ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Cliff Keen Wrestling Club announced on Tuesday (June 27) the addition of Austin Gomez to its freestyle roster. Gomez, an NCAA All-American and Big Ten champion at Wisconsin, will represent Mexico in international competition.
“We’re all thrilled to have Austin join our Cliff Keen Wrestling Club,” said Michigan head coach Sean Bormet. “I’ve known Austin since he was a young kid in my Overtime programs, and obviously Kevin [Jackson] has a great relationship with him as well, so we really know we’re getting a high-character individual and a great competitor. Austin has great fundamentals, and he is explosive and dangerous from all three positions — great upper body, leg attacks and par terre. He’s a lot of fun to watch and will be a lot of fun to coach.”
“I am super grateful to be a part of a great wrestling club to pursue my World and Olympic dreams,” said Gomez. “I am excited to get to work with all of the coaches, who I know will get me to where I need to be to accomplish my goals.”
Gomez wrestled collegiately at Wisconsin (2022-23) and Iowa State (2018-21), earning NCAA All-America honors with a fourth-place finish at 149 pounds in his first season with the Badgers — and after missing the previous two seasons due to injury. He also captured the 2022 Big Ten 149-pound title and shared the Big Ten’s Outstanding Wrestler of the Championship award with Michigan’s Myles Amine. Gomez posted a 67-17 career record over four competitive seasons, including a 23-4 mark in 2021-22 and a 24-7 record as a redshirt freshman at ISU in 2018-19.
Gomez was a U.S. Cadet World Team member (2011) and qualified for the junior team in 2018 before injury forced him to withdraw. He was a four-time Fargo national champion, winning twice apiece in freestyle and Greco-Roman, and won double Pan American cadet gold in 2015, garnering the Golden Boot award as the Outstanding Wrestler in both freestyle and Greco.
He is currently in the process of qualifying for the Mexican world team at 65kg after earning wins at the Mexico All-Star Grand Prix, with a 14-4 technical superiority over Olympian Agustin Destribiats in the final, in November and the Campionato Nacional in March — at which he was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.
