Iowa wrestling - U20 World Championships Recap
After seven days of competition in Spain six Hawkeyes are returning stateside with a total of three medals in hand. That’s the haul with which members of the men’s/women’s Iowa wrestling program(s) emerge from this year’s Under-20 World Championships.
Not only was the University of Iowa the only school in America – and by (likely) extension the world – to send athletes to Pontevedra in all three disciplines (Greco-Roman, Women’s Freestyle and Men’s Freestyle), but it also earned a spot on the podium in each of them.
Ben Kueter (MFS silver at 125 kilograms), Otto Black (Greco silver at 63 kilograms) and Naomi Simon (WFS bronze at 76 kilograms) can now all call themselves 2024 U20 World medalists.
Iowa wrestling fans can call this an incredibly proud moment for a school and a state that loves this sport to its very core.
So, let’s dive into all that went down over the past week – starting with the trio of newly minted medalists.
Ben Kueter, silver (Men’s Freestyle – 125 kilograms)
Iowa’s returning (2022) World champion opened this edition of the tournament with a controlled, if ‘unspectacular’ 7-0 win via decision over Kazakhstan’s Alikhan Kussainov in the Round of 16.
The Hawkeye scored less than a minute into the match, nearly locking up a cradle on a go-behind before settling for the takedown and a 2-0 lead. That would stand up going into the break as little consequential action occurred for the remainder of the period.
Kueter’s activity picked up after intermission, resulting in his opponent going on the 30-second shot clock shortly thereafter.
After garnering that point to increase the margin to three, a lovely reattack from the Iowa City native was methodically converted for another takedown to widen the gap. He’d get little trouble from there courtesy of the former 5th/7th place finisher at (U17) Worlds.
A final snap-down, go-behind score in the last ten seconds put things on ice to send Kueter to the quarterfinals.
Perhaps(?) dissatisfied with wrestling the entirety of his opening bout, the redshirt freshman-to-be would do no such thing the next time he took the mat.
How does a 27-second pin sound?
On to the semifinals before you could even blink, Kueter quite literally bum-rushed Stsiapan Mandryk (Individual Neutral Athletes) off the opening whistle before running a textbook bar-arm for the fall.
Quite frankly, it looked like a high school mismatch, not something from a U20 World quarterfinal.
Following a break between sessions, a place in the gold medal match was on the line with back-to-back (U20) Asian Championships medalist Nambardagva Batbayar (Mongolia) – who had thus far gone unscored upon in two matches of his own – standing in the American’s way.
Lots of early hand fighting led to Kueter going on the shot clock first. In no rush to take a bad shot, he’d take his one-point deficit into the final 30 seconds of the period – when he’d score the first of an impending onslaught of points to follow.
A reattack near the edge resulted in the Hawkeye on a single leg and the Mongolian draped perpendicular across his shoulders. Rather than attempt to finish on the mat, Kueter elevated to his feet and launched himself backward into his opponent for an apparent four-point score.
The sequence would continue for the final few seconds of the period with the Iowan ultimately on top in par terre and leading 5-1 as the horn sounded.
Mass confusion would soon follow, with officials taking nearly 2.5 minutes of real time (in addition to the 30-second intermission) to ultimately conclude that the sequence should’ve been scored two points Kueter, two points (exposure) Mongolia, one-point reversal Kueter.
(Like I said, lots of confusion.)
When the dust had settled the second period finally began with the score 3-3 in favor of Kueter on criteria.
The American shot a single leg within seconds of the whistle, then built up into a body-lock position (where he’s been pretty darn effective this summer) and horsed the Mongolian to the mat for a four-point move.
His opponent followed suit with a low shot off the next restart, but Kueter was able to counter with his length for a takedown to extend his lead (9-3).
An incidental head-to-face collision would tack on another 90 seconds of blood time before Kueter calmly finished a single leg accompanied by a gut wrench to seal the tech. fall victory and a spot in the finals.
(Of course, not until another somewhat nebulous 1:40 review and/or spell of blood time was taken to confirm that yes, the match was indeed over.)
All in all, Kueter scored 13 points in roughly 90 seconds of actual mat time spanning the first/second periods to storm his way into the gold medal match for the second time in as many tries at the U20 World Championships.
To the surprise of exactly no one, awaiting Kueter in the final was Iranian phenom Amirezza Masoumi – a four-time age-level World champion considered by most to be one of the five best heavyweight wrestlers in the world (regardless of age).
Entering the match the ‘tale of the tape’ read like a Clash of the Titans:
Kueter
- 2022 U20 World champion (97kg)
- Combined World Championship record to date = 7-0
- Combined margin of victory = 69-20 (9.9-2.9 average)
- Bonus point victories = 4/7 (57.1 percent) with two tech. falls and two pins
Masoumi
- 4x age-level World champion from 2021-23 (1x at 110kg, 3x at 125kg)
- Combined World Championship record to date = 20-0
- Combined margin of victory = 193-15 (9.7-0.8 average)
- Bonus point victories = 14/20 (70 percent) with 14 tech. falls
- Ranked #4 in the world at 125kg (per FloWrestling), behind only multi-time Senior World/Olympic champions Geno Petriashvili (Georgia), Amir Zare (Iran) and Taha Akgul (Turkey)
While the two stood eye to eye at the opening whistle, Masoumi was clearly the more physically imposing of the finalists.
Kueter is still growing into the 125kg division (~275.6 pounds) while the Iranian might well have just been born at the ideal size for international heavyweight wrestling.
(We just can’t know at this point.)
That physicality bore out in the early going as Masoumi held center and continually sought to pressure into Kueter with a classic Iranian underhook.
A half-shot from the American was the only attempt of note before Kueter was put on the 30-second shot clock – which both competitors seemed content to let run out without taking any further risks.
More hard pressure (and underhooks) kept the Hawkeye near the edge for the latter stages of the period. Finally, Masoumi was able to capitalize for a step-out score to make it 2-0 at the break.
Following intermission, it was Kueter who came out on the front foot, holding center before firing off a nice single leg attempt on which he couldn’t quite get his hands locked around the Iranian’s tree trunk of a lower extremity.
Masoumi would quickly respond with an attack of his own – taking the Iowan down off another powerful underhook and nearly turning him in par terre on the edge.
Kueter remained stingy and the two were back on their feet with two minutes remaining.
A prolonged spell of hand fighting took the clock all the way under 30 seconds before the American capitalized on a single leg shot from space, covering Masoumi for the two-point takedown with 0:22 to go.
With the outcome now firmly in the balance at 4-2 (another takedown would give Kueter the lead on criteria) the two returned to the center circle with 15 seconds left – where the Iranian was able to smartly salt things away amidst a few desperation attempts from the 20-year-old Hawkeye.
I realize ‘moral victories’ can be a sticky subject (at least for those who fail to properly contextualize them).
That said, even in defeat – and ‘failure’ to repeat in his bid to become a U20 World Champion – I believe Kueter’s performance over the past two days, and especially in the final, bode incredibly well for the future of his wrestling career.
I noted Masoumi’s overall track record earlier, but his history against Americans might be even more instructive for the next stage of Kueter’s wrestling journey – his first season as a full-time Division 1 NCAA heavyweight.
In two previous age-level World Championships the Iranian has demolished an American en route to gold – 10-0 over Virginia Tech heavyweight Jimmy Mullen in the 2021 U17 World final and 11-1 over Ohio State starter Nick Feldman (ranked 3rd entering the 2024-25 NCAA season) back in the 2022 U20 World semis.
Masoumi also holds convincing five-point wins versus both 2024 US Olympic Trials finalists – 6-1 over runner up Hayden Zilmer and 11-6 earlier this year over Olympian (and 2023 Senior World bronze medalist) Mason Parris.
One match between Kueter and Masoumi is obviously a miniscule sample size. It’s also a freestyle result, which, impressive though it may be, doesn’t always translate cleanly over to the NCAA folkstyle scene.
Those caveats aside, I have a sneaking suspicion that this result (amongst others) for this athlete could be awfully telling as to what he’s capable of doing in the collegiate season ahead, not to mention long-term in freestyle.
A loss is a loss is a loss. Sure, I get it.
But if I’m an Iowa fan this runner-up performance would only supercharge what should already be considerable anticipation for Ben Kueter’s full-time debut in the Hawkeye lineup this season.
Otto Black, silver (Greco-Roman – 63 kilograms)
Iowa wrestling’s only representative in Spain who isn’t technically listed on either roster just yet (and the only member of the six competing in the Greco-Roman discipline) – Otto Black repped the Black and Gold (and the Stars and Stripes) just fine on the way to the first World Championship medal of his young career.
A controlled 5-1 decision over Serbia kicked off the Colorado native’s U20 debut.
It would only get tougher from there.
Trailing 5-0 in his quarterfinal against Enes Ulku (Turkey), Black finally got an opportunity to work from par terre with less than 90 seconds to go in the bout – and boy would he make it count.
Back-to-back lifts (a two-pointer and a four-pointer) helped put the American ahead of his Turkish foe 7-5.
From there, he’d manage to hold on for the win in no small part thanks to a coach’s challenge that reversed a would-be match-winning score by Ulku in the dying moments.
The semifinal against Armenian Yurik Hoveyan was an absolute brawl. Although, it turned out the only points Black would need were the ones he scored in the opening minute – reversing an early gut wrench attempt by Hoveyan and then executing one of his own for a 3-2 lead.
It was all about defense and holding center for the five-plus minutes to follow. Not only did the Coloradoan do so with aplomb, but he was rewarded for it with the easiest four-pointer of his tournament – planting the Armenian on his back in the final seconds amidst a last-ditch attempt to leap over Black for the winning score.
Unfortunately, there would be no fairytale ending to this journey.
That’ll happen when your opponent in the final is a buzzsaw the likes of Erzu Zakriev (Individual Neutral Athletes).
Not only did Zakriev defeat Black via tech. fall (8-0) in the gold medal match, but it was just his latest in a string of nine-consecutive bonus-point victories spanning both this tournament and the European Championships held earlier in the summer.
All things considered it was a tremendous showing for the 2024 Hawkeye commit. Whenever he does officially make his way to Iowa City, he’ll now do so with not only his unique Greco skillset in hand but with some World Championship hardware to boot.
Naomi Simon, bronze (Women’s Freestyle – 76 kilograms)
The third and final Hawkeye medalist of the past week was Decorah’s own Naomi Simon.
Simon’s journey to bronze was a bit of an unconventional one, finding herself on the lighter half of an atypically small, 11-woman bracket at 76 kilograms – meaning she began her tournament just two wins away from reaching the gold medal match.
Of course, that might make the next part even more painful, as the recently turned 18-year-old dropped a back-and-forth opener, 9-8 to Ukraine’s Mariia Orlevych.
The American and the Ukrainian seemingly traded scores all match long.
2-0. 2-2. 4-2. 4-4. 5-4. 7-4 they went into the break with Orlevych holding the advantage.
A Simon step-out point was answered by an incredible counter from the Ukrainian, whom the Hawkeye appeared to have dead to rights on a deep double leg turned body lock.
Now 9-5, Simon would respond with a takedown to cut the deficit to two with barely a minute remaining.
More activity and more attempts followed – including a pair of heavy snap downs after which it felt as though the go-ahead score was all but imminent. But an additional step-out point would prove to be the totality of what Simon could ultimately muster in the waning moments of the achingly close defeat.
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Due to the aforementioned nature of the bracket, not only did Simon need just one more win from Orlevych to be pulled back into repechage (which she got) but she also advanced directly to the bronze medal match in the process.
That left a bout against Japan’s Chisato Yoshida with bronze on the line.
Hardly just ‘some other’ opponent, Yoshida entered the week as a reigning U17 World Champion who’d also taken home silver the year prior (2022).
You wouldn’t have known it was her who possessed the lofty accolades between these two wrestlers based on how the next six minutes on the mat played out.
Simon took ground and controlled the action from the opening whistle, building a 7-0 lead at the break and preserving the shutout in what wound up as a 9-0, tournament-capping win.
Hear from the Iowa freshman after her bronze medal victory (courtesy of USA Wrestling):
It sounds crazy to say, but even with this latest accomplishment Simon will walk right back into the Iowa room as somewhat of a ‘low woman on the totem pole’ amongst a bevy of other fantastic upper weight talents.
But I suppose that’s just life as an Iowa women’s wrestler these days. And I’d venture to say she’s more than ready to embrace it and up her game to meet the challenges ahead.
Brianna Gonzalez (Women’s Freestyle – 53 kilograms)
Elsewhere amongst the Hawkeye women’s contingent, a one-and-done World Championships debut certainly wasn’t what this stud lightweight had in mind upon arriving in Spain.
It just so happens that competing against the very best wrestlers on the planet can sometimes scuttle even the best laid plans.
Brianna Gonzalez drew India’s Jyoti Jyoti – a 2024 Asian Championships silver medalist who finished 16th at this event a year ago – in her opening match on the World stage.
The much smaller, shorter Hawkeye struck first, driving her opponent out of bounds with a single leg attempt for a 1-0 lead.
For the remainder of the period neither would find much in the way of a legitimate offensive attempt. Rightfully so (I think), both were warned for passivity before the period concluded with no other points having been put on the board.
After trading a decent pair of half-shots with her opponent early in the second period, Gonzalez would be put on the 30-second activity clock first, eventually trailing 1-1 on criteria with 1:35 remaining.
(Insert what can best be described as ‘questionable’ officiating from here on out.)
Not much changed from there as both wrestlers continued to give/take ground with no serious shot attempts from either.
With 1:03 to go, a matside official raised his ‘paddle’ to signal passivity against India, which apparently went unconfirmed by either of the other two officials. He’d raise it again with 35 seconds remaining only to quickly set it back down as if not wanting to risk putting a wrestler on the activity clock with such little differential between it and the actual time left in the match.
Now forced to go all-out for a point in the final moments, Gonzalez got caught leaning forward and Jyoti struck for quite literally her only full shot attempt of the entire six minutes – which would stand up as the final 3-1 margin.
Look, I’m sure Gonzalez and Iowa head coach Clarissa Chun would both say that it’s incumbent upon her to generate more offense throughout the match so it never comes down to the potential for a ‘questionable’ officiating decision (or lack thereof).
That said, in a match with such little in the way of committed offense by either competitor there’s simply no way that both wrestlers shouldn’t be put on the activity clock at some point over six minutes – a sentiment I believe was echoed by the perplexed look/gesture of Coach Chun as time ticked away in the second period with no reciprocal call made toward the Indian.
Adding insult to injury, Gonzalez was a whisker away from being pulled back into repechage by Jyoti reaching the gold medal match only for the Indian to 1) lose a late lead, and 2) somehow fail to regain it on a prime scoring opportunity in the final 20 seconds of her semifinal.
Cadence Diduch (Women’s Freestyle – 62 kilograms)
It was a similar ending to an otherwise different ‘story’ for first-year Hawkeye Cadence Diduch.
The Illinois native opened her tournament with a decisive victory in the Round of 32 over an opponent from South Korea – leading 4-0 at the break, then tacking on four more points in the second period before securing the fall.
Up next would be a far greater challenge for the 18-year-old.
Awaiting her in the Round of 16 was Mexico’s Melani Nahomi Jimenez Villalba – not only a returning U20 bronze medalist, but also the Senior National Team representative for her country.
This past May Villalba finished eighth at the Last Chance Olympic qualifying event amongst some of the best wrestlers in the world trying to claim one of the last remaining spots in Paris.
It was an uphill climb from the jump, and Villalba showed the (current) gap between the two wrestlers – leading 7-0 late in the second period before pinning the American.
Yet again, it seemed as though not all was lost as the Mexican reached the semifinals with little trouble. And yet again a late lead was given up which kept not only that wrestler from reaching the final, but the American (Diduch in the case) whom they’d beaten earlier from being pulled into repechage for a chance to wrestle back for bronze.
Reese Larramendy (Women’s Freestyle – 65 kilograms)
My prediction going into the tournament for the Iowa women’s best shot at a gold medal was Reese Larramendy, who’d taken fifth at this tournament two years ago and looked excellent on the domestic scene throughout this summer.
Alas, I’m not nearly the prognosticator that I’d like to be, as the redshirt sophomore lost her lone match of these World Championships.
Facing 2023 U17 World bronze medalist Margarita Salnazarian (Individual Neutral Athletes) in the Round of 16, things got off to an auspicious start with the American, who took the early 4-0 lead courtesy of a nice go-behind and a subsequent turn in par terre.
The trouble was that it might’ve been Larramendy’s last successful offensive maneuver of the match.
She still held a 6-4 lead at the break thanks to a counter exposure, though that was nearly mitigated by having to fight off her back for the final 35 seconds of the period.
Salnazarian finally retook the lead (6-6 on criteria) for good with 1:38 to go as she continued to pepper the Hawkeye with crisp attacks.
The margin grew to 10-6 off another excellent leg attack that led to pair of two-point exposures, and a reversal was all the scoring Larramendy could muster in the final minute to try to close the gap.
Plenty of folks (me included) have lauded Larramendy for her ability to counter/scramble out of dangerous positions so often in the past. In this instance, however, it may have come back to bite her against an opponent who proved equally adept at negating those abilities of the American.
Once more there was hope of wrestling another day via repechage as Salnazarian advanced to the semis. But it was quickly dashed as her Turkish opponent there racked up a quick 10-0 tech. fall, which eliminated Larramendy from the tournament.
Short time
I’m sure each member of this Iowa wrestling contingent leaves Spain less than satisfied for one reason or another.
But even without a gold medal amongst the group I think it’s hard to characterize the past week as anything but a success.
Three World medals across all three disciplines is a massive accomplishment for one school.
While there is unquestionably plenty to work on for each of the half-dozen athletes involved there’s also plenty to be built upon as well.
If they and their respective Hawkeye teams can do so both individually/collectively entering the upcoming college season I think 2024-25 could be a banner year for Iowa wrestling in many regards.
That’ll do it for my coverage of these latest U20 World Championships. Hopefully everyone leaves this feeling not only well informed, but raring to go as NCAA competition draws closer with each passing day.
Thanks as always for reading and I’ll catch you guys again real soon.
