4P in the National Girls High School Rankings.

For the Class of 2025 rankings Williams is #1 at 130 and #4 P4P.

Over the last two weeks Williams placed second at U20 Nationals at 59kg/130 lbs. in Spokane, Washington. She then won gold at the 2025 U20 Pan American Championships at 59 kg in Queretaro, Mexico.

Williams was a 2024 U17 Pan American gold medalist at 65 kg. 

In Fargo Williams won U16 and Junior national titles.

This is another elite recruit to be added to the Iowa Women’s Wrestling program.

Iowa has won an NCWWC national title in their first two years of competition and they are reloading for future success.

Iowa Women’s Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2025

Isabella Gonzales – Fresno(Clovis East HS), California  120 lbs. Ranked #1 and #3 P4P

Samantha Sachs – Glendora, California  130 lbs.  Ranked #3

Bella Williams – Edmond(Edmond North HS) Oklahoma  130  Ranked #2 and #8 P4P

Adriana Palumbo, Pleasantville, New York  155 lbs.  Ranked #5

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Massoma Endene announced on Instagram that he is transferring to the University of Iowa. Endene is a three-time D-III national champion for Wartburg at 197 and will have one year of eligibility remaining.

Endene won the U23 World Team Trials at 97 kg/213 lbs. and represented Team USA at the 2024 U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania where he placed seventh. Endene was a teammate with Patrick Kennedy on that U23 World team.

Endene was a 2024 and 2025 Pan American gold medalist at 97 kg for Team USA.

Endene is originally from Dallas, Texas where he was a two-time state qualifier and placed sixth as a senior for James Bowie High School.

At Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville, Iowa Endene was a two-time NJCAA All American placing seventh at 174 in 2021 and second at 197 lbs. in 2022. 

At Wartburg Endene was 27-1 with 10 pins in winning a D-III national title in 2023,  28-0 with 13 pins in winning the national title in 2024 and 21-0 with 10 pins in winning his third national title at 197 in 2025. 

This is a great addition for the Iowa Hawkeyes that I expect to be a crowd favorite with his explosive style.

Endene is the fourth transfer to Iowa in the last month that should make a big impact in the Iowa lineup next season.

Transfers

125 – Dean Petersen from Rutgers with one year of eligibility remaining.

133 but projected at 141 – Nasir Bailey of Little Rock with two years of eligibility and a redshirt remaining.

149 – Jordan Williams of Little Rock with two years of eligibility remaining.

197 – Massoma Endene of Wartburg with one year of eligibility remaining.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Adriana Palumbo of Pleasantville, New York announced on Instagram that she has committed to the University of Iowa as a member of the Recruiting Class of 2025.

Palumbo is ranked #5 at 155 in the National Girls High School Rankings.

Palumbo did not complete this past season due to injury.

In 2024 Palumbo placed fourth at Junior Nationals in Fargo and fourth at U20 World Team Trials.

In October of 2023 Palumbo became the first female wrestler from New York to win Super 32 when she won the title at 160 lbs.

Palumbo joins Isabella Gonzales and Samantha Sachs in the Recruiting Class of 2025.

Palumbo joins a stacked roster for the Hawks that have won an NCWWC national title in their first two years of competition.

Iowa Women’s Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2025

Isabella Gonzales – Fresno(Clovis East HS), California  120 lbs. Ranked #1

Samantha Sachs – Glendora, California  130 lbs.  Ranked #3

Adriana Palumbo, Pleasantville, New York  155 lbs.  Ranked #5

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The Iowa Women’s Wrestling Club(IWWC) announced on Instagram that Macey Kilty has signed on to be a member of the IWWC.

Kilty won an NCWWC national title for Iowa last month in her first and only year of competition in collegiate wrestling. Kilty, from Stratford, Wisconsin, went 28-0 with 20 tech. falls and three pins for the season to win the national title at 145.  

On April 11 Kilty accepted an invitation to Final X in Newark, New Jersey for the best-of-three series for the top spot at 65 kg. The winner will represent Team USA at the 2025 Senior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia in September.

Kilty was named as one of eight finalists for the USA Wrestling 2025 Women’s College Wrestler of the Year.

On the International level Kilty won a bronze medal at the 2024 Senior World Championships, silver at 65kg at the 2023 Senior World Championships and was also a 2018 Cadet World champion. 

Kilty has won seven medals from age-group World Championships—one gold, four silver and two bronze. She has competed on nine U.S. World Teams—two Senior, three U23, two U20 and two U17 and has gone eight-for-nine winning a medal.

The IWWC provides training, coaching and travel arrangements necessary for athletes to compete at the elite level on the national and International level of women’s wrestling.

I believe we can expect more Hawks to join the IWWC after they finish their eligibility as an Iowa Hawkeye.

I will keep you up to date right here on my Iowa Wrestling Fan Blog as numerous Iowa Hawkeyes will be competing in Las Vegas at the U20 and Senior U.S. Open in Las Vegas this weekend.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Incoming Iowa recruit Harvey Ludington has been named as the 2025 Dave Schultz Excellence Award winner for New Jersey.

Ludington, from Brick, New Jersey(Brick Memorial HS), is the #1 ranked 190 lbs. high school wrestler in the country and in the Iowa Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2025.

Ludington will now advance to Regional voting for the Northeast with Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The regional DSHSEA winners will be announced on April 24 and the national winner will be announced on April 30.

In 2022 Ludington won a state title as a freshman at 175 and placed second at 175 as a sophomore in a one point match. In 2024 he won a state title at 190 with a 30-0 record. 

This past season Ludington won his third state title by going 41-0 with 38 wins by bonus. Ludington also recorded quite a few pins in under :30 with several being at :10.

A 154-3 career record is impressive for the level of competition and that New Jersey has only one state champion per weight.

The DSHSEA was established in 1996 to honor Olympic and World champion Dave Schultz. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1997 and as a member of the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016.

The DSHSEA recognizes and celebrates the nation’s most outstanding high school senior male wrestlers for their excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship, and community service.

DSHSEA winners are evaluated and selected on the basis of three criteria: success and standout performances and sportsmanship in wrestling; review of GPA and class rank, academic honors and distinctions; and participation in activities that demonstrate commitment to character and community.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!