Ben Kueter of the University of Iowa won the silver medal at 125kg at the U20 World Freestyle Championships in Pontevedra, Spain. Kueter dropped a 4-2 decision in the finals to Amirezza Masoumi Valadi of Iran. Valadi was the 2022 U23 World champion at 125kg and is now a five-time age group World champion. Valadi defeated 2023 world bronze medalist and 2024 Olympian Mason Parris 11-6 in January.
Kueter started off with a 7-0 decision over Alikhan Kussainov of Kazakhstan in the Round of 16. In the quarterfinals it only took :28 for Keuter to get a takedown and an arm bar for the fall over Stsiapan Mandryk of Individual Neutral Athlete.
Keuter looked impressive with a 13-3 tech fall over Nambardagva Batbayar of Mongolia in the semifinals.
This was the first International competition for Kueter since he won the 2022 U20 World Championships at 97kg/213 lbs.
Kueter was a member of the Iowa Football team last season. In April he announced that he would concentrate on wrestling for the next ten months and return for Spring football in April of 2025. Kueter was 3-1 as a true freshman for Iowa last season at Hwt as a true freshman.
This was an impressive showing for Kueter against elite competition. He was probably giving up 30 lbs. in the finals. Give Kueter some time to grow and concentrate on wrestling and he has a great future ahead of him for Iowa and Team USA.
I am looking forward to seeing Kueter in the lineup full time this season for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Iowa Head Coach Tom Brands, Assistant Coach Ryan Morningstar and Hawkeye Wrestling Club Coach Daniel Dennis were in Spain coaching for Kueter.
U20 World Championships
Ben Kueter (125 KG) – Second Place
Ben Kueter (USA) VPO Alikhan Kussainov (KAZ), 7-0
Ben Kueter (USA) VFA Stsiapan Mandryk (AIN), 0:27
Ben Kueter (USA) VSU1 Nambardagva Batbayar (MGL), 13-3
Amirreza Fardin Masoumi Valadi (IRI) VPO Ben Kueter (USA), 4-2
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
