University of Iowa, Iowa State, University of Northern Iowa and a handful of others with state ties will compete at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia from Thursday through Saturday. Here are five storylines to follow at the national tournament.
University of Iowa’s Drake Ayala was the runner-up at 125-pounds at last year’s national tournament. He will try to improve that finish as the No. 2 seed at 133 at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, beginning Thursday.
For the second straight year, second-ranked Iowa did not crown a champion at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships on Sunday at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Hawkeye trio of Drake Ayala, Michael Caliendo and Stephen Buchanan all earned runner-up finishes in their first conference finals and Iowa toted home a third-place finish.
Top-seeded Stephen Buchanan, No. 1 Drake Ayala and No. 2 Michael Caliendo each advanced to the finals, helping Iowa to third place with 98 points after the opening day of the conference tournament. The Hawkeyes also secured eight automatic berths to the NCAA Championships on March 20-22 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Iowa experienced multiple ups and downs during the opening session of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships on Saturday at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. Overall, the Hawkeyes advanced into the semifinals. Here are some takeaways from the first session.
Kyle Parco has wrestled at Fresno State, Arizona State and now Unviersity of Iowa. Parco, a four-time All-American, has experienced success at each stop. He enters his final postseason with Iowa, competing in his first Big Ten Wrestling Championships.
The Big Ten Conference released pre-seeds Wednesday for this weekend’s conference tournament and NCAA qualifier hosted at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. Drake Ayala (133) and Stephen Buchanan (197) earned No. 1 seeds.
The Big Ten Conference leads the way with 87 automatic berths to the NCAA Championships March 20-22 in Philadelphia, Pa. The Big 12 is second with 61 allocations. The Big Ten tournament is March 8-9 in Evanston, Ill., while the Big 12 will be in Tulsa, Okla., the same weekend.
Masanosuke Ono edged Spencer Lee, 3-2, in the main event of FloWrestling Night In America on Wednesday night at Xtream Arena in Coralville. Former Iowa State two-time NCAA champion David Carr defeats Japan’s Olympic silver medalist Daichi Takani.
The Hawkeyes’ 184-pounder defeated Oklahoma State NCAA finalist Dustin Plott, 6-3, in sudden victory, helping Iowa beat the Cowboys, 21-16, Sunday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Two of the world’s top competitors will battle in the main event of FloWrestling Night In America Wednesday night at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
Iowa freshman Angelo Ferrari has contributed in some key spots this season. He defeated NCAA finalist Dustin Plott in sudden victory, creating an instant classic moment in the Hawkeyes dual win over Oklahoma State Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
It doesn’t get any bigger than that, right? No. 2 Cowboys visit No. Hawkeyes in dual on BTN
Brands scores technical fall in first bout since December as Hawkeyes take down Northwestern, 37-3, in Big Ten dual finale at Carver-Hawkeye Arena
Iowa men’s wrestling won seven bouts and beat the Golden Gophers, 23-11, Friday night at Maturi Pavillion in Minneapolis. The Hawkeyes are 11-1 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten Conference, entering its conference finale Sunday at home against Northwestern.
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