Iowa’s Max Murin among NCAA wrestling at-large qualifiers

Iowa will be fully loaded, after all.

All 10 Hawkeyes will compete at the national wrestling tournament in St. Louis, Mo.

The NCAA announced at-large selections Tuesday for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, including Iowa 149-pounder Max Murin, who will join the team's nine automatic qualifiers. Iowa State and Northern Iowa each received two at-large bids, while former Alburnett state champion and South Dakota State 197-pounder Tanner Sloan was picked to join the field.

Murin's selection will give Iowa a complete lineup next week at Enterprise Center. The Hawkeyes are looking for their first NCAA team title since 2010. They are heavy favorites, like last year before the event's cancellation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Murin is a two-time national qualifier, but missed an automatic berth with an 0-2 showing at last weekend's Big Ten Championships. He was seeded second at the qualifier, falling to the eventual runner-up (Nebraska's Ridge Lovett) and third-place finisher (Rutgers' Mike Van Brill). Murin drop to 11th from fifth in the rankings, owning a 4-3 mark with all three losses to the conference's top-three medalists.

All 10 Hawkeyes are ranked 12th or better. Iowa has seven wrestlers ranked in the top three of their respective weights, including four top-ranked. Spencer Lee (125), Jaydin Eierman at 141, Alex Marinelli (165) and 174-pounder Michael Kemerer are all No. 1. Austin DeSanto (133), Jacob Warner at 197 and heavyweight Tony Cassioppi are third. Kaleb Young is fifth at 157.

Iowa State boosted its total qualifiers to eight with the additions of 125-pounder Kysen Terukina and Sam Colbray at 184. Colbray placed fifth and Terukina was sixth at the Big 12 Championships. Colbray is 6-3 and has qualified for the third straight season. Terukina is 8-5 this year.

The Panthers will take six to the NCAA tournament. UNI's Lance Runyon (174) and heavyweight Carter Isley received at-large berths. Runyon is 7-5 after having to injury default and medically forfeit out of the Big 12 tournament. Isley placed sixth and is 9-5. Isley has qualified for the second straight season.

Three former area preps will compete at nationals, including Sloan. He is 14-2 this season, suffering his only losses at the Big 12 Championships. Sloan was a qualifier last season as a freshman.

Bryce West, formerly of Highland and Solon, earned an automatic bid at 133 for Northern Illinois. West (10-5) placed fifth at the Mid-American Conference tournament.

Western Dubuque two-time state champion and three-time finalist Max Lyon qualified for Purdue at 184. Lyon (7-6) placed seventh at the Big Ten tournament.

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