|
Keegan O'Toole
Keegan Daniel O'Toole (born May 9, 2001) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 74 kilograms.[1] In freestyle, he was the 2023 U23 World Champion and the 2021 U20 World Champion.[2] In folkstyle, he is a two-time NCAA Division I national champion out of the University of Missouri.[1] CareerEarly lifeBorn and raised in the state of Wisconsin, O'Toole attended Arrowhead High School in Hartland, Wisconsin, graduating in 2020 as the second-ranked recruit in the nation.[3] During his time as a high school wrestler, O'Toole went on to become the eighteenth athlete to claim four WIAA state titles, going 49–0 as a senior.[4] He was the top-ranked wrestler at 160 pounds in 2019.[5] Before attending the University of Missouri (NCAA Division I), he was named the Junior Dan Hodge Trophy and Wisconsin's Dave Schultz High School Excellence award winner.[6][7] University of Missouri2020–2021Before the season started, O'Toole claimed the U20 US National championship in freestyle.[8] A true freshman, O'Toole racked up a 9–0 record in dual meets during regular season, competing solely along the Mid-American Conference due to COVID-19 restrictions.[9] After claiming the Conference title, O'Toole competed at the NCAA tournament, where after making the quarterfinals, he was knocked into consolations by eventual finalist and third-seeded Jake Wentzel from Pittsburgh.[10] He then notably stunned second-ranked Anthony Valencia from ASU by technical fall and fifth-ranked Zach Hartman from Bucknell by major decision before claiming third-place with a win over tenth-seeded Travis Wittlake from the Oklahoma State University, becoming an All-American and closing out the year at 19–1.[11] O'Toole repeated as the U20 US national champion, and then claimed the U20 world championship with a technical fall in the final, pinning 2020 Olympian and 2019 U23 World Champion Turan Bayramov in the quarterfinals.[6] 2021–2022Back to folkstyle, O'Toole racked up a Southern Scuffle title and a 12–0 record in dual meets during regular season, before making his Big 12 Conference debut and claiming the conference title.[12] At the NCAA tournament, O'Toole, the second seed, took out returning All-Americans Anthony Valencia and Cameron Amine to make the finals, where he edged returning NCAA champion Shane Griffith to become an NCAA champion and close out the year undefeated at 25–0.[13] After the season, he was named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Year.[14] 2022–2023The returning national champion, O'Toole won the Tiger Invite title and compiled a 9–1 dual meet record during regular season, with a lone loss to fellow U20 World and NCAA champion David Carr, who had bumped up from 157 pounds to 165 pounds.[15] He claimed runner-up honors at the Big 12 Championships, losing the rematch to Carr in the finals.[16] At the NCAA championships, O'Toole defeated All-Americans Wyatt Sheets, Carson Kharchla, and two-timer Cameron Amine to cruise to the finals, where he upset Carr by decision, becoming a two-time NCAA champion.[17] Fresh off an NCAA championship, O'Toole returned to freestyle and made his senior-level debut at the US Open National Championships in April.[18] After a 3–0 stint, O'Toole fell to three-time NCAA champion and returning national champion Jason Nolf in the semifinals before winning his next two matches to claim third place.[19] In June, he earned a forfeit victory against fellow two-time NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph for third place in the US World Team Trials at Final X and was named to the U23 US World Team.[20][21] At the U23 World Championships, O'Toole defeated returning U23 World medalist Vadym Kurylenko, U23 European finalist Krisztian Biro, and U17 World medalist Imam Ganishov in the finals to become the U23 World champion.[22] 2023–2024Back to folkstyle, O'Toole won the Tiger Invite and went 12–0 in dual meets before becoming a two-time Big 12 champion, with a win in the finals over three-time All-American David Carr to tie the series at 2–2.[23] At the NCAA tournament, O'Toole, the top seed, cruised to the semifinals with three consecutive pins, where he was upset by Carr and fell into the consolation bracket.[24] He then defeated his next two opponents to place third and become a four-time All-American, closing out the year at 24–1.[25] Freestyle recordReferences
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
