STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The Iowa wrestling team’s performance on Saturday set up Sunday to be a day full of potential milestones.

Alex Marinelli is going for his third Big Ten title. Spencer Lee will wrestle for his second. Michael Kemerer is in position to win his first. And, as a team, the top-ranked Hawkeyes are going for their 37th Big Ten Championship in program history and their second in a row.

Six Iowa wrestlers will compete in the final round on Sunday and three Hawkeyes are still alive in the wrestlebacks. The Hawkeyes are in the lead at the Bryce Jordan Center after the first day of the 2021 Big Ten Wrestling Championships with 126.5 points. And day No. 2 could be a special one for Iowa.

But the team has to stay ready. Or as head coach Tom Brands says: Ready, ready.

“Opening comment No. 1, there’s a lot of wrestling to do,” Brands said at the end of session two. “Opening comment No. 2, we’ve got to get ready to wrestle tomorrow. Opening comment No. 3, we’re going to have some tough matches. This is the qualifier and we’re going to another tournament. We’ve got to stay tough. Keep doing what we’re doing and add to it a little bit.”

“We have some guys in the finals and we’re going to have to go out and be ready, ready. And I mean ready, ready.”

Austin DeSanto (133 pounds), Jaydin Eierman (141), and Kaleb Young (157) round out the Hawkeyes competing in the finals, which will air starting at 3 p.m. CT Sunday on the Big Ten Network. Nelson Brands (184), Jacob Warner (197), and Tony Cassioppi (285) are still alive in the consolation bracket and are going for third place.

Nelson Brands’ two wins in the consolation bracket assured he will earn an automatic bid the to NCAA Championships.

Max Murin is the only Hawkeye out of the tournament. The No. 2 seed at 141 pounds went 0-2 on Saturday. Murin will now have to rely on an at-large bid to go the the NCAA Championships.

“You look at firepower, you want it all the way through your lineup,” Brands said. “You don’t want to be critical. We’ve still got wrestling to do. I’m going to leave the criticism and the nitpicking out of this conversation because we’ve got another day.”

Iowa ends the first day of Big Tens with a 19-5 record. At one point, Iowa led by as many as 49 points in the second session Saturday. But Penn State went 12-2 in wrestlebacks to cut into its deficit. The Nittany Lions are in second with 111.5 points.

Session three will begin at 11 a.m. CT Sunday with the consolation semifinals and seventh-place matches. Then, when the finals start, the six Hawkeyes competing will have to be ready.

Ready, ready.

Session two match-by-match recap: Recap from State College: Iowa competes in Session 2 of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships

SEMIFINAL RESULTS

125 – No. 1 Spencer Lee (IA) pinned No. 5 Rayvon Foley (MSU), 0:23

133 – No. 2 Austin DeSanto (IA) dec. No. 3 Lucas Byrd (ILL), 5-4
141 – No. 1 Jaydin Eierman (IA) dec. No. 4 Chad Red (NEB), 7-1

157 – No. 2 Kaleb Young (IA) dec. No. 3 Brayton Lee (MINN), 3-2 TB2
165 – No. 1 Alex Marinelli (IA) dec. No. 4 Cameron Amine (MICH), 2-0
174 – No. 1 Michael Kemerer (IA) dec. No. 4 Logan Massa (MICH), 4-2
197 – No. 2 Myles Amine (MICH) dec. No. 3 Jacob Warner (IA), 3-1 SV1
285 – No. 2 Mason Parris (MICH) pinned No. 3 Tony Cassioppi (IA), 0:53

CONSOLATION RESULTS

149 – No. 8 Mike Van Brill (RU) dec. No. 2 Max Murin (IA), 7-2
184 – No. 9 Nelson Brands (IA) dec. No. 10 Rocky Jordan (OSU), 5-2

184 – No. 9 Nelson Brands dec. No. 4 Owen Webster (MINN), 3-2

Team standings after day one

1. Iowa – 126.5
2. Penn State – 111.5
3. Nebraska – 88
4. Michigan – 76
5. Purdue – 67
6. Northwestern – 63.5
7. Ohio State – 63
8. Minnesota – 62.5
9. Michigan State – 61
10. Rutgers – 35
11. Illinois – 25.5
12. Wisconsin – 23.5
13. Indiana – 22
14. Maryland – 2

Hawkeyes in the finals

125 — No. 1 Spencer Lee vs. No. 7 Devin Schroder (Purdue)

133 — No. 2 Austin DeSanto vs. No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State)

141 — No. 1 Jaydin Eierman vs. No. 2 Nick Lee (Penn State)

157 — No. 2 Kaleb Young vs. No. 1 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern)

165 — No. 1 Alex Marinelli vs. No. 3 Ethan Smith (Ohio State)

174 — No. 1 Michael Kemerer vs. No. 3 Carter Starocci (Penn State)