TULSA —  Iowa men’s wrestler and 141-pound Real Woods will compete for his first-ever national title on Saturday night in Session VI of the 2023 NCAA Championships against Northern Colorado’s No. 2 seed Andrew Alirez. The finals will begin at 157 pounds at 6 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN.

Iowa secured a second-place team finish during Session V and heads into the championship round with 82.5 points. Penn State clinched its second-consecutive national title this morning and heads into the finals with 127.5 points — five Nittany Lion wrestlers will be competing for individual titles.

Follow the live blog below for updates throughout Session VI.

FINALS MATCHUPS

141 POUNDS: No. 2 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) over No. 1 Real Woods (Iowa) via 6-4 decision 

Period 1: The pair hand fights before getting call for locked hands, they go back to neutral. Scoreless after the first three minutes.

Period 2: Woods starts on top. Alirez gets called for stalling on bottom. Woods tilts him for a two-point near fall, and Alirez responds with a takedown and two-point near fall. Northern Colorado challenges, as they want a four-point near-fall. After an extensive review, the call is overturned to a four-point near fall. Woods escapes. Woods trails, 6-3, and has 1:33 of riding time.

Period 3: Woods starts down. Woods escapes, but can’t muster a takedown in the final minute to fall, 6-4. Woods places second for the best finish of his career.

Alirez is Northern Colorado’s first national champion since 1962.

157 POUNDS: No. 1 Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) over No. 2 Levi Haines (Penn State) via 6-2 decision 

After a scoreless first period, O’Connor rode Haines the entire second period. O’Connor escaped within the first 10 seconds of the third period and earned two takedowns to clinch the match and become a two-time national champion.

165 POUNDS: No. 2 Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) over No. 1 David Carr (Iowa State) via 8-2 decision 

O’Toole avenged his two losses to Carr earlier this season with an 8-2 victory and 1:55 of riding time. Carr was undefeated coming into the match but couldn’t muster a takedown. O’Toole earned a two-point near fall in the final minute to clinch his second-consecutive national title.

174 POUNDS: No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) over No. 2 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) via fall

Starocci remains undefeated on the season, pinning Labriola in 2:46 for his third-consecutive national title.

184 POUNDS: No. 3 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) over No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) via 7-2 decision 

Brooks controlled the match from the whistle. He earned a penalty point in the third period after Keckeisen was called for his third caution. Brooks prevails, 7-2, for his third-consecutive national championship.

197 POUNDS: No. 1 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) over No. 7 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) via 5-2 decision 

The underdog struck first, as Sloan scored a takedown near the edge in the first period. Sloan started down in the second and escaped within a minute for his final score of the bout. Bonaccorsi scored a takedown and rode Sloan for 1:17 to trail by one heading into the final two minutes. Bonaccorsi chose neutral in the third and scored the match-clinching takedown to win his first national title, 5-2, with 2:10 of total riding time.

285 POUNDS: No. 1 Mason Parris (Michigan) over No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) via 5-1 decision 

A new heavyweight champion was crowned for the first time since 2019 on Saturday night — Minnesota’s Gable Stevenson took home the title in 2021 and 2022. The NCAA Championships were canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Parris reigned supreme for the third time this season over Kerkvliet.  Parris defeated Kerkvliet, 5-1, for his first national title. Parris finished fifth in 2022.

125 POUNDS: No. 2 Pat Glory (Princeton) over No. 4 Matt Ramos (Purdue) via 4-1 decision

Glory shuts down Ramos, 4-1, with 1:16 of riding time to become Princeton’s first national champion since 1951. Glory placed runner-up to Iowa’s three-time national Spencer Lee in the 2021-22 NCAA finals.

133 POUNDS: No. 3 Vito Arujau (Cornell) over No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) via 10-4 decision

Arujau was aggressive off the whistle and led, 4-1, after the first period. Arujau put Bravo-Young on his back for a takedown and four-point near fall in the second to pull away. He beats the two-time reigning national champion, 10-4, with 1:21 of riding time.

149 POUNDS: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) over No. 2 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) via 4-2 decision 

Diakomihalis becomes the fifth-ever four-time national champion with a 4-2 victory over Sasso.

FINAL TEAM SCORES 

1. Penn State, 137.5
2. Iowa, 82.5
3. Cornell, 76.5
4. Ohio State, 70.5
5. Missouri, 64.5

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.