Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Dreshaun Ross of Fort Dodge earned national runner-up honors at 125kg in the U20 freestyle bracket of the U.S. Open in Las Vegas on Sunday.

LAS VEGAS — Three-time Fort Dodge state champion Dreshaun Ross secured a silver medal at 125kg on Sunday at the CLAW United States Open.

Ross, an Oklahoma State University recruit, was competing in the men’s 20-and-under freestyle division inside the Expo at World Market Center. He was edged in the finals by Cole Mirasola — a current Penn State University freshman — by a score of 7-5.

Ross tallied a late four-point takedown to nearly erase all of an early 5-0 deficit against Mirasola, who is originally from Wisconsin.

In the semifinals, Ross had defeated Coby Merrill with a late takedown by a 3-2 count. Merrill is a California high school state champion at heavyweight, and a consensus Top-25 wrestler nationally for the Class of 2026.

Ross won his state title for the Dodgers this past season at 215 pounds. He is a consensus Top-5 recruit for the Class of ’26.

Ross is still in the running for a spot on the World team. He must advance out of a tournament in Ohio next month, needing to prevail in a best-of-three series to do so.

This past February, Ross became just the third Fort Dodge wrestler in program history to capture three consecutive state titles. He went 20-0 overall after sitting out the early portion of the season while recovering from surgery, and was named the wrestler of the meet after his state performance.