The 2023 US Open will go down April 26-30 with a spot at Final X on the line at every senior-level weight. There are endless storylines to follow but one that’s especially interesting is Austin DeSanto at 61kg. With the likes of Daton Fix, Seth Gross, and Vito Arujau at the weight, DeSanto might be flying under the radar. However, the 3-time All-American has been surging on the freestyle scene lately and has a great shot of winning the 2023 US Open!

DeSanto's Slow Start In Freestyle

Before 2020, Austin DeSanto didn’t wrestle freestyle. Instead, DeSanto spent his time as one of the best 133-pound wrestlers in the country for the Iowa Hawkeyes. However, the lack of events due to Covid opened up the door for DeSanto to enter the freestyle world.

DeSanto entered the 2020 U23 Nationals at 61kg and experienced mixed results. After making the semis, DeSanto surprisingly dropped a match to Penn’s Michael Colaiocco - 8-5. Then after making the third-place match, DeSanto lost again to Ian Parker - 6-1. In both of those losses, DeSanto frequently got to legs but was clearly uncomfortable in “freestyle-specific” positions. It was clear then that DeSanto had some major improvements to make in his freestyle game.

DeSanto’s loss to Michael Colaiocco

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DeSanto’s loss to Ian Parker

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DeSanto’s Freestyle Progress

DeSanto continued to focus primarily on folkstyle for the final two years of his collegiate career. However, a few months after graduation in the Summer of 2022, DeSanto made his way back to the freestyle scene at the Ziolkowski tournament in Poland. There, DeSanto made sizeable improvements coming away with bronze and defeating Daniel DeShazer, 10-0 a few months after DeShazer made the national team (DeShazer was 3rd in the US at 61kg in 2022). It's also worth mentioning that DeSanto’s only loss in Poland came to past U23 world bronze medalist Taras Markovych (UKR) - 5-4. 

Desanto's win over Daniel DeShazer can be viewed at 4:53:00 in the below video:

A few months later, DeSanto entered the Bill Farrell and again came away with a bronze medal. His only loss came to past senior world bronze medalist Andrey Yatsenko (UKR) - 6-6 while recording wins over Yessengeldi Assylzhan (KAZ) and Almaz Bekzat Uulu (KGZ). 

DeSanto's loss to world medalist Yatsenko:

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Next up, in January 2023, DeSanto won gold at the Henri Deglane tournament in France. There, DeSanto mounted an incredible comeback win against 2018 world team member Nahshon Garrett. In that match, Garrett built a 10-2 lead before DeSanto used his incredible conditioning to wear down Garrett and win 14-3. 

DeSanto’s win over Nahshon Garrett at 5:44:19 in the below video:

Most recently, DeSanto won a bronze medal at the 2023 Ibrahim Moustafa ranking series event in Egypt. At that tournament, DeSanto’s most notable win came against Kyrgyzstan’s Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov. At the time, Zholdoshbekov was ranked #10 in the world based on his bronze medal at the 2022 Asian Championships, 5th place finish at the 2022 Yarygin, and gold at the 2020 Asians. That win vaulted DeSanto into the international rankings where he now sits at #11 at 61kg. 

DeSanto's win over Zholdoshbekov:

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Biggest Challenges At The US Open

The above results prove one thing - DeSanto has made major improvements in his freestyle game. He will be a threat to win the US Open and make Final X. However, there are three huge hurdles in the way of a US Open title - Seth Gross, Daton Fix, and Vito Arujau.

DeSanto has never wrestled any of those three in freestyle but has three matches against both Seth Gross and Daton Fix in folkstyle (DeSanto has never wrestled Arujau in either freestyle or folkstyle). In college, DeSanto was 1-2 against Gross and 0-3 against Fix (the 3 losses all came by 2 points or less). 

It’s also worth noting that Gross, Fix, and Arujau are just as good (if not better) in freestyle as they are in folkstyle. Gross was the world team member last year for Team USA and went on to place 5th at worlds. Fix was the rep in 2021 where he won a world silver medal. Arujau has never made a senior world team but was second at 57kg in the USA the last two years behind Thomas Gilman and was a silver medalist at both the cadet (2016) and junior (2019) world championships. 

Despite the past results and accolades of those top three - we shouldn't bet against DeSanto in Vegas. His rapid improvement combined with his aggressive style and insane pace gives him the tools to beat anyone in the 61kg bracket.

Austin DeSanto’s win over Seth Gross in 2019: