Iowa finishes 4th in Big Ten Wrestling Championships with 9 NCAA qualifiers

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — After Iowa saw five of its six semifinalists lose Saturday night at the 2024 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, Coach Tom Brands challenged his wrestlers to fight back and get the next best thing during Sunday’s final rounds at Xfinity Center.

And that’s what happened, despite the Hawkeyes seeing their only finalist — Zach Glazier — lose his 197-pound title bout to Penn State’s three-time NCAA champion Aaron Brooks. The senior from Albert Lea, Minn., who finished above his No. 3 seed, lost 20-3 against the undefeated Nittany Lion.

Otherwise, those five Iowa semifinalists who came up short on Saturday, went a combined 8-2 during Sunday’s placement bracket, including two who avenged earlier-season losses.

Overall, one Hawkeye finished second, three claimed third, one fourth and four fifth as Iowa qualified nine of its 10 entries into this year’s NCAA Division I Championships, which will be held March 21-23 in Kansas City, Mo.

“(The Big Tens) are a qualifier, that’s important,” Brands said. “Our results were not what we wanted, but you can compartmentalize it to where we are going … and that’s to Kansas City. Are we going to complain about past results or are we going to look ahead and position ourselves the best we can?”

Overall, the Hawkeyes finished in fourth place with 110 1/2 points. Two-time NCAA defending champ Penn State, which featured a school record seven finalists and five champs, easily won the team championship with 170 points. The Nittany Lions broke their school record of 157 1/2 points in 2019.

Of the four Hawkeyes who reached the consolation finals, Drake Ayala (125), Real Woods (141) and Michael Caliendo (165) won their third-place bouts.

Ayala, the No. 2 seed at 125, topped Purdue’s top-seed Matt Ramos, who like the Hawkeye sophomore was upset in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Ayala scored the bout’s only takedown with one second left in the first period to win 4-2.

“This will give me confidence going into the NCAA tournament, but I know what I’m capable of,” said Ayala, who lost to Purdue’s 2023 national runner-up, 4-1, earlier this winter.

Woods, the 2023 NCAA runner-up, avenged an earlier 14-2 loss Michigan’s Sergio Lemley with an 11-8 victory at the Big Tens. The Hawkeye senior jumped out to an 8-1 lead and held off the Wolverine freshman.

Caliendo, a sophomore All-American who transferred from North Dakota State, scored a takedown with 44 seconds gone in sudden victory to beat Michigan’s Cam Amine, 8-5.

“That takedown was about motion, keep him moving,” said Caliendo, whose only loss this weekend was to eventual champ Mitchell Mesenbrink in the semifinals. “Once (coming up short in the semis) was over, the only thing you can do is look forward.”

Jared Franek (157) medically forfeited his third-place bout to Nebraska’s Peyton Robb. The graduate transfer from North Dakota State had beaten Robb in the quarterfinals.

In the fifth-place bouts, Brody Teske (133 pounds), Caleb Rathjen (149), Patrick Kennedy (174) and Bradley Hill (heavyweight) ended the 2024 Big Tens with a victory.

Teske, now a four-time national qualifier who was seeded No. 14 this weekend, scored a takedown with five seconds left to beat Maryland’s Braxton Brown, 4-1. The senior missed qualifying for the third-place match when a late video challenge gave Nebraska’s Jacob Van Dee a 9-6 sudden victory after officials had awarded Teske a match-winning takedown in overtime.

Rathjen, a sophomore, scored three takedowns, one in each period, to beat Ohio State’s Dylan D’Emilio, 11-5.

Kennedy scored his match’s only takedown with 38 seconds left in sudden victory to beat Minnesota’s Andrew Sparks, 4-1.

Hill, a No. 7 seed, ended the night by scoring a second victory over Nebraska’s Nash Hutmacher.