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Iowa wrestling 2025 US Open preview - Men's Edition

by:Tanner Lafever•04/24/25•

TannerLafever

Bo Bassett
Bo Bassett won't arrive in Iowa City until the fall of 2026, but he's already the biggest Hawkeye attraction at this week's US Open. (Photo Credit: Tony Rotundo)

Welcome back and/or to another Iowa wrestling preview for this week’s US Open.

Yesterday, I went into depth on the 11 women with Hawkeye ties who are competing out in Las Vegas.

Now it’s time for Part Two – as an even dozen past/present/future members of the Iowa men’s program will be in action across a trio of divisions.

As is customary here at Hawkeye Report, we respect our elders.

(Shout out to my boss, Tom.)

And so, the first three wrestlers we’ll mention are all competitors in the Senior Freestyle division – including a pair of Iowa graduates plus one who just became a Hawkeye earlier this week:

  • Austin DeSanto (seeded fifth at 61 kilograms)
  • Real Woods (seeded fourth at 65 kilograms)
  • Massoma Endene (seeded third at 97 kilograms)

Moving down the age group ladder, five members of the 2024-25 Iowa roster will compete in the U20 Freestyle division:

They’re joined by a trio of high school commits – including two members of what could be an all-time 2026 class.

#1 ranked prospect Bo Bassett (February) and #15 Michael Mocco (April) have each pledged to the Hawkeyes within the past three months. And while they won’t step onto campus until the fall of 2026, the excitement for their arrival is already palpable among Iowa fans.

Bassett will compete at 65kg, Mocco at 125kg. Between them in weight, one half of the Miller twins – 2025 commit Tyrel – will be in action at 79kg.

Not to be forgotten, Iowa also has one other incoming 2025 recruit competing in Vegas.

In fact, Colorado native Leister Bowling IV has already made quite a mark at 77kg in the U20 Greco-Roman division.

Setting the stage

Now that you know who to watch from an Iowa perspective, here’s more on the US Open format and its importance within the 2025 domestic freestyle calendar.

What does a first place finish this week mean?

For one, it means you’ve won a helluva wrestling tournament – the difficulty of which I’ll expound upon later as we dive further into the field(s) at each weight.

But secondly, a Senior title earns any wrestler a spot in ‘Final X’ in New Jersey this June.

Final X is the event at which best-of-three finals are contested for each of the 10 spots on Team USA for the 2025 Senior World Championships.

2/20 Final X’ers have already been automatically determined – as first dibs go to any returning World/Olympic medalist so long as they’re competing at the same weight class.

As such, one Hawkeye has already earned (and accepted) his berth:

10 of the other spots will be determined by this week’s champions out in Las Vegas. After that, the remaining eight will go to winners of the World Team Trials Challenge tournament held in mid-May.

Conversely, the U20 setup is a little different.

Winners of this week’s US Open will also punch their ticket to a best-of-three final for the 2025 World team spot – but that event will take place in late May in Ohio following the U20 World Team Trials.

That same weekend, 10 wrestlers will win their trials bracket and immediately face off against the US Open victors for a spot on Team USA. Returning U20 World medalists do not automatically earn a spot in the best-of-three final.

I realize that’s a wordy explanation, so to simplify it, just look at things this way:

Win a US Open title and you’re guaranteed a best-of-three series to make Team USA.

Senior Freestyle

Once again, sticking with tradition, we’ll start with the Senior Freestyle division.

And to lead them off let’s begin with the wrestler whose had the most success on this stage to date.

Two years ago, Austin DeSanto reached the finals of the US Open. There, he’d lose to the subsequent World Champion (and 2024 World bronze medalist) Vito Arujau.

DeSanto won a hard-fought semifinal against Seth Gross back in 2023.

The fact that DeSanto enters this tournament as the #5 seed should tell you just how hellacious the field is.

61kg is littered with previous World teamers/medalists, young and old. Every match from the quarterfinals onward should be an absolute war.

For DeSanto, that’ll likely mean a rematch with Seth Gross – an old college rival whom the Hawkeye has split with in two previous (freestyle) meetings.

This is the only Final X spot available with Arujau already in the best-of-three final. And while I can envision DeSanto winning this bracket – the same goes for 4-5 other guys at the weight.

Next up is relative freestyle newby Real Woods – who could be a ‘real’ surprise this week.

Despite limited freestyle accolades, Woods enters as the #4 seed at 65kg. Not that I’d pick it, but it wouldn’t stun me to see him challenge the likes of 2018 US Open champ Joey McKenna or recent NCAA staples Jesse Mendez/Beau Bartlett for first place in Vegas.

Woods did finish third this February at a Rankings Series event in Albania – losing only to a 2022 World champion from Iran while winning four other bouts by a combined score of 39-2.

And then there’s the fascinating case of brand-new Hawkeye Massoma Endene – seeded third at 97kg.

How does the 2024 U23 World teamer look against senior-level competition? And do those results indicate anything for his (folkstyle) transition from Division III to Division I next season?

Make no mistake, barring an unforeseen catastrophe 97kg will be won by multi-time World/Olympic champion Kyle Snyder. But if Endene can show well against past high placers at this event like #2 Jay Aiello and/or #4 Gary Traub it’ll make Hawkeye fans all the more bullish about his potential in an Iowa singlet.

U20 Freestyle – the headliners

I mentioned them in the introduction, and it really is true.

Bo Bassett and Michael Mocco are the stars of Iowa’s U20 contingent even though they won’t officially become Hawkeyes until the fall of 2026.

Both are past age-level World champions – Bassett in 2021, Mocco in 2024.

Bassett is also already familiar with making a U20 World team – having earned a bronze medal in Spain last summer.

Staying on the most famous athlete in high school wrestling, Bassett is going to have his work cut out for him in Vegas.

Look, I can’t speak to the entire death/breadth of the high school scene. But FloWrestling put out an excellent article lending insight into the multitude of top U20 contenders.

Bassett will have to navigate five other preps ranked fifth or higher at their respective weight classes. And he’ll also have to contend with some young collegians – chief among them 2024 Lehigh All-American Luke Stanich.

But hey, he did it a year ago, so there’s no reason he can’t/won’t again in 2025.

As for Mocco, a loaded field awaits him as well.

The high school talent is immense – several of whom are full-sized heavyweights as compared to the growing junior. Meanwhile, a pair of star 2024 recruits return from a redshirt year training in college rooms.

One – Cole Mirasola – has been plying his trade inside the Penn State machine. The other – 2022 U17 World champ Koy Hopke – was the understudy to Gable Steveson at Minnesota this season.

Michael Mocco is not the favorite entering this week. But you’d probably be unwise to underestimate a wrestler of his lineage – especially have seen him do this en route to a U17 World title some eight months ago:

U20 Freestyle – others to keep an eye on

The half-dozen other Hawkeyes competing in U20 Freestyle have neither the acclaim nor expectations of the aforementioned duo.

Four of them – Dru Ayala and Anthony Lavezzola (57kg), Joseph Kennedy (74kg) and Brody Sampson (92kg) – had relatively nondescript redshirt seasons in 2024-25. Another – Koye Grebel (70kg) – was in just his second year on campus.

And the sixth – #71 ranked high school senior Tyrel Miller – won’t arrive in Iowa City until the fall.

None are projected to have significant impact on Iowa’s lineup in 2025-26. Each has something to prove in Vegas all the same.

Miller recently won his first Ohio state title for St. Edwards – a high school powerhouse in the Buckeye State. His twin brother – Jarrel – did the same after having finished runner up in each of his three prior attempts.

(Talk about pressure.)

U20 Greco-Roman – a champ is crowned

Somehow, some way, 1/23 Hawkeye participants this week managed to slip my attention.

For that – and to 2025 commit Leister Bowling IV – I am truly sorry.

Bowling was the lone Iowa entry of the week in the Greco-Roman discipline. And as it turns out, his tournament began (and wrapped) all in one afternoon/evening on Thursday. It do so to great results, I might add.

Seeded fifth at 77 kilograms, the two-time Colorado state champ won his U20 crown in utterly dominant fashion. In five matches Bowling registered five technical falls. Only one of those bouts exceeded the first period and only twice did he concede a point (two total).

All told, the incoming freshman outscored his opponents 47-2.

Have yourself a day young man.

Now, Iowa fans wait to see how many of his future teammates may join him atop the podium this week.

How to watch

The entirety of this week’s US Open will be streamed live on FloWrestling.

You can find brackets, mat assignments and tournament statistics at usabracketing.com (free account required).

As for the schedule, Senior Men’s Freestyle will run from Friday through Saturday. The U20 Men’s portion of the event will begin Saturday morning and wrap the following afternoon.

*all times Central

Friday, April 25th

12:00 – 4:15 p.m.

  • (SR Men’s Freestyle) preliminaries, quarterfinals and consolations

6:00 – 9:45 p.m.

  • (SR Men’s Freestyle) semifinals and consolations

Saturday, April 26th

12:00 – 3:00 p.m.

  • (SR Men’s Freestyle) consolations, consolation semifinals and medal matches (3rd/5th/7th)

12:00 – 4:15 p.m.

  • (U20 Men’s Freestyle) preliminaries and consolations

6:00 – 10:15 p.m.

  • (U20 Men’s Freestyle) championship rounds and consolations

8:00 – 9:30 p.m.

  • (SR Men’s Freestyle) Championship Finals

Sunday, April 27th

12:00 – 4:00 p.m.

  • (U20 Men’s Freestyle) quarterfinals, semifinals, consolations and consolation semifinals

4:00 – 6:30 p.m.

  • (U20 Men’s Freestyle) Championship Finals and medal matches (3rd/5th/7th)

Short time

And there you have it.

12 Hawkeyes and three tournaments – albeit one of each that has already since concluded.

(Sorry Mr. Bowling!)

I’ll have constant coverage of the US Open throughout the coming days on my social media. And once everything has wrapped up you can expect piping hot recaps for both the Iowa men’s and women’s results as well.

Thanks as always for reading, and I’ll talk to you guys again real soon.

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