Zach Glazier advances to Big Ten wrestling finals, but Iowa goes 1-5 in semifinal round

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Zach Glazier, perhaps the least heralded of the Iowa wrestlers going into this season, salvaged an otherwise tough night for the Hawkeyes in the semifinals of the Big Ten Championships as the 197-pound senior clinched a spot in Sunday’s finals.

Glazier, who spent much of his career as a backup before earning a starting spot this season, scored the bout’s only takedown 38 seconds into sudden victory to beat Maryland’s No. 2 seed Jaxon Smith, 4-1.

“I had to stay really patient and solid,” said Glazier. “He was a funky, explosive wrestler. I had a couple other opportunities that I was not able to capitalize. I want my teammates there with me but they are battling on backside. This is awesome. I’ve dreamt of being in this position for a long time.”

The native of Albert Lea, Minn., will now face Penn State’s three-time national champion Aaron Brooks in Sunday’s finals, which begin at 3:30 p.m. (CT). The Nittany Lion handed Glazier his only loss of the season, 5-1, on Feb. 9. But that match was the only victory in an unbeaten season that did not result in bonus points for Brooks.

Five of Iowa’s six semifinalists lost their bouts:

At 133 pounds, Brody Teske — who was seeded No. 14 but turned in two big wins earlier in the day — lost to No. 2 seed Dylan Shawver of Rutgers, 12-6. The Hawkeye senior was leading 5-3 at the start of the third period before the Scarlet Knight triumphed with two takedowns; the second coming when he also put Teske on his back in the final 15 seconds.

No. 3-seed Real Woods lost 6-3 to No. 2-seed Jesse Mendez of Ohio State at 141. The match was tied 3-3 heading into the third period when the Buckeye sophomore scored a takedown with 40 seconds left in the match.

Graduate student Jared Franek was shut out 5-0 by 157-pound No. 1-seed Levi Haines of Penn State. After a scoreless first period, Haines tallied an escape and takedown in the second period, then rode out Franek the entire third period for a riding-time point.

Sophomore 165-pounder Michael Caliendo lost by a 23-7 technical fall to Penn State’s No. 2 seed Mitchell Mesenbrink, who scored six takedowns, including three in the first period.

At 174 pounds, Patrick Kennedy lost 4-2 to Michigan’s No. 2 Shane Griffith, a former NCAA champ from Stanford, who scored the bout’s only takedown with eight seconds left.

The Hawkeyes find themselves in fourth place with 88 1/2 points heading into Sunday’s earlier session that starts at 11 a.m. Penn State leads the field with 136 points, followed by Michigan (105 1/2) and Nebraska (89).

“We have another day tomorrow,” Iowa Coach Tom Brands said. “We have another day to position ourselves for the future. This is (an NCAA) qualifier and we need to position ourselves best that we can.”

There are three other Hawkeyes who lost in the Saturday’s quarterfinal session, who remained alive to finish as high as third place once a consolation session begins Sunday at 11 a.m.

Drake Ayala, the 125-pound No. 2 seed who was upset in a quarterfinal by Michigan’s Michael DeAugustino, pinned Ohio State’s Brendan McCrone and defeated Wisconsin’s Eric Barnett of Wisconsin, 8-1.

At 149 pounds, Caleb Rathjen defeated Michigan State’s Braden Stauffenberg, 8-2, and beat Wisconsin’s Joe Zargo, 7-2.

• Heavyweight Bradley Hill majored Michigan State’s Josh Terrill, 11-1 and then beat Indiana’s Nick Willham, 4-2.