Rapid Recap | Five Iowa men’s wresters survive Session IV of 2022 NCAA Championships
Six Hawkeyes competed in Session IV, five of which advanced to Sessions V and VI.
Penn State’s No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young attempts to take down Iowa’s No. 5 Austin DeSanto during session four at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich., on Friday, March 18, 2022. DeSanto entered the match having already lost to Bravo-Young twice on the season. Bravo-Young defeated DeSatno by decision in a 133-pound match, 3-2.
March 18, 2022
DETROIT — Six Iowa men’s wrestlers participated in Session IV of the 2022 NCAA Championships at Little Caesars Arena Friday night. Five Hawkeyes advanced to the tournament’s fifth and sixth sessions, which will be held Saturday.
Senior 197-pounder Jacob Warner was the lone Iowa wrestler to advance to the national finals. He beat Wyoming’s Stephen Buchanan, who was seeded second, via 6-4 decision in the semifinals. Counting No. 6 Warner’s finals berth, Iowa has now had at least one NCAA Finalist in each of the last 32 national tournaments.
Warner will wrestle Max Dean in Saturday’s finals. He’s 0-1 against Dean in college, falling, 8-3, at this year’s Iowa-Penn State dual.
Senior 133-pounder Austin DeSanto was the other Hawkeye that competed in Friday’s semifinals. He lost to Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young, 3-2. DeSanto has dropped his last six matchups with Bravo-Young. He’s now 2-6 all-time against “RBY.”
“If there’s one person in the bracket or somebody you don’t want wrestle, it’s him,” Bravo-Young said of DeSanto. “He’s coming at your face … He’s a helluva competitor. I’m sorry I had to be the one to beat him … He inspires me. He pushes me … I really needed him to be where I’m at today.”
DeSanto will participate in Saturday’s consolation semifinals. He’ll wrestle Illinois’ Lucas Byrd. DeSanto has gone 3-0 against Byrd on his collegiate career.
Iowa 149-pounder Max Murin, 165-pounder Alex Marinelli, 174-pounder Michael Kemerer, and heavyweight Tony Cassioppi all participated in Session IV’s consolation matches. Murin was completely eliminated from the tournament. Cassioppi lost his consolation fifth-round match to Mason Parris via 11-5 decision. He’ll wrestle Nebraska’s Christian Lace in a seventh-place bout on Saturday. Marinelli and Kemerer advanced to the consolation semifinals.
Kemerer avenged his regular season loss to Nebraska’s Mikey Labriola in the fifth round of consolation action, picking up a 3-1 win in sudden victory. Marinelli won his rubber match against Ohio State’s Carson Kharchla in the fifth round of wrestlebacks, nabbing a 4-2 victory.
Marinelli will wrestle Cal Poly’s Evan Wick in the consolation semifinals tomorrow. He’s 5-0 all-time against Wick, who wrestled at Wisconsin from 2017 to 2021.
Kemerer will take on Michigan’s Logan Massa. “KemDawg” is 1-0 all-time against Massa, earning his lone victory against the Wolverine at the 2021 Big Ten Championships.
Below is an NCAA team title standings update:
1. Penn State, 108.0
2. Michigan, 84.5
3. Arizona State, 63.5
4. Iowa, 62.0
5. Nebraska, 54.0
6. Northwestern, 49.0
7. Virginia Tech, 48.0
8. Cornell, 45.0
T9. Ohio State, 42.0
T9. Missouri, 42.0