Hawkeyes Sending Hammers To US Open Junior Tournament

Iowa Hawkeyes bring their hammers to the U.S. Open in Las Vegas this weekend. True freshmen Alex Marinelli headlines a deep team which includes fellow classmates Kaleb Young, Carter Happel, Cade Brownlee, Matt Malcom, and Dan Murphy.

Apr 25, 2017 by Andrew Spey

Hawkeyes Sending Hammers To US Open Junior Tournament

The Iowa Hawkeyes have announced their squad competing in the UWW Junior Freestyle tournament at the U.S. Open, and it's chock-full of hammers.

The Open kicks off competition Friday, April 28, in Las Vegas and is being streamed live on Flo.

True freshman Alex Marinelli headlines a deep team that includes fellow classmates Kaleb Young, Carter Happel, Cade Brownlee, Matt Malcom, and Dan Murphy. Also competing for the Hawkeyes are redhshirt freshmen Paul Glynn, Jeremiah Moody, and Keegan Shaw and Iowa's starting 165-pounder this past season, Joey Gunther.

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Hawkeye faithful will be keenly watching how head coach Tom Brands' recent crop of recruits performs against the best 17- to 20-year-olds in the country.

Marinelli and Young both had successful freshman redshirt campaigns while competing at 165. Marinelli had only two losses on the year, both at the Midlands. He finished fourth, falling to Isaiah Martinez in the semifinals and then to Anthony Valencia in the third place match. Young finished fifth at the Midlands with wins over three NCAA qualifiers.

Expect a melee in the Iowa wrestling room and the 74kg junior weight class as Marinelli will tussle with rising redshirt sophomores Gunther and Moody for Hawkeye supremacy. Kaleb Young will enter the 79kg bracket in Vegas.

Eyes will also be on Cade Brownlee and the 84kg bracket, as the rising redshirt freshman is on deck to take over for graduating All-American Sammy Brooks at 184 pounds.

The rest of the Hawkeyes traveling to Vegas will be competing in the 70kg weight class or lighter. Carter Happel is perhaps the most promising of that bunch, having finished a redshirt campaign at 141 pounds with a 22-3 record. He'll be at 66kg along with Murphy and Shaw. Malcom will wrestle at 70kg and Glynn at 60kg.

Iowa students and alums plan to compete in the senior brackets as well but have yet to register. Check back here and on FLOARENA for updates.