Hawkeye wrestling clinches Big Ten regular season title

Iowa dominated Minnesota to bring home the program’s latest conference trophy.

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Shivansh Ahuja

Iowa’s 133-pound Austin DeSanto wrestles Minnesota’s Boo Dryden during a wrestling dual meet between No. 1 Iowa and No. 13 Minnesota at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020.

Robert Read, Sports Editor


The Iowa wrestling team clinched the Big Ten regular season title with a 35-6 dual win over the Golden Gophers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Saturday night.

Minnesota won two of the first three matches against Iowa, but the Hawkeyes took over from there in a dominant dual victory.

184 – Owen Webster over Cash Wilke (decision, 3-2)

Wilke got the nod for the Hawkeyes at 184 over No. 9 Abe Assad. Webster secured a takedown with 54 seconds remaining in the first period, and went into the second leading 2-1. Wilke quickly tied it up with an escape point to begin the second. In the third period, Webster registered an escape point to take a 3-2 lead.

197 – No. 6 Jacob Warner over Hunter Ritter (decision, 13-4)

Warner opened the scoring with a takedown just under a minute into the match. He followed that up with another takedown with only seven seconds remaining in the opening period. Add in another two takedowns and a two-point reversal and Warner had his match taken care of.

285 – No. 1 Gable Stevenson over No. 3 Tony Cassioppi (decision, 7-5)

The ranked battle at heavyweight went Minnesota’s way Saturday night. Stevenson picked up two takedowns in the first period of the match. Going into the third period, Cassioppi and Stevenson were tied, 4-4. Stevenson notched an escape to begin the period, followed by a takedown with 25 seconds remaining to seal the match.

125 – No. 1 Spencer Lee wins by forfeit, 6-0

Minnesota didn’t wrestle Patrick McKee at 125 pounds against Iowa, as he is still working his way back from an injury.

133 – No. 3 Austin DeSanto over Boo Drayden (tech fall, 24-8)

DeSanto didn’t waste any time in his return to the mat. In his first action since leaving the Penn State match injured on Jan. 31, DeSanto registered six takedowns in the first period against Dryden. The dominance only continued from there. DeSanto scored another two takedowns in the second period. In the third, he secured a four-point near fall and took the match.

141 – No. 9 Max Murin over No. 4 Mitch McKee (decision, 6-4)

Murin also made his return to the mat against Minnesota. Murin secured an escape to begin the third period and tie the match at 4-4. There’d be no more scoring in the period. With 18.7 seconds remaining in the fourth period, Murin secured a takedown and took the the match.

149 –  No. 2 Pat Lugo over No. 7 Brayton Lee (decision, 3-2)

Lugo got things started early with a takedown at the 2:26 mark in the first period. Entering the third period, the match was tied at 2-2. Lugo secured an escape early in the third to take the 3-2 advantage.

157 – No. 5 Kaleb Young over Ryan Thomas (decision, 5-4)

Heading into the third period, Young held a 4-3 lead after he secured a takedown with 33.5 seconds remaining in the second. Thomas recorded an escape point to knot things up at 4-4. The match would go to a fifth period, where Young picked up an escape point that would seal the match.

165 – No. 2 Alex Marinelli over Kasper McIntosh (tech. fall, 21-6)

Marinelli rattled off six takedowns in the first period to take an early advantage. In the second, Marinelli secured another two takedowns and a four-point near fall to take the match.

174 – No. 1 Michael Kemerer over No. 8 Devin Skatzka (fall, 6-2)

Kemerer scored a takedown only 20 seconds into the match to take the early lead. He followed that up with another takedown just under a minute later. Kemerer finished off the Gophers with a pin with 8.3 seconds remaining in the third period.