Incoming recruit Gabe Arnold won the 79 kg title at the U20 National in Las Vegas. As the #3 seed Arnold started the tournament with three tech falls and a pin. After an 8-1 decision in the semifinals Arnold topped #1 seed Rocco Welsh in the finals, 3-2. Arnold did not surrender a takedown in the tournament.
Kale Petersen may have been the biggest story of the entire tournament. Petersen was dominant in winning his first four matches by tech fall before a 10-1 win over nationally ranked Nasir Bailey, 10-1. In the finals Petersen fell behind early to top seed Nic Bouzakis and came storming back to drop a hard fought 11-8 decision. Bouzakis was a 2022 World Team member and top recruit that is a redshirt freshman at Ohio State. Real impressive showing for Petersen.
Arnold and Petersen are both in the outstanding Iowa Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2023.
Current Hawkeyes had a strong showing at the U20 Nationals. The most notable would be Brad Hill placing second at Hwt. After a first round loss Aiden Riggins won eight straight matches before placing fifth at 74 kg. Rigins was 9-2 for the tournament. Jace Rhodes placed fifth at 61 kg.
Carter Martinson (70 kg), Cade Siebrecht (70 kg), Carson Martinson (74 kg), and Jude Link (74 kg) did not place.
All of the current Hawks that competed are true freshmen at Iowa.
The next step will be the U20 World Team Trials in Geneva, Ohio on June 3. All placewinners from U20 Nationals will be eligible to compete. The winner of the U20 WTT will represent Team USA at the U20 World Championships in Warsaw, Poland in August.
Incoming recruit Keyan Hernandez competed at 55 kg in the U17 U.S. Open. Hernandez was 2-2 for the tournament and did not place. Hernandez is in the Iowa Recruiting Class of 2024.
U20 Nationals
Kale Petersen 61 kg – 2nd place
Kale Petersen (SWA) tech fall Josh Beans (Vail WC) 10-0
Kale Petersen (SWA) tech fall Evan Mougallan (PA) 10-0
Kale Petersen (SWA) tech fall Yoshiya Funakosh (WCR) 11-1
Kale Petersen (SWA) tech fall Fernando Barreto (Pounders WC) 12-1
Kale Petersen (SWA) dec. Nasir Bailey (Harvery Twisters) 10-1
Nic Bouzakis (PA) dec Kale Petersen (SWA) 11-8
Jace Rhodes 61 kg – 5th Place
Jace Rhodes dec. No. 4 Zeke Seltzer (Tiger Style WC), 8-3
Jace Rhodes tech fall Chase Collins (Throbred WC), 3:29
Jace Rhodes pinned Derek Guanajuato (Arizona), 4:16
Jace Rhodes dec. No. 5 Cael Hughes (Cowboy WC), 6-3
No. 1 Nic Bouzakis (Pennsylvania) tech fall Jace Rhodes, 10-0 (1:40)
Emilio Ysaguirre, Jr. (Arizona) tech fall Jace Rhodes, 11-0 (3:41)
Jace Rhodes wins by injury default Nasir Bailey (Harvey Twisters WC)
Carter Martinson 70 kg
Martinson tech fall Owen Hicks (Curby 3 Style WC), 12-2 (3:57)
No. 8 Nicco Ruiz (Sunkist Kids WC) tech fall Martinson, 10-0 (3:52)
Martinson tech fall Chase Kmosena (Norse WC), 10-0 (2:18)
Martinson tech fall Jayson Victoria (Livermore Elite WC), 10-0 (0:41)
Martinson dec. Trae Mcdaniel (West Point WC), 8-2
Martinson tech fall No. 9 Braden Stauffenberg (Illinois), 10-0 (5:00)
No. 5 Beau Mantanona (Coachella Valley WC) dec. Martinson, 5-2
Cade Siebrecht 70 kg
Siebrecht dec. Charlie Fifield (Illinois), 10-2
No. 6 Paniero Johnson (Pennsylvania) tech falls Siebrecht, 12-0 (4:03)
Paul Ognissanti (Blairstown WC) dec. Siebrecht, 6-4
Aiden Riggins 74 kg – 5th Place
William Henckel (Blairstown WC) dec. No. 5 Riggins, 4-2
No. 5 Riggins tech fall Michael Morales (Sunkist Kids), 10-0 (2:15)
No. 5 Riggins tech fall Jeb Prechtel (Maurer Coughlin WC), 10-0 (1:46)
No. 5 Riggins tech fall Carson Martinson (Iowa), 10-0 (3:20)
No. 5 Riggins tech fall Micah Hanau (West Point WC), 10-0 (1:23)
No. 5 Riggins dec. No. 9 Jed Wester (Pinnacle WC), 8-4
No. 5 Riggins pinned Jasiah Queen (New Jersey), 3:39
No. 5 Riggins won by injury default over Cameron Steed (Tiger Style WC)
No. 5 Riggins tech fall No. 11 Kyle Dutton (Arkansas RTC), 12-2 (3:22)
Nick Fea (New York) dec. No. 5 Riggins, 9-8
No. 5 Riggins dec. Matthew Bianchi (Arkansas RTC), 8-4
Carson Martinson 74 kg
Martinson tech fall Roberto Padilla (Spartan Combat RTC), 10-0 (3:00)
No. 2 Joe Sealy (Pennsylvania) tech fall Martinson, 11-0 (2:35)
No. 5 Aiden Riggins (Iowa) tech fall Martinson, 10-0 (3:20)
Jude Link 74 kg
Link tech fall Jeb Prechtel (Maurer Coughlin WC), 11-0 (1:32)
Link dec. Luke Ciampa (Eclipse WC), 9-6
Link dec. No. 6 Bradley Gillum (DeKalb WC), 3-1
No. 11 Kyle Dutton (Arkansas RTC) tech fall Link, 10-0 (2:02)
No. 13 Nick Hamilton (Cavalier WC) dec. Link, 9-0
Gabe Arnold 79 kg – 1st Place
No. 3 Arnold tech fall Caesar Garza (California), 10-0 (1:59)
No. 3 Arnold pinned Austen Wetzel (Eierman Elite WC), 3:35
No. 3 Arnold tech fall Devin Wasley (Gopher WC), 10-0 (4:48)
No. 3 Arnold tech fall Ethan Riddle (Askren WA), 10-0, 4:10
No. 3 Arnold dec. Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh WC), 8-1
No. 3 Arnold dec. Rocco Welsh (Young Guns WC), 3-2
Bradley Hill 125 kg – 2nd Place
No. 9 Hill tech fall Max Balow (Viking RTC), 10-0 (1:22)
No. 9 Hill tech fall No. 8 Alex Semenenko (New York), 10-0 (0:50)
No. 9 Hill tech fall Nathan Taylor (Lehigh Valley WC), 10-0 (3:22)
No. 9 Hill dec. No. 12 Harley Andrews (Tuttle WC), 13-11
No. 6 Christian Carroll (Cowboy RTC) tech fall No. 9 Hill, 13-2 (3:50)
U17 World Team Trials
Keyan Hernandez 55 kg
Ronnie Ramirez (Pounders WC) dec Keyan Hernandez (Team Champs) 7-2
Keyan Hernandez (Team Champs) tech fall Ollie Phillips (TN) 12-2
Keyan Hernandez (Team Champs) dec Gavin Jendreas (Howe WC) 10-3
Calo Aron (Boneyard WC) dec Keyan Hernandez (Team Champs) 12-11
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
