Iowa Wrestling - Senior World Team Trials Preview
Did you really think Iowa wrestling was done with the 2024 Freestyle season just yet?
If so, think again, folks.
This weekend in Omaha, Nebraska a quartet of past/present Hawkeyes are set to throw their hats in the ring for a spot on Team USA at the upcoming Senior World Championships (held October 28-31 in Tirana, Albania).
These ‘Non-Olympic’ World Championships are open to any athlete who did not compete at the Summer Olympics held last month in Paris. They will contest each of the four weight classes (per discipline) that were not a part of the Olympic program.
*For those unfamiliar, 10 weight classes are contested at the World Championships during non-Olympic years. That total is (shamefully) reduced to just six at the Olympics themselves – thus the reasoning for the four which were omitted to be contested later at this event.
Representing Iowa wrestling just across the western state border will be three Hawkeye women and one men’s athlete.
Of the group, two already possess previous experience at the Senior World Championships.
One of them happens to be a reigning silver medalist.
I’ll break down all four – plus a bit about their respective paths to making Team USA – starting with the newest Hawkeye among the bunch.
Macey Kilty (Women’s Freestyle – 65 kilograms)
It wasn’t even a month ago that Macey Kilty surprised many (me included) by announcing her intention to wrestle her one and only season of remaining collegiate eligibility for the Hawkeyes:
I examined the impact/reverberations of the commitment shortly after it happened, but even if you didn’t read that previous article the significance of her decision for Iowa wrestling should become pretty apparent in the words to follow.
Rather than navigate her way through a deep 12-woman field at 65 kilograms – Kilty (who’s also set to represent the US at U23 Worlds in October) will get to sit and watch it all play out by virtue of earning a ‘bye’ into the best-of-three finals.
That’s the benefit of bringing home a silver medal from last year’s World Championships.
The 23-year-old Wisconsin native – a five-time age-level World medalist and two-time Olympic Trials runner up (at 62kg) – will face whoever emerges from the challenge tournament bracket.
Jennifier Page – also a reigning World medalist (bronze at 59kg) – will be favored to do so as she makes the bump up of more than 13 pounds from her World Championship weight of a year ago to compete at 65 kilograms this weekend.
Kilty and Page do have a recent history – albeit at neither 59 nor 65 kilograms – having met twice at 62kg earlier this year (12-1 and 9-8 wins for Kilty).
Bottom line, you’ve got to like the Hawkeye’s chances of earning the 65kg spot on Team USA for the second year in a row.
Kylie Welker (Women’s Freestyle – 72 kilograms)
Another Hawkeye seeking to make a return trip to the Senior World stage is Kylie Welker.
The first recruit in the history of the women’s program made her Senior World debut back in 2021 – well before announcing her commitment to Iowa.
Then just 17 years old, Welker took 10th at 72 kilograms (going 0-1) amidst a late-summer/early-fall international tour that also saw her nab a pair of World Championship medals (gold at U20’s, bronze at U23’s – both at 76kg).
That was also the last time the Welker had competed down at 72kg prior to this summer.
In the interim, she’s battled a deep group of American women at 76kg to the likes of top five finishes at the US Open, World Team Trials Challenge Tournament and Olympic Trials respectively.
With 76 kilograms no longer on the table for Welker’s international pursuits this calendar year following a fourth-place finish back in April at the Olympic Trials, she elected to make the descent down to 72kg instead.
It’s safe to say that’s worked out pretty well so far.
After breezing to a spot on the U23 team (where she’ll join Kilty and another brand-new Hawkeye, Skye Realin) courtesy of a wrestle-off back in June, Welker was in Europe a week later to give her new weight an even tougher ‘test drive’ at the Grand Prix of Sprain.
Again, the redshirt-sophomore-to-be passed with flying colors – bonus’ing her way through the field with a 3-0 record.
Two of those victories came via fall against Kazakhstan’s Zhamila Bakbergenova.
Bakbergenova just so happens to be a three-time Senior World medalist (2021-23) at 72 kilograms.
Now, entering these Senior World Team Trials, Welker (pre-seeded second) is likely to see a pair of familiar faces en route to the spot on Team USA.
Accomplished veteran Skylar Grote probably awaits in the semifinals of the small, six-woman bracket at 72kg. Welker is 2-0 against Grote within the past 18 months via a combined 16-0 margin of victory.
After that, we’re likely to get the renewal of recent, back-and-forth rivalry.
The top seed in the bracket is Yelena Makoyed, whom Welker owns a 3-2 head-to-head advantage over dating back to early 2023.
All three wins have been dominant showings by the Hawkeye (12-2, 11-3, 11-0) – including clutch performances that helped to seal both the NWCA Dual and NCWWC national team titles for Iowa (Welker) over North Central (Makoyed) earlier this year.
But Makoyed has gotten her licks in too, bookending the recent five-match series with wins – the latest of which came in the challenge tournament semifinals of the Olympic Trials back in April (6-4).
Should the two meet again (as expected) it’ll be in a best-of-three final series with a World team spot on the line.
Sign me up for that.
Austin DeSanto (Men’s Freestyle – 61 kilograms)
The return of Austin DeSanto highlights the men’s entries for Iowa wrestling this week – in part because he’s the only one registered, but mostly because who doesn’t love watching Austin DeSanto wrestle?
A three-time NCAA All-American renowned for his pace and tenacity, DeSanto unfortunately missed out on the Olympic Trials in April due to an injury.
Well, he’s back now, and at his preferred weight of 61 kilograms (~134.5 pounds) to boot.
DeSanto is currently the #3 pre-seed in a field chock full of both credentialed Senior competitors and burgeoning young stars.
Sitting out until the best-of-three final is reigning World Champion Vito Arujau – whom college fans may remember for his back-to-back NCAA titles (2023-24) over Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young and Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix.
Arujau and DeSanto have met once before in the 2023 US Open final. There, Arujau locked up a tight early leg lace for the 10-0 tech. fall – so you can imagine the Hawkeye would be eager to get a more extended feel this go around.
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But to make it there, DeSanto needs to win the challenge tournament bracket first – headlined by the group below:
- Nahshon Garrett (LVWC/TMWC)
- Daton Fix (Cowboy RTC/TMWC)
- Austin Desanto (HWC/TMWC)
- Seth Gross (Wisconsin RTC)
- Marcus Blaze (Perrysburg WC)
- Jax Forrest (Young Guns)
- Nasir Bailey (Arkansas RTC)
A quarterfinal with Jax Forrest is likely to be the first matchup of note. Forrest is currently the second-ranked pound-for-pound high school wrestler in the country, just behind this weekend’s #5 seed Marcus Blaze.
Win there and a semi likely awaits with the victor of Daton Fix/Nasir Bailey.
DeSanto has never previously beaten Fix – a 61kg World silver medalist in 2021 – dropping multiple close folkstyle bouts between the two as collegians, as well as a 9-0 freestyle match last June.
Bailey is a talented sophomore at Arkansas Little Rock who took fourth place in his NCAA Championships debut this past March.
The other half of the bracket is highlighted by #1 Nahshon Garrett and #4 Seth Gross – both of whom have previously made a Senior World team at 61kg (though Garrett was unable to compete due to injury back in 2018).
DeSanto also has previous wins over both, splitting matches with Garrett within the past 20 months and besting Gross in the 2023 US Open semifinals (5-4).
If he can first ‘crack the code’ that is Fix in the semis, DeSanto fans should probably feel bullish about the Hawkeye’s chances of reaching the best-of-three final where Arujau awaits.
Felicity Taylor (Women’s Freestyle – 55 kilograms)
The fourth and final Hawkeye registered for World Team Trials is reigning NCWWC national champion Felicity Taylor.
Last we saw her, the Spillville, Iowa native was battling back to finish third at 53 kilograms in the Olympic Trials challenge bracket.
She’ll bump up nearly 4.5 pounds to compete at 55kg this weekend – where she’s the #3 pre-seed – and in doing so join a field with several familiar opponents.
Taylor knocked off both #4 Alisha Howk (5-1) and #5 Vayle Baker (11-0) at April’s Trials before getting pinned by Areana Villascusa (pre-seeded #2 this weekend) in a match she led 2-0 in the second period.
If she can make it through that group (and others) this weekend awaiting her on Sunday will be reigning World silver medalist (and 2019 World champ) Jacarra Winchester – who sits in the best-of-three final.
Of note: Taylor finished runner up for a World Team spot at 53kg back in 2022 – getting swept in the best-of-three series versus eventual World Champion (and 2024 Olympian) Dom Parrish.
It’ll be a tall task for her to prevail this weekend amidst the challenges of both the competition and bump up in weight, but if Taylor can do so she’ll have more than earned her spot on Team USA.
When/Where to Watch
The entirety of this weekend’s action will stream live on FloWrestling.
Session I (prelims, quarterfinals and consolations) will run tomorrow from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m, followed by semifinals and additional consolation rounds in ‘Session II’ (5:00-9:00 p.m).
We’ll resume on Sunday with Session(s) III/IV (10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m) – including all remaining consolation matches and all three rounds of the best-of-three finals.
Short Time
I’m not making official picks for this weekend per se, but I think there’s an excellent chance Iowa wrestling puts a pair of Hawkeyes (Kilty/Welker) on this year’s Senior World team.
It also wouldn’t shock me to see three or four Hawkeyes competing in the best-of-three finals on Sunday afternoon.
Regardless, it should be a great couple of days of wrestling – not to mention a lovely way to help tide folks over until the college season (now less than two months away) arrives.
You can always follow me on social media to get updates on the action throughout the weekend. Or check back in at Hawkeye Report after it’s all over for my full recap of the trials.
Thanks as always for reading, and I’ll talk to you guys real soon.
