Iowa’s Cash Wilcke will join the Hawkeye wrestling team at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis next week after receiving an at-large bid because of an injury in the field.

Wilcke was originally the first man out when the NCAA announced the qualifiers, but the redshirt freshman ended up being the ninth Hawkeye to punch his ticket to St. Louis.

He placed one spot out of an automatic bid at the Big Ten Championships when he finished eighth, while the top seven wrestlers at 197 pounds receive automatic berths.

Wilcke will make his first tournament along with Hawkeyes Topher Carton, Michael Kemerer, and Joey Gunther, who also received an at-large bid.

The Hawkeyes have five grapplers seeded in the top five at nationals, including top seed Thomas Gilman.

With a 27-0 record, Gilman has been ranked No. 1 in the 125-pound weight class for the duration of the season. He proved his ability on the way, winning the gold at the Midlands Championships, as well as his first Big Ten title this past weekend.

In addition to Gilman, redshirt freshman Kemerer is the No. 2 seed at nationals at 157 pounds, Sammy Brooks, who picked up his second-consecutive Big Ten title this past weekend, is a third seed at 184 pounds, 133-pounder Cory Clark received a No. 4 seed, and Brandon Sorensen is seeded at No. 5.

Alex Meyer is the last seeded Hawkeye; the All-American will be an 11th-seed.

The NCAA Championships will commence on March 16 and will conclude on March 18.

— by Pete Ruden