| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | May 12, 1990 Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5.7 ft (170 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight class | 125.5 lb (57 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Freestyle and Folkstyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Hawkeye Wrestling Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Tom Brands and Terry Brands | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Matt McDonough (born May 12, 1990) is a two-time NCAA wrestling champion who attended the University of Iowa.
McDonough attended Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa. His career high school record was 151-15. [1] McDonough was a three-time high school wrestling state champion and four-time state place winner for Linn-Mar under head coach Doug Streicher. As a freshman, McDonough was a teammate of Jay Borschel, four time Iowa state champion, undefeated NCAA champion (2009–2010) and subject of the non-fiction wrestling book Four Days to Glory.
McDonough's father Mike wrestled for Iowa in the 1970s.
McDonough made a surprise drop to 125 pounds as a freshman after competing his first year (when he was redshirting) at 141. After winning the starting spot in the Iowa Hawkeye lineup, McDonough achieved 23 dual victories as a team, including a record of 11-0 on his home mat at Carver–Hawkeye Arena. He also won a title at Northwestern University's Midlands Wrestling Tournament. McDonough received his first loss and only loss on the year in the Big Ten conference finals where returning NCAA champion Angel Escobedo defeated him. McDonough ended his season by winning the NCAA title over fellow freshman Andrew Long, of Iowa State.
McDonough returned for his sophomore season at 125 pounds and went 27-2 on the year, with one of those losses coming from Brandon Precin of Northwestern in a dual. McDonough later avenged the loss at the Big Ten conference tournament where McDonough won his first conference title. At the NCAA championships, McDonough finished second after losing to Anthony Robles in the finals.
McDonough also repeated as Midlands champion.
McDonough returned to the top of the 125 pound weight class as a junior when he defeated Nico Megaludis in the NCAA finals 4-1, which also was his 100th career victory in college. McDonough won his second Big Ten conference title over Zach Sanders on Minnesota. He went 36-1 and for the third straight year won a Midlands title.
McDonough ended his career in a Hawkeye singlet with a 22-5 record, giving him a career record of 122-9. He made his fourth Big Ten conference finals, but was unable to win his third straight title. McDonough sustained a shoulder injury which prevented him from making the top eight, which cost him his fourth All-American honors.
The injury McDonough sustained in his senior year of college prevented him from getting back on the mat initially, but when he did he debuted at 61 kilograms at the Dave Schultz tournament.
In April 2014 he entered the U.S. Open tournament in Las Vegas and finished 4th at 61 kilos. [2]
In May McDonough entered the World Team Trials at 57 kilos where he made his first attempt at making Team USA's freestyle team since college. It was the first time McDonough had been a weight that low since college (57 kg = 125.5 pounds). McDonough took 3rd [3] in the tournament with his lone loss coming to Brandon Precin. He earned another victory over Nico Megaludis to make the national team.
The finish at the Trials allowed McDonough to challenge the University Nationals champion for their spot on the University Nationals team for a chance to compete in Hungary. McDonough won 16-10 and 15-5 [4] in a best of three series over Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) to claim the 57 University spot. [5]
In Hungary McDonough earned a bronze medal for Team USA, [6] losing only to eventual champion Fumitaka Morishita of Japan.
As a member of the national team at 57 kg, McDonough traveled on a multi-week overseas trip, that included two tournaments. The first tournament that the USA wrestlers competed in was the Ivan Yarygin Memorial tournament in Russia. McDonough went 0-1 [7] at the Yarygin tournament. The following week McDonough traveled with USA wrestlers to France for the Paris Grand Prix where he competed at 57 kg. [8] McDonough picked up a 9-8 win in the qualifying round, and then lost his next match to be eliminated. McDonough then weighed in to compete at 61 kg in Paris which led to him earning a bronze medal. [9]
In April, McDonough picked up a 6-2 victory over 2013 World Team member Angel Escobedo [10] at the AGON Wrestling Championships, which moved him up the National rankings to #2 [11] behind teammate Tony Ramos. He also served as a 61 kg alternate to the second place World Cup team in LA, but never saw any action.
Assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin alongside fellow assistant coach Jonathan Reader and Head coach Christopher Bono.
Cael Norman Sanderson is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler who is the current head coach of Penn State's wrestling team. As a wrestler, he won an Olympic gold medal and was undefeated in four years of college wrestling at Iowa State (159–0), becoming a four-time NCAA Division I champion (1999–2002).
The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 20 sports, 7 for men and 13 for women; The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and are members of the Big Ten Conference. Currently, the school's athletic director is Beth Goetz.
Tom Brands is an American former Olympic wrestler and is currently the head coach of the University of Iowa men's wrestling team. He won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Terry Brands is an American Olympic wrestler who won a bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics, losing the semi-final match to Alireza Dabir. While wrestling at the University of Iowa, Brands won NCAA titles in 1990 and 1992, both at 126 pounds. He was a two-time world freestyle champion at 58 kg, winning titles in 1993 and 1995.
The University of Iowa men's wrestling program is one of the most successful NCAA Division I athletic programs. The Hawkeyes are 37 time Big Ten Conference champions and second in NCAA history with 24 National Championships.
Francis John McCaffery is an American college basketball coach and the current men's basketball head coach at the University of Iowa. He has taken four Division I programs to postseason tournaments, including the Iowa Hawkeyes, who reached the final of the 2013 National Invitation Tournament, but has never made a Sweet 16 during his tenure as a Division 1 head coach.
Michael Najeeb Zadick is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler. He competed in the Men's freestyle 60 kg division at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He lost in the 1/8 finals to Vasyl Fedoryshyn.
Brent Metcalf is an American former freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. Metcalf was a three-time member of the US World Team and two-time NCAA wrestling champion at the University of Iowa.
William Michael Zadick is an American amateur wrestler. He won an NCAA college wrestling championship while competing with the University of Iowa and a gold medal at the 2006 World Wrestling Championships in freestyle wrestling.
Kyle Frederick Snyder is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 97 kilograms. He holds the distinctions of being the youngest Olympic Gold medalist and the youngest World Champion in American wrestling history.
Joe Williams is an American former freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's middleweight category. He won ten U.S. national, three consecutive NCAA (1996–1998) and two Pan American Games titles, scored two bronze medals in the 74 and 76-kg division at the World Championships, and finished fifth at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Tony Ramos a former American folkstyle and freestyle wrestler who competed on the International circuit for the United States.
David Morris Taylor III is an American freestyle and graduated folkstyle wrestler who currently competes at 86 kilograms. In 2021, Taylor became the 2020 Olympic gold medalist after defeating reigning Olympic and World Champion Hassan Yazdani, a feat he repeated from the 2018 World Championship where he stormed his way to the title. He later became the 2021 World Championship runner-up, after being defeated by Yazdani. Then, at the 2022 World Championships, he avenged that loss by defeating Yazdani once again to reclaim his world title.
Thomas Patrick Gilman is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms. In freestyle, Gilman is a 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist and the 2021 World Champion and Pan American Continental champion. In folkstyle, Gilman was a three-time NCAA Division I All-American, the 2016 NCAA national runner-up, and a Big Ten Conference champion out of the University of Iowa.
Spencer Richard Lee (born October 14, 1998) is an American freestyle and former folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms. In freestyle, he is a Pan American champion, a two-time US National champion and a three-time age-group world champion, once in the U17 level and twice in the U20 level.
Nicholas Piccininni is an American professional mixed martial artist and graduated folkstyle wrestler who currently competes in the flyweight division. As a wrestler, Piccininni became a three–time NCAA Division I All-American and a four–time Big 12 Conference champion out of the Oklahoma State University for John Smith.
Nathan Khalid Tomasello is an American freestyle and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms. In freestyle, Tomasello has medaled at multiple national and international competitions, most notably the Alexander Medved Prizes, Bill Farrell Memorial, and US Nationals. In college, he was an NCAA champion in 2015, a four–time Big Ten Conference champion, and a four–time All–American for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
David Aaron Carr (born March 28, 1999) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 165 pounds. In freestyle, Carr is a U20 Junior World Champion and U17 World medalist. In folkstyle, he is an NCAA Division I national champion and runner-up out of the Iowa State University, and is currently the second-ranked wrestler at 165 pounds.
Myles Najee Martin is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 86 kilograms. In freestyle, he placed second at the '19 US National Championships and is a two-time US U23 National Champion. As a folkstyle wrestler, he was an NCAA Division I National champion, a four-time All-American and a Big Ten Conference champion out of the Ohio State University.
Alec William Pantaleo is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 70 kilograms. In freestyle, he is the defending U.S. Open champion, was the 2021 Pan American Continental champion, claimed the 2021 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series and the 2021 Poland Open titles, earned silver and bronze medals at the U.S. Open, and was a 2019 U23 U.S. team member. As a folkstyle wrestler, Pantaleo was a three-time NCAA DI All-American and a Big Ten Conference champion out of the University of Michigan.
