EVANSTON, Ill. — Ten Hawkeyes begin their searches for a Big Ten title as Session I of the Big Ten championships begin at 10 a.m. inside Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois, on Saturday.

Two Hawkeyes hold top seeds in Drake Ayala at 133 pounds and Stephen Buchanan at 197. But barring upsets, each Hawkeye should see NCAA qualification — except Cullan Schriever at 141 pounds, an 11 seed fighting for one of seven NCAA qualifying spots.

RELATED: No. 2 Iowa men’s wrestling notebook | Hawkeyes search for success at Big Ten championships

First Round

125 pounds — Iowa’s No. 5 Joey Cruz def. Michigan’s No. 12 Christian Tanefeu, 11-7

Cruz and Tanefeu exchanged defense until Cruz secured a single-leg takedown for three points and a nice mat return to maintain control. Shooting at the leg, Cruz locked it and pushed hard into a buzzer-beating finish for a 6-1 lead after one. To start the second, Tanefeu then rode into over a minute of advantage time before his single-leg found his first takedown of the match. Letting Cruz up, though, the Hawkeye shot again into a double-leg tackle for the 10-5 lead and, ultimately, the 11-7 win.

Advancing to the second round, Cruz will see Penn State’s No. 4 Luke Lilledahl who beat Illinois’ No. 13 Caelan Riley via fall a minute into the second period.

141 pounds — Rutgers’ No. 6 Joseph Olivieri def. Iowa’s No. 11 Cullan Schriever, 4-2

Needing a top-seven finish to see the NCAA championships, Schriever started in a deficit as he gave up a takedown early in the first period to Olivieri before a quick escape. Those were the only takedown points of the match as Olivieri worked riding time and the two exchanged escapes, neither able to find something more and pull away. So Olivieri sent Schriever to the wrestleback rounds with a 4-2 decision.

Schriever will see No. 14 Jaden Crumpler of Michigan State next, Crumpler losing to Nebraska’s No. 3 Brock Hardy in a 17-1 technical fall in the first round.

157 pounds — Iowa’s No. 4 Jacori Teemer def. Wisconsin’s No. 13 Luke Mechler, 7-2

Calm to start, Teemer let Mechler push a bit to feel him out and stayed rather quiet for the first three minutes. Tied at nothing apiece, Mechler started the second period down and then out with an escape point, and Teemer played safe defense but showed very little offense — until a flexible flip found him latched onto Mechler’s leg, which only resulted in a stalemate. Finally, Teemer shot hard into his signature double-leg takedown for three points and the 3-1 lead before firing hard into a single-leg for a 6-2 lead with the final two minutes. Great defense closed out his 7-2 win.

Teemer next has No. 5 Tommy Askey of Minnesota — who Teemer beat in the Minnesota dual meet yet is coming off of a 14-3 major decision over Indiana’s No. 12 Ryan Garvick in the first round.

184 pounds — Iowa’s No. 4 Gabe Arnold def. Purdue’s No. 13 Orlando Cruz, 19-4

Latching onto Cruz’s upper body, Arnold found a strong takedown and secured advantage halfway through the first period, and Arnold scored again for a 4-0 lead right after the whistle to start the second period. Arnold took Cruz down again and let him right back up — twice — seemingly searching for a quick finish. In a relentless pursuit of the leg, he found it with a leg pick for a 16-3 lead and a 19-4 technical fall win with a final takedown.

Arnold will see No. 5 Jaxon Smith of Maryland next, Smith beating No. 12 Lucas Daly of Michigan State in a 19-4 technical fall whooping in the first round.

174 pounds — Iowa’s No. 4 Patrick Kennedy def. Michigan State’s No. 13 Ceasar Garza, 22-5

Staying warm after a nail-biting sudden victory match before him, Kennedy opened his match wrapping his leg around Garza’s backside into a quick three-point takedown. And while Garza showed some physicality and aggression, Kennedy overpowered his defense into three more in less than two minutes — and then a four-point near-fall for a 10-2 lead. Moving Cruz into a neutral position again and again, Kennedy fired each time in response too, producing the technical fall win with little need for a third period.

Kennedy advances to the second round for No. 12 Branson John of Maryland — who brings upset potential with a 5-2 win over No. 5 Clayton Whiting of Minnesota.

285 pounds — Iowa’s No. 7 Ben Kueter def. Purdue’s No 10 Hayden Filipovich, 5-1

A quiet first period ended with Kueter pushing Filipovich toward the very edge of the mat and into a three-point takedown with just six seconds left, and the second period ended with his escape the only other point scored. With a 4-0 lead for the final two minutes, Kueter rode out the end of the match to a 5-1 win.

Keuter has his work cut out for him next in Penn State’s champion-hopeful Greg Kerkvliet, ranked second with a bye.

Quarterfinals

125 pounds — Penn State’s No. 4 Luke Lilledahl def. Iowa’s No. 5 Joey Cruz, 11-1

Suffering a technical fall loss to Lilledahl in their dual meet earlier this year, Cruz got his rematch and opened with rock-solid defense as Lilledahl dominated the offensive attack. Ducking risky positions like a grip on his leg, he ultimately succumbed to a last-second Lilledahl three-point takedown to go down, 3-0, for the second period. Lilledahl’s persistent attack wore Cruz down into a 7-1 deficit after two and, by the final whistle, a spot in the consolation bracket instead.

133 pounds — Iowa’s No. 1 Drake Ayala def. Indiana’s No. 8 Angelo Rini, 13-9

Ayala started his first match of the weekend with his back against the wall, sacrificing two scary takedowns to Rini — the latter takedown looking awfully close to a near-fall. Down 7-4 with a minute left, Ayala went hard on the offense and tied it at seven apiece before hooking Rini’s leg into a three-point takedown and 12-7 lead halfway through the second. An uneventful third period brought Ayala the 13-9 win.

The first Hawkeye to advance to the semifinals, Ayala will take on No. 5 Dylan Shawver of Rutgers who upset Penn State’s No. 4 Braeden Davis in a 3-1 decision.

149 pounds — Iowa’s No. 2 Kyle Parco def. Northwestern’s No. 7 Sam Cartella, 15-7

Parco worked Cartella well in the first period, clearly the more efficient wrestler with a higher IQ into a 6-1 lead that became 11-1 just 30 seconds into the second. Gathering some riding time, Parco rolled Cartella over and back into a four-point near-fall for a 15-1 lead. When Parco’s technical fall was in sight, though, Cartella started on top for the third and gave him a taste of the four-point near-fall too to shrink the score to 15-6. So Parco took it on the chin for a 15-7 win to advance.

157 pounds — Minnesota’s No. 5 Tommy Askey def. Iowa’s No. 4 Jacori Teemer, 4-1

Teemer stuck to the script again, patiently reading Askey’s offense in a scoreless first period — Teemer unable to finish a leg attack found at the end. With an Askey escape point, Teemer took the 1-0 deficit into the third period and tied it with his own — the only points until overtime where Askey flipped Teemer’s lower half up and down into a three-point takedown and Hawkeye loss.

165 pounds — Iowa’s No. 2 Michael Caliendo def. Rutgers’ No. 10 Anthony White, 20-4

Caliendo beat White down in the first period alone with four takedowns and a 12-3 lead for the second period. Starting down and escaping almost instantly, he found the single-leg takedown as easily as ever, one last tackle making a 20-4 technical fall victory to advance.

174 pounds — Iowa’s No. 4 Patrick Kennedy def. Maryland’s No. 12 Branson John, 20-3

Kennedy fired at his typical fast pace for three takedowns and a 9-2 lead in the first period. Within the blink of an eye, Kennedy totaled over a minute of riding time after another takedown made it 13-2, and his persistent offensive pursuit brought another takedown and four-point near-fall for the technical fall win to advance.

184 pounds — Maryland’s No. 5 Jaxon Smith def. Iowa’s No. 4 Gabe Arnold, 3-2

Arnold’s match with Smith stayed tied at nothing each for the second period, the former’s escape there the only point scored in a 1-0 lead into the third. Arnold maintained control as he started that one on top, especially with a mat return, but Smith’s escape brought it neutral with a minute left — where Arnold just barely fell under Smith’s leg, ruled a takedown but challenged by Hawkeye coaches and reversed. Back to one apiece, this one went to sudden victory, and Arnold played elusive defense for the next overtime. And escaping with seven seconds left, Smith did the same with advantage time and won, 3-2.

197 pounds — Iowa’s No. 1 Stephen Buchanan def. Ohio State’s No. 9 Seth Shumate, 8-0

The last Hawkeye to debut this weekend, Buchanan got caught in a pair of shaky scrambles with Shumate but evaded any control in a scoreless opening period. With just one point up on Shumate with 30 seconds left, Buchanan found a single-leg takedown for three points and finally some action with a four-point near-fall for the 8-0 win.

285 pounds — Penn State’s No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet def. Iowa’s No. 7 Ben Kueter, pin

Kerkvliet’s power is almost entirely unmatched in the college wrestling world, two big takedowns simply dominating Kueter into a pin-fall less than two minutes into the match and sending Kueter to the other side of the bracket.

Consolations

141 pounds — Iowa’s No. 11 Cullan Schriever def. Michigan State’s No. 14 Jaden Crumpler, 17-2

Acrobatic flips and shots between Schriever and Crumpler marked the first period, Schriever rolling Crumpler over into a three-point takedown for a 4-0 advantage starting the second period down. Unable to find a mat return, Crumpler let Schriever go, the latter then snagging a leg and slamming Crumpler to the mat for an 8-0 lead entering the third — where Schriever worked his lead into a near-fall and easy win.