Recap from State College: Iowa competes in Session 3 of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships

Three Hawkeyes will compete for third place Sunday afternoon.

Ryan Adams

Iowa’s Jacob Warner returns Michigan’s Myles Amine to the mat during the Big Ten Wrestling Tournament at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, PA on Saturday, March 6, 2021. Amine won the match by decision 3-1. The Hawkeyes ended the Semifinals with a team score of 126.5, putting them in first place ahead of Penn State with a score of 111.5.

Robert Read, Pregame Editor


STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Three Iowa wrestlers are still alive in the consolation bracket and will take the mat during the third session of the 2021 Big Ten Wrestling Championships.

Nelson Brands (184), Jacob Warner (197), and Tony Cassioppi (285) will all compete in wrestleback matches in an effort to advance to a third-place match Sunday afternoon. Iowa enters Sunday with 126.5 team points, the most of any team. Penn State is in second place with 111.5 team points.

Session three starts at 11 a.m. CT and will be followed by the final session, which starts at 3 p.m. CT and will air on the Big Ten Network.

Here are Iowa’s results from session three:

Consolation semifinals

184 — No. 9 Nelson Brands defeats No. 2 Christopher Weiler (Wisconsin), 2-0 decisoin

Brands used a couple of escape points and a rideout at the end of the second period to upset Weiler and advance in the consolation bracket. After losing in the quarterfinals, Brands has now won three wrestlebacks matches in a row.

Brands is competing in his first Big Ten tournament. He is 4-1 as the No. 9 seed.

Brands will wrestle for third place in session four.

197 — No. 3 Jacob Warner defeats No. 5 Lucas Davison (Northwestern), 5-0 decision

Warner scored a takedown in the first period and followed that up with over two minutes of riding time to defeat Davison and move on to the third-place match.

Warner is making his third straight trip to the consolation finals. He placed third in 2019 and 2020.

285 — No. 3 Tony Cassioppi defeats No. 8 Tate Orndorff (Ohio State), Pin

Iowa went three-for-three in its session three matches. Cassioppi pined Orndorff in 2:22 to move on to the third-place match. Cassioppi placed third as a redshirt freshman last season.

In session four Sunday afternoon, Iowa will have six wrestlers competing in the finals and three more going for third place.


Video highlight: Cassioppi pins session three opponent


Team standings

1.           IOWA                  139

2.           Penn State         116

3.           Nebraska            102.5

4.           Michigan            86

5.           Michigan State  72.5

6.           Minnesota         71.5

7.           Purdue                71

8.           Northwestern   68

9.           Ohio State          64.5

10.         Rutgers               49

11.         Illinois                 31

12.         Wisconsin          26.5

13.         Indiana               22

14.         Maryland           2


What’s next in session four

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)

Third-place matches

184 — No. 9 Brands vs. No. 5 John Poznanski (Rutgers)

197 — No. 3 Warner vs. No. 4 Cameron Caffey (Michigan State)

285 — No. 3 Cassioppi vs. No. 7 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)

This is a developing story. Check back for more updates throughout the day.