Iowa State wrestling sent six athletes to Las Vegas to compete in the 2018 Marine Corps U.S. Open.

Along with the six current Cyclones, two future Iowa State wrestlers — David Carr and Hunter DeJong — competed, too. The Cyclone Regional Training Center had a trio of wrestlers — 61-kg Earl Hall, 97-kg Kyven Gadson and 125-kg Ben Durbin — to Las Vegas, as well.

Junior Freestyle

Austin Gomez breezed through the first four matches at 61-kg, outscoring his opponents 40-0 en route to a 4-0 start. In the semifinals, Gomez ran into Joshua Saunders, but Gomez managed to fend him off, 14-12.

In the finals, Gomez delivered a 14-4 win over Jordan Decatur to finish first.

At 65-kg, Ryan Leisure started off strong before being eliminated. Leisure picked up a 10-0 win and followed it with a 9-6 win. After that, Leisure went 0-2, losing 13-2 and 14-2.

Iowa State fans caught a glimpse of the future in 70-kg David Carr. Carr cruised to the semifinals, winning four matches. In the semifinals, Carr was edged out by Austin O’Connor, 6-5.

In the consolation bracket, Carr finished 1-1 to lock him into fourth place.

Ames native Marcus Coleman lost a tight 11-10 match in his first 79-kg match. Coleman battled back, winning two matches before being eliminated by Travis Stefanik.

Tucker Morrison, also competing at 79-kg, lost both his matches on Friday.

Alec McDowell struggled to get anything going in the 86-kg bracket, losing his two matches in Las Vegas.

Iowa State commit Hunter DeJong lost his initial match 9-7, but the 97-kg wrestler bounced back. After the first loss, DeJong finished 5-1, earning a fifth place finish.

At 125-kg, Gannon Gremmel highlighted Iowa State’s day. Gremmel waltzed to the finals, but he found himself in an 8-0 hole. After falling behind, Gremmel recovered, stringing together 16-straight points for a 16-8 win and a first place finish.

Senior Level

Earl Hall competed at 61-kg. Hall won two matches, 10-0, and lost two matches 4-1 and 8-1.

Kyven Gadson hauled in a third-place finish in Las Vegas at 97-kg. Gadson snagged a 4-1 win to start his weekend, but the former Cyclones dropped a 4-3 loss to follow it up.

Gadson finished his weekend on a high note adding a 6-3 win and a 3-2 win over Nathan Burak.

At 125-kg, Ben Durbin added a 10-0 win to open his weekend. Next, Durbin lost to Adam Coon, 11-0. In the consolation bracket, Durbin was defeated 8-0 to end his weekend.