The mantra for bracket-style tournaments is often survive and advance. At the 2019 Midlands Championships, the Hawkeyes have thrived and advanced.

Iowa entered the second session of the tournament in the lead with 52 team points. The closest trailing teams were No. 16 Northern Iowa and No. 8 Wisconsin. Iowa finished Session II with 115.5 points, well ahead of the Panthers’ 69.5 points and Badgers’ 68.5 points.

“Bonus points come from dominant mentalities,” head coach Tom Brands said. “It is not an afterthought; I can tell you that right now. Bonus points are hard to get. You have to work hard to dominate. You have to work hard to have lopsided wins. You have to work hard in the top, bottom, and neutral positions, and be dominant in all three. It’s not easy, but keep doing it.”

Of the 12 Hawkeyes that competed in the quarterfinals, 10 of them advanced to the semifinals.

Reigning national champion Spencer Lee’s stretch of pins came to an end during the second session. Lee defeated Harvard’s Nolan Hellickson via technical fall. Lee will face Northwestern’s Michael DeAugustino in the semifinals.

One fall streak that did not come to an end was that of junior Alex Marinelli. The two-time tournament champion earned his fourth-straight fall of the tournament during Session II. Marinelli pinned Harvard’s Philip Conigliaro in six minutes and eight seconds to advance to the semifinals. Zachary Hartman of Bucknell will meet Marinelli in the semifinals.

Heavyweight Tony Cassioppi saw his first hotly contested match of the tournament during the second session. After pinning his first two opponents during Session I, Cassioppi wrestled Missouri’s Zach Elam to the bitter end, winning 6-0.

Cassioppi’s semifinal matchup will pit two in-state foes against each other. Cassioppi will see Northern Iowa’s Carter Isley to kick off Session III’s heavyweight action.

Two Hawkeyes won their semifinal matchups via major decision. 197-pound Jacob Warner and 133-pound Austin DeSanto dispatched their quarterfinal competition 9-1 and 20-8, respectively.

Another Hawkeye wrestling pair won via decisions, junior Kaleb Young and sophomore Max Murin.

Murin and Young defeated their opponents 8-4 and 7-2, respectively.

Two Hawkeyes competed in the 184-pound quarterfinals. Redshirt freshman Nelson Brands and true freshman Abe Assad both combined for a 1-1 quarterfinal record. Brands fell to Zachary Braunagel of the Fighting Illini, 3-2.

Assad, competing for Iowa unattached, upset third-seeded Tanner Harvey. The 11th-seeded Assad forced overtime at 6-6 via a reversal with nine seconds remaining in the third period. The Illinois native’s late-match heroics continued in the first overtime period. Assad took down Harvey to win the match with just 27 seconds left on the clock.

Assad will look to continue his Cinderella story during Session III. He may also seek to avenge Brands’ loss as he squares off against Braunagel in the semifinals.

Three Hawkeyes competed in the 149-pound quarterfinals. The group finished 2-1 with second-seeded Pat Lugo and 12th-seeded Vince Turk winning via major decision. An all-Hawkeye finale may be on the horizon as Lugo and Turk both push for semifinal victories.

However, the road to a Black and Gold final at 149-pounds won’t be smooth. Lugo will have to defeat in-state opponent Max Thomsen of Northern Iowa. Meanwhile Turk must conquer North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor.

According to InterMat, O’Connor is the nation’s best wrestler at 149 pounds. The sophomore isn’t as unbreakable as his national ranking might suggest.

Iowa senior Jeren Glosser took O’Connor to the brink in the quarterfinals, losing 6-5. A surprising wire-to-wire victory seemed to be on tap Glosser, but O’Connor earned a match-sealing takedown with 10 second remaining in the third period.

Turk’s shot at O’Connor and all of Iowa’s semifinal matchups will begin at 12 p.m. as the Midlands third session begins.