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Lee/Kilty add two more Final X berths for Iowa wrestling

by: Tanner Lafever05/17/26TannerLafever

Iowa wrestlers claimed 2/12 Final X tickets up for grabs at the 2026 World Team Trials (WTT) Challenge Tournament.

Contested Thursday/Friday in Louisville, Kentucky, the event represented one last opportunity to keep one’s World Team hopes alive. And when it comes to Spencer Lee and Macey Kilty, both will live to fight another day.

Between the pair of Iowa alums, four matches were wrestled (two apiece) – none of which lasted the full six minutes.

That’s how you navigate what could’ve easily been the ultimate stress-inducing environment.

With the wins, Lee (57 kilograms) and Kilty (62kg) join five other past/present/future Hawkeyes who’ll compete at Final X next month in Newark, New Jersey:

  • Kennedy Blades (68kg – women’s freestyle)
  • Stephen Buchanan (97kg – men’s freestyle)
  • Everest Leydecker (55kg – WFS)
  • Kylie Welker (76kg – WFS)
  • Real Woods (65kg – MFS)

They’ll be accompanied by two more Hawkeyes – Austin DeSanto and Reese Larramendy – both of whom will wrestle for ‘true third’ (and a spot on the Senior National Team) by way of their third-place finishes at WTT this week.

As for the rest of the Iowa contingent, a heartbreaking runner-up finish by Felicity Taylor left the 2024 graduate a mere second away from continuing her run toward back-to-back World Teams.

Meanwhile, six additional Hawkeyes ended the tournament on a sour note, failing to place in the top three.

Here are the highlights from a tension-packed two days in Louisville.

Spencer storms to 57kg title

As I wrote in my WTT preview, Spencer Lee appeared every bit the prohibitive favorite at 57kg entering this tournament.

And what do you know, occasionally I’m spot-on with one of my assertions.

The returning World Teamer was dominant across both matches, outscoring fellow Iowa alum Brody Teske and talented Rutgers freshman Anthony Knox by a combined margin of 25-5.

Teske’s tech. fall result lasted just 3:45. And in the final against Knox, not even a gnarly cut over his right eye could stop Lee from ending things early:

Lee struck for an early takedown/turn. Then, after Knox scored a takedown of his own, the Hawkeye reversed the position and piled up six additional points – all the while gushing blood.

Leading 10-2 at the break, Lee went on to complete the tech. fall with an exposure and a step out.

Asked post-match about the key sequence in his final, he offered the following:

“His coach was yelling, ‘Get a turn!’ and I said ‘Please try’ because I don’t get turned. And if you try and turn me then beware, because I will keep wrestling.”

As usual, Lee was his own harshest critic, ending the interview with a (hopeful) farewell to the event in its entirety:

“Olympic journey is beginning…(and) we’ve got to do better there, too.”

“It was a good tournament. I don’t plan on ever coming back, so thanks but no thanks (for the WTT medal).”

“I’ve got to win some medals, that’s my goal – preferably only one color (gold). I’m sick of the other color (silver), and I’m never going to get the color below it – that’s how my brain works.”

Kilty crushes competition

Like Lee, Macey Kilty was everyone’s pick at 62kg in the women’s freestyle division.

And just like Lee, she proved those predictions to be well made.

A methodical 13-0 tech. fall of Hanna Errthum – punctuated by a four-point takedown right after intermission – advanced the 2025 Iowa grad to the finals. And once there, she spent all of 66 seconds on the mat before ending her tournament in style:

Kilty’s opponent, Claire DiCugno, was all but helpless to stop the early pinfall. This, despite her credentials as a recent NCAA finalist (and 2024 NCWWC champion).

It was yet another reminder that this week’s tournament was merely a detour along the path toward Kilty’s much loftier goals – which include making a fourth-consecutive World Team.

“Good quick match, stayed present and just wrestled (like) Macey,” said a succinct Kilty of her finals performance.

“It was a good match and I’m excited to be back at Final X.”

“It’s a little detour. I got to come here and wrestle a couple more matches before Final X and I’m grateful for that. I got to learn a little bit more from my (US) Open performance and I got to put it on display here.”

Taylor falls via last-second heartbreaker

Also looking to reach Final X again was Felicity Taylor – who took a similar route to get there last year by winning the WTT Challenge Tournament.

The returning (53kg) World Teamer won her opener in dominant fashion – teching National Team member Kendra Ryan in just 1:44.

With the victory, the stage was set for a clash with one of the sport’s bright young stars – high school senior Morgan Turner.

Taylor couldn’t have asked for a much better start against the two-time U17 World champion – hitting her signature fireman’s carry followed by turn/near-pin to build an early 6-0 lead.

Up 6-1 at the break, Taylor’s margin began to shrink, however, as Turner found her offense via a pair of double legs from space. And when Turner struck for a third-consecutive takedown, the Iowa alum found herself trailing (7-6) with 0:35 remaining.

After a restart, Taylor responded with a dogged takedown on the edge to regain the lead. But with just 0:08 left, Turner hit a well-timed low shot off the whistle – and was awarded the winning score just before time expired:

There’s no way to sugarcoat it, this is an absolutely gut-wrenching result for Taylor – who all but had a ticket to Final X in her grasp.

But unlike horseshoes and hand grenades, being ‘close’ oftentimes isn’t enough in the sport of wrestling. And it’s a harsh lesson the Hawkeye will have to carry until her next World Team opportunity in 2027.

DeSanto and Larramendy battle back for third

As I referenced in the introduction, two more Iowa wrestlers ended World Team Trials on a (consolation) high note.

For Austin DeSanto, his championship bracket run at 61kg came to an end when star Virginia Tech freshman Aaron Seidel locked up a trap-arm gut wrench to break open an otherwise razor-thin match for five-plus minutes:

The 15-4 quarterfinal loss sent DeSanto to the consolations, where a 3-2 win over Senior-level veteran Nathan Tomasello earned him the chance to wrestle for third place.

As it turns out, a rematch against Seidel wasn’t to be. And DeSanto took the medical forfeit victory.

On the flip side, Reese Larramendy would wrestle twice the number of matches in her own journey to third.

A 6-0 opener advanced the Hawkeye junior to the semifinals. But once there, she was pinned midway through the second period by 2023 World bronze medalist Jennifer Page – who emerged on top of a scramble immediately after Larramendy exposed the veteran to take a 2-2 lead on criteria.

Now on the backside of the bracket, the two-time U20 World teamer sat two wins away from third.

She’d get the first courtesy of a victory over soon-to-be Iowa teammate Nora Akpan.

The Minnesotan hung with Larramendy through about four minutes, but the veteran steadily built her lead in the second period to the tune of an eventual 10-0 tech. fall.

A day later, Larramendy penned a similar script to defeat an even tougher opponent:

And in the process, she – like DeSanto – earned an opportunity to wrestle for ‘true third’ at Final X next month and a spot on the Senior National Team.

Rounding out the results

Tallying up the rest of the Iowa entries in action, their results were as follows:

Men’s Freestyle

  • 57kg – Brody Teske (fourth)
  • 70kg – Jordan Williams (fourth)
  • 74kg – Michael Caliendo (DNP)
  • 125kg – Tony Cassioppi (DNP)

Women’s Freestyle

  • 53kg – Isabella Gonzales (DNP)
  • 65kg – Nora Akpan (DNP)

On the men’s side, Brody Teske went 2-2 en route to fourth place at 57kg – losing via tech. fall to both Lee in the semis and former Nebraska Cornhusker Liam Cronin.

Meanwhile, fellow fourth-placer Jordan Williams lost by identical 7-0 scorelines to NCAA champion Landon Robideau – sandwiched around a wild 13-10 win over Edward Scott.

Of note, despite competing under the Hawkeye Wrestling Club – including having Tom Brands in his corner – Williams indicated in a post-tournament Instagram post that he still plans to transfer elsewhere for his final season of collegiate eligibility.

Recent HWC signee Michael Caliendo went 0-2 in his post-collegiate debut – including an 8-3 loss to 17-year-old Penn State signee Jayden James:

And after winning his opener via tech. fall, Tony Cassioppi was quickly pinned by eventual WTT champion Mason Parris in the quarters before losing to 2026 Big Ten champ Taye Ghadiali in the consis, 10-0.

As for the Iowa women, freshman Isabella Gonzales reached the semis with impressive opening victory:

Next, she too was pinned by the eventual champion – Elena Ivaldi – before dropping a 10-4 decision in the consi semis to North Central star Kaelani Shufeldt.

Prior to her consolation loss to Larramendy, 2026 recruit Nora Akpan fell 10-0 to three-time national champion Katie Lange.

Short time

The next big event on the summer calendar is U23 Nationals and U20 World Team Trials – set for May 28-31.

You can expect several Hawkeyes to enter the Ohio-based tournament(s). And then it’s just a few more weeks until Final X on June 19th.

In the meantime, stay tuned for plenty more Iowa wrestling coverage here at Hawkeye Report.

I’m working on a couple of big feature stories that’ll hopefully be finished sooner rather than later. And of course, I’ll have coverage of any other pertinent news that drops – like Friday’s hire of new women’s assistant coach Jenna Burkert.

As always, thank you guys for reading/following along and I’ll catch you again real soon!

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