Leistikow: Unpacking Austin DeSanto's Iowa wrestling story and the battles he still faces (2024)

IOWA CITY— Freshly showered after an afternoon workout, Austin DeSanto re-enters the Iowa wrestling room shirtless and with a smile. Those close to DeSanto, one of the most mercurial and polarizing figures in college wrestling, swear that he’s polite and gracious and misunderstood. He shows that side immediately with a strong handshake, an apology for being late and another sheepish smile.

But DeSanto doesn’t really want to be here, in this moment. He almost never does interviews. In fact, to this point, the three-time all-American has done a grand total of 30 seconds of media time this season. And that was with the University of Iowa’s media-relationscontact for wrestling.

“I don’t like it,” he says, again smiling in an apologetic way, as we sit down on a set of bleachers. “I don’t like it at all.”

If a life choice doesn’t make him better at wrestling, DeSanto views it as a waste of time. He doesn’t drink alcohol. He doesn’t have any social-media accounts. His life centers around working out and thinking about wrestling.

But today, he has reluctantly agreed to give this a shot. After a lot of thought, he says with a nervous laugh, "It’s probably good for me, to get outside my comfort zone. That’s how I’m going into it."

His hope: That by the end of this conversation, which will to his surprise last almost 45 minutes, he will be a better wrestler.

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Austin DeSanto has amotor that doesn't stop

Chopping wood for three hours without a break in Terry Brands’ backyard qualifies as something DeSanto believes makes him better at wrestling. It is a whale of an upper-body workout and tests endurance, patience and precision.

“You just get to work. You sit it on a stump and chop,” DeSanto says. “Then you chop it again … into smaller pieces and throw it into the pile.”

Brands, Iowa’s associate head coach and the twin brother to head coach Tom Brands, marvels at DeSanto’s wood-splitting prowess.

“He works like he wrestles,” Brands says. “He’s like a Tasmanian devil on top of that wood pile. It’s fascinating.”

What’s interesting is that DeSanto is new to wood-chopping and doesn’t think he’s very good at it. YetTerry Brands, a coach and mentor with renowned high standards, remarks how the wood is meticulously split into uniform pieces and in large volumes. The way DeSanto splits wood reminds him of himself.

This disconnect — that DeSanto doesn’t view himself as favorably as the coaches do — will become a theme as this interview continues.

Terry Brands has always been fascinated with DeSanto, even when he watched him lose by technical fall against future Hawkeye Spencer Lee in the 2016 Pennsylvania state finals at 120 pounds. DeSanto went 103-1 over his final two years competing for Exeter Township High School, but it was that one loss that impressed Brands and ultimately planted the seed for his Hawkeye future.

Brands was impressed with the way DeSanto wasn’t afraid of Lee, a generational talent and three-time age-group world champion … and now a three-time NCAA champion at Iowa with a fourth possible in 2023. After one year at Drexel with a 29-7 record, DeSanto enteredthe transfer market.

Previously: Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands on Austin DeSanto, Cullan Schriever: ‘Both guys are great options’

DeSanto said his father wanted him to go to Rutgers. But after Tom Brands and Iowa assistant Ryan Morningstar made a second trip to Pennsylvania, DeSanto was assured that he would be best nurtured at Iowa, which desperately needed a 133-pounder in its otherwise potent lineup.

“We wanted him bad,” Tom says.

And in the four years since, DeSanto has locked down that spot in Iowa’s lineup with a high-octane pace and high-scoring success.

“It’s what Iowa wrestling fans live for, it’s what they breathe,” says Mark Ironside, the longtime analyst for Iowa radio broadcasts and a two-time NCAA champion known for his furious style. “It’s his intensity, his pace and exciting wrestling. That’s why he has become a big fan favorite in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.”

Thanks to a bonus year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSanto can become a four-time all-Americanin a few weeks in Detroit. DeSanto’s 26 technical falls at Iowa are the program’s highest total since at least 1999; he has 10 this season among his 14 wins.

DeSanto finished third nationally at his weight a year ago. Without his team points, Iowa wouldn’t have outdistanced Penn State for the program’s first NCAA title since 2010. He's ranked third going into the postseason and is an essential piece to the Hawkeyes’ hopes of beating No. 1 Penn State at this weekend’s Big Ten Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska.

“He has helped himself and helped our program tremendously,” Terry Brands says. “He has done a lot for this place. He does an immense amount in our practice room.”

And this place has done a lot for DeSanto. As the interview delves into deeper topics, that becomes clear.

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Finding a rhythm in Iowa City

What makes you the happiest?

DeSanto doesn’t hesitate with his answer.

“Just being in this room. Being in this environment,” he says. “Somewhere that I’m welcomed and have a purpose.”

DeSanto can’t begin to count the number of hours Tom and Terry Brands have put into helping him grow on and off the mat. That thought rekindlesa quote from his high school coach, Jon Rugg, in April of 2018 after DeSanto decided to leave Drexel in search of a roomthat could handle his hard-charging practice style.

"Austin is a great wrestler,"Rugg said in that Intermat article, "and I think if coaches spent time developing a relationship with him, creating a connection mentally and socially with him, I think they'd have a lot more success with him."

DeSanto is thankful for the Brandses and his Iowa teammates. As he describes it, they leave him alone when he needs some space;and they show up for him when he needs support. His closest connections are with Lee and heavyweight Tony Cassioppi, but “he gets along with everybody on the team,” according to Sammy Brooks — the two-time all-American who picked up DeSanto from the airport when he first arrived in Iowa.

"They see I’m struggling and will text me, ‘Hey man, I don’t know what you’re going through, but I’m here for you,’” DeSanto says. “Or they just come up to me and talk to me."

Previously: Tom Brands' passionate answer underscores Austin DeSanto's importance to Iowa lineup

DeSanto, 23, lives with his girlfriend, Bonnie. They met while he was at Drexel and have been together for four years. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she moved to Iowa and began taking classes here. She's been a terrific ally. When DeSanto didn’t want anything to do with T-shirt sales at Ironside’s apparel store — “please don’t let it affect my wrestling,” he toldher — she handled all the logistics, including the designs.

“She’s awesome. She’s understanding,” he says. “We’re teammates. She’s on my team.”

That entire support system has been essential, as DeSanto has gotten the courage to address mental spirals, as he calls them, that are holding him back in life … and in wrestling.

DeSanto is of the belief that addressing and improving his mental health will improve his wrestling. Tom and Terry Brands agree. So, naturally, he's receptive to working on it. Today, he's open to talking about it.

“I deal with some personal things,” he says. “If I can overcome that, that’ll give me the best possibility to be on top of the stand.”

Do a Google search on Austin DeSanto and it’s easy to find explosive headlines highlightinghis worst moments. A dangerous arm bar on an opponent in the NCAA Championships in 2018 preceded his Drexel exit. A post-match throat-slash gesture toward the Nebraska bench in 2019 got him a one-match suspension.

Tom Brands says maintaining self-control during and after matches has been DeSanto'sbiggest demon.When DeSantofeels ragebubbling up inside, he has a hard time controlling it. Because of his history, he notices that opponents try to agitate him during matches.

“Opposing coaches are calling him degenerativenames,” Tom Brands says. “He’s at a war with the world then. And he’s got very little backup. He’s got his teammates, he’s got his family, and he’s got his coaches.”

To try to get better in this area, DeSanto regularly meets with Carmen Tebbe Priebe, a sports psychologist who also works with Iowa football players.

"I’ve been seeing her two years now, which is insane to me. I’ve been consistent with it. I can’t miss it,"DeSanto says. "I need it. I know I personally need it."

A turning-pointmistake forDeSantoin St. Louis

Those familiar with the complexity of mental-health issues understand that there is rarelya quick fix. Changing behaviors takestime and effort. As DeSanto continues to show his vulnerable and remorseful side, a painful memory comes up: What happened last March.

You won’t find DeSanto in Iowa’s celebratory NCAA Championships trophy photo in 2021. That’s because DeSanto was banned from the Enterprise Center after an interaction with an official following his third-place finish.

“He treated a volunteer media liaison in a disrespectful manner that is not tolerated in our program,” Brands says. “It is not tolerated anywhere, that kind of behavior.”

For the first time, DeSanto is talking about the incident publicly.

He doesn’t have to be talking about this. But he knows it's productive to open his heart and let it pour out, rather than bottling things up.

“Put it simply, I (messed) up big,” he says. “That was selfish, inconsiderate. It wasn’t fair to her, either. She was just doing her job. I truly mean that.”

Once he cooled down that day, DeSanto was filled with great remorse. After he got back to Iowa City, he wrote and sent several apologyletters.

“He was embarrassed,” Tom Brands says. “He owned it, almost to the point of beating himself up in an unhealthy way.”

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DeSanto came to grips with the fact that his coaches had to take time to deal with his situation while three teammates — Lee, Jaydin Eierman and Michael Kemerer — were preparing forNCAA title bouts later that night.

DeSanto calls that Saturday a turning point. His eyes were opened that when he snaps, he is not just making life tougher on himself —he is hurting others.

He realized, “I’ve really got to anchor it down and figure this out. I’m not the only one on the mat. I’m not the only one competing.”

Not that he’s been perfect since; he hasn’t been. But he knows as the postseason hits for the last time in his college career, he cannot detract in any way from Iowa's goal to win a team title in Lincoln (Big Tens) or in Detroit (NCAAs). In fact, DeSantocould be the reason the second-ranked Hawkeyes win a championship or two.

The mental-health piece goes hand in hand with his wrestling. He and his coaches agree it'sthe key factor in whether he can get over the top against Penn State’s top-ranked Roman Bravo-Young in this week’s Big Ten Championships … or Oklahoma State’s second-ranked Daton Fix, should they meet in the NCAA Championships.

DeSanto is 66-14 as a Hawkeye. Twelve of those losses have come to NCAA finalists or champions, seven of them by two points or less. He’s close. Terry Brands says getting over the top is about controlling his mind during the heat of that seven-minute match. He has everything else he needs — the physical strength, the ungodly pace, the technique, the determination — to get the gold.

Tom Brands believes DeSanto outwrestled Fix in a 3-2 loss in last year's NCAA semifinals; outwrestledBravo-Young in a 3-2 loss in January; outwrestled Fix in a 5-3 loss last month. ("You can outwrestle guys and still get beat," Tom says.)

Terry outlines the physical/mental balance this way: “If my body’s racing and my mind tries to match it andstarts racing, I could get into a lot of trouble psychologically or emotionally. So, you’ve really got to watch that with him. He’s doing a better job, but he’s really got to dial that piece in."

Previously: ‘He’s growing continually’: Inside Austin DeSanto’s first season at Iowa

Reflections and gratefulnesson his time with Iowa wrestling

After DeSanto dismantled Nebraska’s Alex Thomsen, 22-7, in his most recent match, he came off the mat and said to coaches, “How’d I look? How’d I look? I felt slow.”

“He doesn’t believe you when you say, ‘You look good. You look great,’” Terry says.

As our interview nears its conclusion, something clicks with DeSanto. Tom and Terry Brands, Olympic medalists and legends in the sport, have been fervently in his corner for four years. They’ve been unafraid to tell him when he’s messed up and constantly detail corrections needed in his wrestling.

But why can’t you accept praise from them?

“I have trust issues,” he says, at first, with a chuckle.

Then, he gets reflective.

“It’s really hard for me to believe (them) after certain situations in the past. But I’ve got to believe them,” he says. “They only have the best interests for me.

“When have they ever lied to me? Never. I’ve got to think about it more logically than how I actually feel.”

More Hawkeye news: Double bye at the 2022 Big Ten tournament within Iowa basketball's grasp

A while back, Terry Brands asked DeSanto whether he loves wrestling or loves winning. It’s a question that DeSanto has pondered all season. If he was losing all the time, would he still love the sport?

Ultimately, he lands on yes.Here's why.

“I wrestle to get better as a person, not just to win,” DeSanto says. “I wrestle because it betters my life. It betters me every day as a person, so I can someday have a family and be a dad. Have kids and teach them to grow up and how to do things right and start their own family … and not be struggling.”

The routine and structure of wrestling is important to DeSanto. It keeps him focused on his best path.

After his Iowa career ends at the March 17-19 NCAA Championships, he hopes to stay in Iowa City with the Hawkeye Wrestling Club and compete internationally. His motor is unlikely to slow down on the mat. And after four years here, he understands he can't stop his work off the mat, either.

How do you measure your growth at Iowa?

You might think his mind jumps to wrestling. But it doesn't.

“More independent. More logical. Better off emotionally and spiritually,” he says. “I’m getting there. It’s something you keep at every day. I’ll probably keep at it for the rest of my life.”

The interview is wrappingup now.Just one more question.

Are you glad you did this?

“Yeah. It got me thinking a lot about how I’ve changed and grown,” DeSanto says. “It got me to think about the mental side of things that I’m working on. Talking about how I need to get better is probably good. It’s probably good. It helps me out.”

And just like the interview started, DeSanto smiles and offers a handshake as we part ways.

“I appreciate this a lot,” he says. “I appreciate it.”

Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has covered sports for 27years with The Des Moines Register, USA TODAY and Iowa City Press-Citizen. Follow @ChadLeistikow on Twitter.