(Nichole Harris/The Daily Iowan)

Iowa’s 174-pound Michael Kemerer grapples with Oklahoma State’s Joe Smith during a wrestling dual meet between No 1. Iowa and No. 9 Oklahoma State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020. No. 1 Kemerer defeated No. 13 Smith by major decision, 12-2, and the Hawkeyes defeated the Cowboys, 34-6.

Point/Counterpoint: How many Big Ten Champions will Hawkeye wrestling crown?

Two DI staffers debate which Iowa wrestlers will win gold at Big Tens.

March 4, 2020

6

Crowning six champions in the Big Ten Conference is certainly improbable. However, Iowa wrestling has beat overwhelming odds time and again this season.

The Big Ten Tournament will provide Iowa with its latest test, pitting the best Hawkeye wrestlers against the best competition the Big Ten has to offer.

125-pound Spencer Lee has wrestled elite opponents all season long and extinguished each of them with relative ease. Lee has only wrestled into the third period three times this season. He also beat second-seeded Devin Schroder of Purdue by technical fall earlier this year.

174-pound Michael Kemerer beat the second seed in his weight class earlier this season, as well. Kemerer defeated Mark Hall to become the nation’s top-ranked wrestler at 174-pounds on Jan. 31. The senior extinguished eight potential Big Ten tournament foes during the regular season.

Pat Lugo is the tournament’s second seed at 149-pounds. His only loss this season came to top-seeded Sammy Sasso in the first tiebreak of their Jan. 24 match. Lugo defeated the wrestlers seeded third and fourth earlier this season.

Alex Marinelli claimed last year’s Big Ten title at 165-pounds. Top-seeded Vincenzo Joseph appears to be the only man that might bar Marinelli from becoming a two-time champion. Marinelli’s only loss of the season came against Joseph on Jan. 31.

Kaleb Young is the No. 2 seed at 157-pounds. Young did not lose a single Big Ten match this season. He has not faced top-seeded Ryan Deakin this year, but Young did win his most recent match with Deakin at last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Max Murin is the Hawkeye that could make some unexpected noise at 141-pounds. Murin did not wrestle the top two seeds during the regular season. Hiss only loss of the season came to fourth-seeded Chad Red Jr. of Nebraska.

5

Iowa wrestling is back on top of the Big Ten. That was evident all dual season long and will likely continue to be heading into the conference championships.

Plenty of Hawkeyes should take the podium in Piscataway, New Jersey. Now, it’s just a matter which ones will take the Big Ten gold.

It was said plenty last season, but Spencer Lee not winning the 125-pound championship would be the biggest surprise of the event. Lee was the favorite last year and didn’t take the conference crown. This season, he’ll get it done.

The other top-ranked wrestler in Iowa’s lineup, Michael Kemerer at 174-pounds, is someone I also would bet on winning at Big Tens. Mark Hall of Penn State in particular will be a challenge for Kemerer, but he already took down the Nittany Lion standout earlier this season. If the two meet up, I think Kemerer beats Hall again.

Alex Marinelli also faces a tough test against a Penn State wrestler in his weight group. Vincenzo Joseph handed Marinelli his first loss at Carver-Hawkeye Arena earlier this season. However, Marinelli won it all as the No. 2 seed last year. I’d favor him to do it again.

I think it will also be a good weekend for No. 3 seed Max Murin at 141-pounds and No. 2 seed Pat Lugo at 149-pounds.

That makes five champions for Iowa at the Big Ten Championships.

The battle at 133 is too tough to call, which makes me hesitant to pick Austin DeSanto. Kaleb Young has been struggling of late, and Abe Assad has been out of the lineup so long I’m not sure what to expect from them.

The competition for Jacob Warner and Tony Cassioppi is also crowded. Heavyweight in particular is a loaded field.

Taking home half of the individual Big Ten Championship titles may or may not be enough to make Tom Brands happy, but it should be enough to give the Hawkeyes a conference title.

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