The Iowa men’s wrestling team will honor its seniors Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. After their dual with the ninth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers at 2:30 p.m., the No. 2 Hawkeyes will recognize eight wrestlers and one student manager.

Six of the eight athletes that will be honored are in Iowa’s starting lineup: 133-pound Austin DeSanto, 141-pound Jaydin Eierman, 149-pound Vince Turk, 157-pound Kaleb Young, 165-pound Alex Marinelli, and 174-pound Michael Kemerer.

“First thing that comes to mind is resilient through the COVID stuff,” head coach Tom Brands said of his senior class at a Tuesday Zoom press conference. “The other thing that goes through my mind is an overused word that’s very, very cliche nowadays, but culture, character, charisma. We’ve had some good recruiting classes here that were really good in every way. And this group is one of those where there are a group of guys that had all those qualities about them.”

DeSanto, Eierman, Turk, and Young boast a combined 48-13 record at Carver. Marinelli and Kemerer — who have 13 combined years of collegiate wrestling experience under their belts — have gone 25-2 and 24-1 in home matches, respectively.

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Kemerer has been wrestling collegiately at Iowa for the last seven years. A redshirt year, a medical redshirt season, and a COVID-19-related bonus year of eligibility have allowed Kemerer to compete in the Black and Gold singlet for so long.

After seven years, Kemerer will finally be wrestling his last bout at Carver on Saturday.

“[My college experience] has matched my expectations in that I knew the demands of the program and being at that high standard every day and the high goals,” Kemerer said. “That’s what I wanted when I came here, and it’s been just like that.

“There’s been a lot of things different too,” Kemerer added. “I mean, just things that I’ve learned or relationships that I’ve built. You just can’t really predict them and things happen. I mean, here I am in my seventh year. You know, had a medical redshirt in there, had a national tournament canceled. I’ve had so many different events really happen throughout my career. Honestly, that’s just kind of what has made my whole experience and it’s been awesome.”

Kemerer said that, while he’s focused on defeating No. 23 Andew McNally Saturday, he’ll still cherish running out of the tunnel at Carver one last time.

“That’s one of the best feelings,” Kemerer said of competing in front of the Hawkeye faithful at Carver. “I tell people that you can see it from the stands, you can see it from the bench, but when you’re the one coming out of that tunnel, it’s just a unique experience. I can close my eyes and picture it clearly.

“And so, [the] last time, you know, it’s a bittersweet feeling,” Kemerer added. “But at the same time, I got an opponent out there that’s going to be wanting to spoil my senior night … So, you don’t have too much time to get too into the sentimental side of things but, man, it’s a special feeling. It’s gonna feel good.”

Marinelli, who is a sixth-year senior, said he’d like his Carver career to end the same way it started on Jan. 5, 2018.

“My wife, Mariah, just asked me about [my first home dual] and it was Michigan State,” Marinelli said. “And I kind of throttled the guy. I kind of want to do that [Saturday]. I want to end on a good note.

“Obviously it’s gonna be bittersweet,” Marinelli added. “You know, [former Hawkeye wrestler Mark Ironside] was just in our room the other day. He said, ‘I would give anything to be you guys again. I would give anything to be you guys and compete out at Carver again.’ I know that’s going to be the feeling but I’m gonna cherish it and just have fun with my brothers and really take it in.”