KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Iowa men’s wrestlers Patrick Kennedy and Zach Glazier suffered surprising upset losses in the opening session of the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Kennedy entered the tournament as the No. 12 seed at 174 pounds, with a first-round matchup against North Carolina’s Tyler Eischens.
Eischens was the No. 21 seed in the bracket and beat Kennedy, 9-7, after he secured a takedown in the final 30 seconds of the match.
Glazier was the seventh-seed at 197 for the Hawkeyes but lost to Virginia Tech’s Andy Smith, 4-1, in sudden victory.
Glazier came into the tournament with some expectations, as he was Iowa’s lone finalist in the year’s Big Ten Tournament, and his two losses came at the hands of three-time national champion Aaron Brooks.
The pair of Hawkeyes didn’t let the narrow defeats discourage them, with podium finishes still in sight.
Kennedy came out determined in his first matchup in the consolation bracket, where he would face No. 5 Philip Conigliaro of Harvard.
Conigliaro suffered an upset in the first round as well, with Northern Iowa’s Jared Simma, beating him, 7-0.
The Hawkeye scored a takedown in the opening seconds of the match, setting the tone with his physical brand of wrestling. Every time Conigliaro scored an escape, Kennedy immediately followed up with another takedown, not giving the Crimson wrestler a break.
Kennedy’s aggression led to an early stoppage in the bout with an 18-3 tech. fall in just over five minutes. He will face Austin Murphy from Campbell during Friday’s quarterfinals.
“That’s no slouch. That opponent is a good opponent,” Brands said of Conigliaro. “We were strong grabbing ahold of him and kept putting him down and stayed smart and got the tech fall. Bonus points are important. Good job Kennedy.”
Glazier’s response to the opening-round loss was similar to Kennedy’s.
Glazier had a systematic approach to his match against Ohio State’s Luke Geog, carefully picking his attacks and scoring when opportunities presented themselves. Geog did close the gap a few times to tie it up, but Glazier would almost immediately score to regain a lead.
Glazier’s patience paid off in the third period when he scored two takedowns and an escape to put the match to bed and earn bonus points with a 16-6 major decision. Glazier will face Stephen Little out of Little Rock in the next round.
Two more Iowa wrestlers —133-pounder Brody Teske and heavyweight Bradley Hill — will join Kennedy and Glazier in the consolation bracket after losing in the second round.
Teske started the tournament strong with a bonus point win in the first round against Derrick Cardinal. But the 15th seed faced a tough second-round matchup against undefeated two-seed Ryan Crookham out of Lehigh. Teske kept it close but couldn’t finish off his scoring opportunities and lost, 8-3. Teske faces Maryland’s Braxton Brown in his first consolation match on Friday.
Hill pulled off the most significant upset at heavyweight in the first round, beating eighth seed Owen Trephan, 4-2, as the No. 25 seed.
But Hill couldn’t follow that up with a second upset, losing to Ohio State’s Nick Feldman 11-2 in the next round.
Hill remains alive in the consolation bracket, and he and Teske have the opportunity to provide key team points on the backside for the Hawkeyes, who are tied with Iowa State for second with 24.5 points after day one.
“We got to figure it out and get ready to go tomorrow,” Brands said. “It’s day one. We’re going to day two in a three-day tournament, and I’m fired up.”
