Haakon Peterson, Dodgeville high- School senior wrestler and Michigan University commit, took part in the 2026 U.S. Open Events: Senior, U20, U17, U15, Girls HS Showcase & Masters Nationals held in Las Vegas April 21-26.
Peterson wrestled at 74 Kg (163+ lbs.) in both the Senior Level and the U20 level. The top 8 finishers in the senior level qualify for world team trials. He did not qualify, finishingwith 3 wins and 2 loss in the Senior level.
In the U20 level Peterson finished 6-1 and took 2nd place as the Silver Medalist to last years World Champion from NJ, Jayden James.
The U20 74 kg bracket consisted of 144 competitors. He wrestled several very accomplished college wrestlers, including Will Denny in the round of 16. Denny wrestles for the NC State Wolfpack and finished the season ranked as 12th in the country as a D1 NCAA starter, Denny was also the 10th seed at the NCAA tournament. He also defeated OK State Cowboy, Cody Routlage in the quarter-finals.
Peterson will next compete in Ohio at the USA U20 World Team Trials. He will face several of the same opponents who qualified for WTTs as the top 8 placers. There are other qualifiers who he may face that qualified from placing at D1 NCAAs and Fargo Nationals. The qualifiers of the tournament will battle it out and the winner will face the preserving finalist from the US Open, Jayden James. At that point the winner of the U20 World Team Trials will wrestle Jaden James later in the day in a 2 out of 3 series.
Peterson wrestled for the Askren Wrestling Academy, based out of Madison.
Also competing were Roen Carey (70 KG) in U20 and Liam Carey (60 KG) in U17), both from the Sarbacker Wrestling Academy, Dodgeville.
Roen won 10-0 then lost via 3:47 pin. He rebounded with a 10-0 win before dropping out at the consolation round of 64 on a 17-8 decision. Liam lost two consecutive matches on a tech falls 19-8 and 14-4.