Rapid Recap | Iowa men’s wrestling falters in Session III of NCAA Championships
Four Hawkeyes were completely eliminated from the tournament Friday morning. Only two Iowa wrestlers will compete in Friday night’s NCAA Championship Semifinals.
Cornell’s No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis lifts up Iowa’s No. 8 Max Murin during session three at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich., on Friday, March 18, 2022. Diakomihalis defeated Murin in a 149-pound match, 6-3. Diakomihalis advanced to the semifinals. Muring moved to the constellation bracket, setting up a match with Appalachian State’s No. 6 Jonathan Millner.
March 18, 2022
DETROIT — Ten Iowa men’s wrestlers hit the mat Friday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena for Session III of the 2022 NCAA Championships. At the end of the round, four Hawkeyes were completely eliminated: 125-pounder Drake Ayala, 141-pounder Jaydin Eierman, 157-pounder Kaleb Young, and 184-pounder Abe Assad.
Eierman and Young’s collegiate careers are now over. Young and Eierman earned three and four collegiate All-America honors, respectively.
Two Hawkeyes advanced to the NCAA Championship Semifinals: 133-pounder Austin DeSanto and 197-pounder Jacob Warner. DeSanto beat Virginia Tech’s Korbin Myers via 9-0 major decision to qualify for the national semifinals. Warner defeated Nebraska’s Eric Schultz in the quarterfinals.
Warner is 3-3 against Schultz as a collegiate wrestler. Before Friday, he’d dropped his last three bouts against Schultz.
DeSanto is now 2-0 against Myers in college. DeSanto beat Myers 10-6 at last year’s NCAA Championships.
“I let nerves get to me,” DeSanto said of his most recent match with Myers. “I got the win — not the way I wanted to. As you can see, I like to be entertaining in my wrestling and wrestle hard and with effort. I got it done — got the major.”
Iowa 149-pounder Max Murin, 165-pounder Alex Marinelli, 174-pounder Michael Kemerer, and heavyweight Tony Cassioppi lost their matches to Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis, Michigan’s Cameron Amine, North Carolina State’s Hayden Hidlay, and Lehigh’s Jordan Wood, respectively.
Marinelli, a four-time conference champion, beat Amine in the 2022 Big Ten Championship Finals two weeks ago. “The Bull” had never lost to Amine before he wrestled him on Friday.
Murin, Marinelli, Kemerer, and Cassioppi will wrestle in the consolation bracket Friday night.
The Hawkeyes won four of their 12 Session III matches. Iowa is currently in fourth place in the NCAA team championship standings with 37.5 points.
Penn State leads the NCAA team title race with 73 points. The Michigan Wolverines and Arizona State Wildcats trail the Nittany Lions with 62.5 and 53 points, respectively.
Session IV of the NCAA Tournament will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday. Semifinal and consolation action will air live on ESPN.
Below is full recap of Iowa’s Session III matches and the NCAA team title standings:
125 POUNDS [CONSOLATION]: No. 14 Jakob Camacho (NCST) over No. 3 Drake Ayala (IA) via 8-5 decision
133 POUNDS: No. 5 Austin DeSanto (IA) over No. 4 Korbin Myers (VT) via 9-0 major decision.
141 POUNDS [CONSOLATION]: No. 2 Jaydin Eierman (IA) over No. 17 Dylan D’Emilio (OSU) via 5-3 decision
141 POUNDS [CONSOLATION]: No. 24 Stevan Micic (MICH) over No. 2 Jaydin Eierman (IA) via injury default
149 POUNDS: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (CRNL) over No. 8 Max Murin (IA) via 6-3 decision.
165 POUNDS: No. 6 Cam Amine (MICH) over No. 3 Alex Marinelli (IA) via 3-1 decision
174 POUNDS: No. 4 Hayden Hidlay (NCST) over No. 5 Michael Kemerer (IA) via 5-3 decision
184 POUNDS: [CONSOLATION]: No. 16 Dakota Geer (OKST) over No. 18 Abe Assad (IA) via 5-3 decision
197 POUNDS: No. 6 Jacob Warner (IA) over No. 3 Eric Schultz (NEB) via 2-0 decision
HEAVYWEIGHT: Jordan Wood (Lehigh) over No. 3 Tony Cassioppi (IA) via 3-1 decsion
1. Penn State, 73.0
2. Michigan, 62.5
3. Arizona State, 53.0
4. Iowa, 37.5
5. North Carolina State, 37.0
6. Cornell, 34.5
7. Virginia Tech, 31.0
8. Ohio State, 29.5
9. Missouri, 28.0
10. Nebraska, 27.5