Aiello, Verkleeren Place At US Open Championships

LAS VEGAS – Jay Aiello and Jarod Verkleeren both placed at the US Open Championships on Friday night as the Senior Division competition came to a close at the event.

Aiello, a 2022 grad and alum of the Virginia wrestling program, took a fifth place finish at 92kg. He defeated seventh-seeded Jacob Cardenas by fall in his opening match of the day before dropping his battle with fourth-seeded Eric Schultz in the consolation semifinals. Aiello took fifth as Morgan McIntosh was unable to wrestle due to injury.

Verkleeren took a sixth-place finish at 70kg. He advanced to the consolation semifinals Jaydin Eierman defaulted due to injury. He then dropped his contest to Jarrett Jaques in the consolation semifinals before dropping his bout to third-seeded Hayden Hidlay in the fifth-place match.

Wrestling continues at the US Open Championships on Saturday as a group of seven wrestlers will compete in the U20 division. Opening round matches begin at 1 p.m. ET.

US SENIOR DIVISION RESULTS
70kg
No. 7 seed Jarod Verkleeren
Conso. SF: Jarrett Jaques over Verkleeren by VSU1, 11-1 (2:54)
FIFTH-PLACE MATCH: No. 3 seed Hayden Hidlay over Verkleeren by VSU, 11-0 (2:53)

92kg
No. 6 seed Jay Aiello
Conso. R4: Aiello over No. 7 seed Jacob Cardenas by fall (3:56)
Conso. SF: No. 4 seed Eric Schultz over Aiello by VPO, 8-0
FIFTH-PLACE MATCH: Aiello over Morgan McIntosh by injury default