Austin DeSanto gets in on a shot (Photo/Drexel Athletics)Step on the mat to face Austin DeSanto and you better buckle up tight.
Because you are going to be in for a fast, furious and frenzied seven-minute rollercoaster ride.
If you can last that long.
The hard-charging, no-nonsense DeSanto is best known as the guy who knocked off Spencer Lee with a dramatic last-second takedown in the 2017 Pennsylvania state finals.
But now he's taking the college wrestling world by storm.
DeSanto's relentless, push-the-pace style has the electrifying true freshman from Drexel already being considered a legitimate NCAA title contender at 133 pounds.
"Austin has a pace and intensity I've never seen before. It's incredible. I haven't seen anybody train and push himself the way he does," Drexel coach Matt Azevedo said. "He manages pain and fatigue better than I've ever seen. He just keeps going and he never stops.
"The kid's just a competitor. He's done an amazing job. His goal is to be national champion this year. The way he trains and the way he approaches the sport, he's definitely in the hunt to do that."
DeSanto, from Reading, Pa., is off to a 17-4 start this season for the Dragons. He's ranked No. 4 nationally by InterMat. He's scored bonus points in 11 wins, including seven technical falls, two falls and two major decisions.
"I want to be the best. To me, that's going out and dominating guys," DeSanto said. "I'm not trying to win 2-1 and 3-2. I want to make it entertaining. I try to work as hard as I can every day. I want to improve every day and give it my all."
Lethal with a fireman's carry and barrel roll from an inside tie, DeSanto earned an unthinkable 22-10 major decision over then-No. 2 Stevan Micic of Michigan in December at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
DeSanto dumped Micic to his back three times with his fireman's attack early in the match en route to scoring a whopping 15 points in the first period. Micic placed fourth at the 2017 NCAA tournament and is a Junior world medalist in freestyle wrestling.
"Austin got to his positions early in the match and carried Micic to his back," Azevedo said. "It kind of set the tone early. Austin's tactics and mentality is to score points. He will put a guy on his back and then he cuts him. He's always looking to attack and score."
From the time the first whistle blows until the last one sounds, DeSanto is in your face with an aggressive approach that has opponents backing up and scrambling for the edge of the mat. Whenever he goes out of bounds, he sprints back to the center and eagerly awaits the restart.
Austin DeSanto rides Virginia's Jack Mueller (Photo/Drexel Athletics)DeSanto suffered an early season loss against Iowa State while his other three losses are to All-American Jack Mueller of Virginia.
In the most recent match with Mueller, in the semifinals of the Southern Scuffle, DeSanto scored a pair of takedowns and held a 4-3 lead with a minute left. DeSanto was then injured in a scramble when his head hit the mat and he had to default.
"I'm getting closer each time I wrestle Mueller -- he's a tough wrestler," DeSanto said. "I really do think I'm in the running to win a national title. I have two months to get better."
The biggest adjustment for DeSanto is one many college freshmen struggle with. In one of his losses to Mueller, he was ridden nearly the entire match.
"My bottom wrestling, I still need to get better in that area," he said. "No guy should be riding me. I need to improve in that area. Guys are strong on top at this level, but I need to get away."
Austin DeSanto defeated Spencer Lee to win the state title in 2017 (Photo/Tom Elling)DeSanto's win over Lee was one of the most-talked about matches in 2017. It came in the Pennsylvania state finals at 126 pounds.
DeSanto lost by technical fall to Lee the previous year before scoring three takedowns in the final 75 seconds of the 2017 rematch to score a stunning 6-5 upset over Lee.
Lee, wrestling with a large black brace on his injured right knee against DeSanto, was undefeated in his prep career and had won three-age group world titles entering that bout. DeSanto spun behind for a takedown with one second left to defeat Lee, who is now competing as a true freshman at 125 pounds for Iowa.
A video of the DeSanto-Lee match that is posted online has nearly three million views.
"I know Lee was hurt, but I broke him," DeSanto said. "I trained a whole year for that match. I really wanted to face him after he beat me. The loss to him my junior year hurt a lot. I got tech falled and got embarrassed. It really lit a fire under me and really motivated me."
DeSanto has an excellent lightweight coach in Azevedo, who pinned Henry Cejudo to win the 2008 U.S. Open before Cejudo went on to win an Olympic gold medal later that year.
Austin DeSanto gets his hand raised after beating Northwestern's Anthony Rubinetti at the Keystone Classic (Photo/Juan Garcia)Azevedo said DeSanto has been "a joy to coach."
"Austin loves wrestling and loves to learn," Azevedo said. "He's just a sponge who takes it all in and applies it right away. He's always asking tons of questions and wants to get better. Those guys are the great ones. When I worked with (four-time NCAA champion) Kyle Dake at Cornell he was the same way.
"I knew from the very first time I worked out with Austin that he was a very special kid."
Azevedo has experienced first-hand what it is like to wrestle DeSanto in the practice room.
"His fireman's is so effective because of how strong his grip is," Azevedo said. "He's rubbed my armpit so raw that it's black and blue. He's ripped the sleeve right off my shirt."
DeSanto's physical style also has taken a toll on his teammates.
"We have to rotate guys against Austin in practice," Azevedo said. "He just suffocates his opponents in the room. It's difficult to match his pace and it becomes overwhelming. No one can hang in there with him for very long."
Azevedo, 40, in his seventh season as the head coach at Drexel, said this is the first year where they have charged admission at their home meets. And fans are definitely getting their money's worth when DeSanto competes.
"(Drexel assistant coach) Josh Dziewa calls it 'must-see wrestling' when Austin goes out there. It is definitely entertaining," Azevedo said. "Austin's brought a lot of attention to our program, no doubt about it. He's already helping our recruiting. A lot of people are interested in what Austin is doing. His style of wrestling raises the level of everybody in the room. Our team is scoring more bonus points now.
"It's a lot of fun to work with a guy who has high goals and is willing to do the work to reach the high goals. He's been a great addition to our program."
DeSanto has made such an immediate impact that athletes in other sports at Drexel are coming to watch him wrestle.
"It's always nice to bring entertainment to a sport and generate interest in wrestling," he said. "My matches will never be boring. Some guys want to hang on and stall. I want to dominate everybody I wrestle against -- I want to beat them bad. That's my mentality.
"I'm going to keep wrestling hard the entire time, no matter what. I'm never going to let up."
Craig Sesker has written about wrestling for more than three decades. He's covered three Olympic Games and is a two-time national wrestling writer of the year.
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