EVANSTON, Ill. — The No. 2 Iowa men’s wrestling program underperformed at the Big Ten championships over the weekend, finishing third with not one champion.
But it was not the usual Penn State roadblock that entirely halted the Hawkeyes — although the Nittany Lions certainly did in a few semifinal matches. The Hawkeyes totaled 112 team points to Nebraska’s 137 in second and Penn State’s 181.5 in first.
“I mean, here’s the thing,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said after Session IV on Sunday, struggling to find words on the weekend. “We’re going to Philadelphia [for the NCAA championships].”
The 133-pound championship left Welsh-Ryan Arena stunned as top-seeded Hawkeye Drake Ayala fell to a locked pin from Illinois’ second-seeded Lucas Byrd, leaving Ayala to a runner-up finish in the division.
The best wrestler won at 165 pounds, second-seeded Hawkeye Michael Caliendo finishing runner-up too in a 4-1 decision loss to Penn State’s top-seeded Mitchell Mesenbrink — who has been Caliendo’s weakness across his Iowa career. But Caliendo showed his best fight yet, tweaking his game plan closer and closer to what could finally become a win at the NCAA championships in two weeks.
Top-ranked 197-pound Hawkeye Stephen Buchanan joined those two in championship losses, finishing runner-up to Michigan’s third-seeded Jacob Cardenas as Buchanan suffered his first loss of the season. Cardenas’ lone takedown proved the difference in the 4-2 decision.
Heavyweight Hawkeye was the lone highlight of the Sunday sessions, beating Michigan’s third-seeded Joshua Heindselman in a 2-1 decision for third place despite his seventh seed — a decision he feels showed just how much he needs to find more offense.
“One thing this weekend did for me [was I realized] how hard college wrestling is,” Keuter said. “I’m pretty confident in myself. I need to get better at attacking.”
Like Caliendo, Penn State’s top-seeded Shayne Van Ness was once more the kryptonite of Iowa’s second-seeded Kyle Parco at 149 pounds, the latter finishing the weekend in fourth place with a 13-0 wipe in the consolation final.
Fourth-seeded 174-pound Hawkeye Patrick Kennedy brought some better news, pinning Branson John of Maryland in the first period of his final match of the weekend. But that was for fifth place, Kennedy having lost a semifinal consolation match to Ohio State’s No. 2 Carson Kharchla earlier on Sunday.
Gabe Arnold, the fourth-seeded 184-pounder, did the same for Iowa with his 4-3 win in the 184-pound division to finish fifth. Fans never got a conclusion to the beef with Penn State’s eventual champion Carter Starocci, Arnold dished to the losers’ bracket upon a Saturday afternoon loss to Maryland’s Jaxon Smith.
Iowa’s fifth-seeded 125-pounder Joey Cruz underperformed over the weekend, falling out of main-bracket contention after Saturday and ultimately into a 10th-place finish. Fourth-seeded Hawkeye Jacori Teemer was the same at 157 pounds, his passively scanning approach coming back to bite with overtime struggles and a seventh-place finish.
Up next
This weekend gave Brands and Co. plenty to observe in necessary tweaks for the NCAA championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 20-22.