Iowa Wrestling News and Notes
Hello everyone. Did you miss me?
(That’s a rhetorical question by the way – to which I’ll assume the answer is ‘yes’ and therefore do not require a response from you, especially if it should be one to the contrary.)
To some, this portion of the calendar might be considered a bit of a slow period in the world of wrestling. Others may even be of the mindset that perhaps wrestling ‘season’ had concluded altogether.
To either of those groups I have but one response:
There’s always something going on and given its unparalleled scope/reach Iowa Hawkeye wrestling oftentimes finds itself among those latest ‘happenings.’
This past week-and-change following the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials has proven to be no different, and it’s why I’ve made my triumphant return to recap it all for you good people out there.
So, let’s get right to it.
Tom Brands secures a pair of late additions to the 2024 class.
We’re certainly in the latter stages of the recruiting cycle for 2024 high school prospects, but as recent developments have shown, it ain’t over just yet.
Just prior to the aforementioned Olympic Trials, the Iowa men added commitments number nine and ten to its 2024 class.
Up first, New Jersey native Anthony Lavezzola announced that he’d be joining the Hawkeyes next season.
Lavezzola, a 113-pounder in his final high school season, will join the Iowa room alongside fellow lightweight commits Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge) and Keyan Hernandez (Montana).
The second of the two additions, Mead (Colorado) senior Otto Black, will arrive in Iowa City with a background unique to most Hawkeye signees.
A three-time Colorado state place winner, Black concluded his high school career with an undefeated (49-0) state championship season at 138 pounds. However, it’s his credentialed Greco-Roman background that really sets him apart.
A back-to-back Junior Fargo champion in the discipline (2022-23), not to mention a fifth-place finisher at the 2021 Under-17 World Championships, Black also threw his hat in the ring against the grown-ups this past December at Senior Nationals, posting a 2-2 record with his defeats coming against the 7th and 8th-place finishers respectively.
More recently, he won an Under-20 title at last week’s US Open at 63 kilograms (~139 pounds), setting him up for a great chance to make the 2024 U20 World Championship team at the end of May.
Throughout the tournament Black was rag-dolling opponents in spectacular fashion:
And in a wild, back-and-forth finals affair against a 2023 U20 World’s fifth-place finisher, he sealed the win at 63kg with the massive five-point throw that concludes the clip below:
For his efforts Black was named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament, an honor he shares with another incoming Hawkeye we’ll get to in just a moment.
Again, Black has an uncommon Greco-heavy background in comparison to most Iowa commits in recent memory – making it clear in his announcement on Instagram that he’s still very much in pursuit of his goals in that style on the World/Olympic stage. That said, it’ll be interesting to see how he fits into the mix in (likely) the 141–149-pound range.
One thing is for certain, you’d probably be ill-advised to go upper body with him at any point over his next 4-5 years in Iowa City.
Future Hawks make presence felt in Sin City
I just touched on Otto Black’s impressive exploits out at the 2024 US Open, but a pair of other soon-to-be Hawkeyes were also out in Las Vegas last weekend making waves of their own.
Matching Black’s ‘Outstanding Wrestler’ achievement was incoming Iowa women’s wrestler Karlee Brooks.
Brooks, ranked #2 in the country at 120 pounds (per Flo), rolled into the finals of the prestigious Girls National High School Recruiting Showcase without conceding a single point through three matches.
Once there and seeking her second title in as many years at the event, she would duke it out with the third-ranked 125-pounder in America – Zao Estrada – who just so happened to be in line for her fourth-consecutive Showcase title.
Brooks fell into an early 8-0 deficit courtesy of a takedown and a series of turns, before responding to close the score to 8-6 just before the intermission.
Two second-period takedowns by Estrada would extend the lead to a seemingly comfortable six points as the final minute ticked away, but apparently someone forgot to tell Brooks that a loss was all but certain.
With barely 30 seconds remaining Brooks ripped a nasty lefty headlock, ultimately settling in for the match-winning fall with just 0:09 left on the clock.
You won’t find a more clutch moment all weekend long from any of the thousands of boys and girls competing in Las Vegas.
Brooks talked about the championship match, as well as a little about her thoughts on officially becoming a Hawkeye later this year in a post-tournament interview with USA Wrestling:
One other future Hawk who had a nice showing in Vegas was 2024 men’s recruit Kael Voinovich – younger brother of current Iowa 149-pounder Victor.
Voinovich – ranked #19 nationally at 157 pounds by Flo – advanced all the way to the 70-kilogram (~154.3 pounds) semifinals behind four-consecutive wins, including a last second four-point throw to win his quarterfinal match 10-8.
The 2024 state champion for Iowa City High would drop his semifinal bout, eventually finishing his U20 tournament in sixth place. Regardless, it was an encouraging overall showing for one of Iowa’s less heralded signees in the Class of 2024.
Diduch and Simon earn a prestigious honor.
Sticking with the theme of incoming Hawkeyes for just a bit longer, 2024 women’s signees Cadence Diduch (Illinois) and Naomi Simon (Iowa) were both recently named as state winners of the Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
The award “recognizes and celebrates the nation’s most outstanding high school senior female wrestlers for their excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship, and community service.”
The 50 state winners will be narrowed down to five regional winners on May 1st, and a national winner of the award – named for women’s wrestling pioneer and four-time World champion Tricia Saunders – will be selected from that group a week later on May 8th.
Both Diduch (62 kilograms) and Simon (76 kilograms) also recently made the 2024 Under-20 United States World team by emerging victorious from their respective brackets a few weeks ago out in Spokane, Washington at the USMC Women’s National Championship.
Esther Han enters the transfer portal.
I’ve already chronicled three athletes who will be joining the Hawkeye women’s roster next season, but one who is seemingly departing is redshirt freshman Esther Han – who entered the transfer portal on April 23rd according to FloWrestling.
Han, a native of Carbondale, Illinois, arrived in Iowa City as the 12th-ranked 132-pounder in the country (Flo). Unfortunately, due to injury, over two seasons she was barely able to get on the mat in live competition – registering just six total matches in her Iowa career.
Even so, what a six-match run it was, as Han bonus’d her way through the field at the always tough Missouri Valley Open last November, registering five pins and a tech. fall on her way to the title at 136 pounds.
What appeared to be a recurrence of the same serious arm/elbow injury that sidetracked her 2022-23 campaign would shut down Han’s latest season around the Christmas holiday, and it now appears we won’t see her compete in an Iowa singlet again.
Fortunately for head coach Clarissa Chun, Iowa has plenty of capable options at the 131/138-pound weight classes entering next season.
National title favorite Nanea Estrella – herself returning from an injury that ended her 2023-24 season early – headlines a group that includes two recent 5th-place All-American’s (Lilly Luft in 2024 and Emmily Patneaud in 2022), last year’s 130-pound starter Emily Frost, and incoming freshman Cadence Diduch, whose sterling credentials I just mentioned a few paragraphs ago.
The Hawkeyes will be just fine in Han’s absence, but it’s a bummer that fans didn’t/won’t get to see more of her unique high-flying style in the Black & Gold.
Women’s college wrestling’s continued evolution
I know I’ve made note of it on numerous previous occasions, but the continued growth of women’s college wrestling (and at all levels/ages really) shows no signs of slowing down.
That sentiment was reflected yet again last week as the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) announced the approval of an expanded postseason format for the 2024-25 season, which will conclude with (likely) the final National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championship, or NCWWC, before the sport moves to a fully sanctioned NCAA championship in 2025-26.
Some of the changes include a now eight-region qualification format for the national tournament (the previous number was six in 2023-24) – with the top-four finishers at each weight in each regional event earning an automatic berth to the NCWWC.
In so doing, NCWWC’s will now host a field of 320 women (up from 240) consisting of 32-woman brackets at each of 10 weight classes – more or less a mirror of what folkstyle fans are used to seeing at NCAA’s on the men’s side for all these years.
This greater than 33 percent increase coincides with what will be a similar jump in the overall number of NCAA programs (Division I, II and III) competing next season.
Come 2024-25 there will be 96 women’s wrestling programs at the NCAA level – 23 more than existed at the start of last season.
How cool is that?
Also new for next postseason will be the championship venue, as NCWWC’s will move about 30 miles down the road from Cedar Rapids (IA) to Coralville, where Xtream Arena will play host to the pinnacle of women’s college wrestling.
After that, your guess is as good as mine as to where the national championship venue goes next. But wherever it takes place it will seemingly do so with an influx of NCAA money commensurate with the influx of talent on the mat.
I’ll say it again, how cool is that?
High school wrestling rule changes
This next bit isn’t ‘Hawkeye related’ per say, but I’d imagine will still be of plenty interest to fans out there who quite possibly have a younger wrestler in their lives who is set to compete at the high school level next season.
Last week, the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) announced the approval of multiple rule changes for the 2024-25 high school wrestling season – the most prominent of which bring the sport much more closely aligned with how folkstyle is scored/officiated at the collegiate level.
A three-point takedown, two, three and four-point near fall, and a less maddening interpretation of the out-of-bounds rule will all be implemented – the latter of which (I think) being particularly welcomed by high school athletes/parents/fans out there.
Six Iowa Wrestlers among plaintiffs in federal lawsuit against DCI
This final piece of news is just the latest branch of a story that I’m sure Hawkeye fans are sick and tired of hearing/reading about at this point.
A half-dozen Iowa wrestlers – including Abe Assad, Nelson Brands, Tony Cassioppi, Patrick Kennedy, Cullan Schriever and Cobe Siebrecht – are among 26 plaintiffs listed in a federal lawsuit against the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI).
Assad, Brands, Cassioppi and Siebrecht were all suspended for the entirety of the 2023-24 season amidst what became a highly controversial gambling probe by the state of Iowa, while Kennedy and Schriever served shorter suspensions and were eventually able to take the mat.
I’m hardly qualified to get into the legalese of it all, but for those who are here’s a link to the 47-page lawsuit in its entirety.
What ultimately becomes of this is beyond what I’m comfortable prognosticating. All I’d say is that I sincerely hope some sort of reasonable conclusion is reached – even if it’s far too late to completely undo much of the irreparable harm that has been caused by the entire fiasco.
Short time
That’s all I’ve got for you guys this week.
My plan is to be back within the next seven days or so to lay out a preview for Spencer Lee’s final hurdle to climb in order to punch his ticket to the Paris Olympics – the ‘Last Chance World Olympic Qualifier’ set for next weekend (May 9-12) in Istanbul, Turkey.
So, be on the lookout for that, and as always thanks for reading.
‘Till next time.
