Mantanona Captures U23 National Title at 79kg
6/2/2025 11:54:00 AM | Wrestling
GENEVA, Ohio -- University of Michigan redshirt sophomore Beau Mantanona captured the U23 freestyle title at 79kg/174 pounds at USA Wrestling's 2025 U23 Nationals and U20 World Team Trials on Sunday (June 1) at the SPIRE Academy.
His brother, redshirt freshman Brock Mantanona, took second place at 79kg in the U20 division, while redshirt freshman Hayden Walters claimed third at U23 92kg/202 pounds to headline the Wolverines' placewinners at the event.
Beau Mantanona posted a 7-1 record over two days with six technical falls and a pin. He defeated Arizona State's Nicco Ruiz in his best-of-three championship final, including an 11-0 tech in the series rubber match. He scored on an early takedown and stepout in that bout before countering a crotch-lock attempt and dropping down to a lace to earn three turns and end it at the 2:20 mark.
Mantanona won 13-2 in the series' first bout, again scoring a quick takedown before piling on five sets of exposure points after countering a Ruiz crotch lock. He ended it with a trap-arm gut at 1:07. Ruiz forced the third match with an 8-2 decision in the second. All his points came off Mantanona's attacks.
Walters also went 7-1 over two days in the U23 division and reeled off four straight wins after a 7-1 loss to Ohio State's Luke Geog in the quarterfinals to wrestle back to third place. Walters ended his tournament with back-to-back technical falls, including an 11-0 win over Michigan State's Kael Wisler in his medal match. He earned a takedown and gut in the final :20 of the first period against Wisler then added two more takedowns and a gut in the second to end it at the 6:06 mark.
Brock Mantanona rolled to three wins in the U20 challenge tournament to advance to the best-of-three 79kg finals, where he dropped back-to-back 10-0 techs to William Henckel, who sat out the challenge tournament after defeating Mantanona in the U.S. Open final. Among his wins, Mantanona defeated Cornell's Louie Cerchio 13-8 in the challenge tournament final, overcoming an early four-pointer with two takedowns and two sets of exposure in the second period.
