Austin DeSanto won bronze and Otto Black silver at the Haparanda Cup in Haparanda, Sweden. Both competed at 63kg/138 lbs.
DeSanto dropped his first round match followed by winning two matches by tech fall for the bronze medal.
Black made the finals with a decision and two tech falls before dropping a 5-2 decision to William Eckroth of Sweden in the finals. DeSanto also dropped his match to Eckroth.
DeSanto and Black are being coached by Joe Warren, a 2006 Greco-Roman world champion and former MMA champion.
On Saturday, December 7 DeSanto and Black will compete at the Arvo Haavisto Cup in Ilmajoki, FInland.
DeSanto was a four-time All American for Iowa. He recently began training in Greco-Roman and this was his first international Greco-Roman competition.
Black captured silver at 63kg/138 lbs. at the 2024 U20 Greco-Roman World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain and also won Gold at 63kg/138 lbs. at the U20 Pan American Championships in Lima, Peru.
Black, from Park, Colorado, won a 138 lbs. 4A Colorado state title last season with a 52-0 record. He was a Junior Greco-Roman national champion at 126 in 2022 and 132 in 2023.
Black is a member of the Iowa Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2024 and is expected to join the team in January for the second semester.
Haparanda Cup
Haparanda, Sweden, November 30
63 kg – Austin DeSanto, Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye WC), bronze medal
LOSS William Eckroth (Sweden), 6-2
WIN Algot Garnelius (Sweden), tech fall 11-3
WIN Ruslan Stamat (Sweden), tech fall 10-2
63 kg – Otto Black, Parker, Colo. (Colorado Top Team), silver medal
WIN Arsenil Paschenko (Ukraine), 7-2
WIN Ruslan Stamat (Sweden), tech fall 8-0
WIN Jonatan Jedell (Sweden), tech fall 8-0
LOSS William Eckroth (Sweden), 5-2
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
