DeSanto, Cassioppi Set for Senior World Team Trials Challenge

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Hawkeye Wrestling Club member Austin DeSanto and University of Iowa senior Tony Cassioppi will travel to Colorado Springs to compete in the 2023 Senior World Team Trials Challenge on Sunday.

The tournament will be held at Discovery Canyon High School. Prelims, quarterfinals, semifinals and consolations will take place from 9 a.m. (CT) to 1 p.m. Consolation and consolation finals will begin at 2 p.m. and finals and third place matches are slated to start at 3:30 p.m.

With seven of the 10 Final X men’s freestyle pairings set, only three weight classes will be contested at this event to round out the remaining Final X participants. The three weight classes will be 61 kg, 92 kg and 125 kg.

DeSanto enters the weekend as the No. 1 seed at 61 kg after finishing as the runner-up at the 2023 Pritchard Companies U.S. Open Championships last month in Las Vegas. Other seeded wrestlers include Seth Gross, Daton Fix, Nahshon Garrett, Nathan Tomasello, Joe Colon and Aden Valencia.

Cassioppi, a U23 World champion, is the No. 7 seed at 125 kg. Additional seeded wrestlers include Nick Gwiazdowski, Mason Parris, Wyatt Hendrickson, Dominique Bradley, Ty Walz and Demertius Thomas.

The tournament will be streamed live on FloWrestling.com.