Rumors circulating of his return, Carver-Hawkeye Arena jumped to its feet as Iowa men’s wrestling’s top-ranked 157-pounder Jacori Teemer crept out of the tunnel and toward the mat. A calm, collected look across his face, he adjusted the straps on his singlet like nothing had ever changed. And he wrestled like it too.
After dropping two out of the first four bouts on the day, the No. 2 Hawkeyes were trailing the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes, 10-6, on Saturday afternoon. While the future of the Iowa victory was unknown at this point in time, one thing remained visibly clear: Iowa was in dire need of a victory.
Hawkeye fans were at the edge of their seats as the fifth bout of the night was set to take place. And the small group of fans around the tunnel started the initial explosion of cheers that soon flooded every fan inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Teemer started his walk through the tunnel with his usual calm demeanor — eyeing down an opponent for the first time since Iowa faced off against in-state rival Iowa State in late November of 2024. There, Teemer had initially suffered an injury versus Cyclone Paniro Johnson, ultimately an injury default loss on the Hawkeye’s record.
Now — almost exactly two months post-injury — Teemer finally got an opportunity to wrestle in front of the thousands of Iowa spectators in Carver-Hawkeye Arena as Teemer, the doctors, and the coaches each gave him the go.
“He made the call; the medical team gave him the green light, and he made the call,” Brands said. “The coaches were comfortable with everything … I don’t think there’s one doubt in Teemer’s head on who was going on the mat.”
The initial shock to fans wore off as Teemer took the mat and shook hands with Sammy Sasso. Teemer was the first one to strike offensively, recording a takedown halfway through the first period to take an early 3-0 lead.
Sasso was determined to act quickly and not let Teemer gain any more momentum from the cheering Hawkeye crowd. The Buckeye responded promptly by finding a rebuttal of his own, recording a shifty escape seconds after the takedown to bring the score to 3-1 in favor of the Hawkeyes.
After a poor first period, Sasso made sure to take advantage of the early seconds of the second period by scoring another escape off of Teemer to bring the score to 3-2 in favor of Iowa. After about a minute of hand fighting, a stall warning was called on Teemer by the officials.
But Teemer played chess and not checkers as the 157-pound Hawkeye had seemingly timed the stall warning to take an opportunity offensively to record a takedown within one second of the stall to bring the score to 6-2.
Teemer’s strategic timing in the second period helped fuel a strong third period, where the Hawkeye outscored Sasso, 4-1, to end with a decisive 10-5 victory. Following the win, Teemer went back to teammates and coaches pounding his chest proudly after the two-month absence on the mat.
“That guy is just bringing a different life to the program,” teammate Gabe Arnold said. “I think he’s just like me in the sense of just marching to the beat of his own drum. That’s what makes Jacori Teemer — Jacori Teemer. The guy’s got unbelievable ability on the mat and off the mat. He’s just a cool, chill dude.”