Iowa Wrestling fans will remember the 2017 NCAA tournament by the gritty performance of Cory Clark. Somehow Clark won an NCAA title at 133 lbs. with a torn up shoulder and wrist. That type of toughness is the foundation of Iowa Wrestling. Iowa finished fourth in the team race with 97 points. The Hawks lose 58.5 points from this year’s tournament to the graduation of Cory Clark, Thomas Gilman, Topher Carton, Alex Meyer, and Sammy Brooks. As a fan I would like to thank those five seniors for representing Iowa Wrestling so well on and off the mat. That was a great class to go through the Iowa Wrestling program. I have no doubt that all five of these wrestlers will be successful in whatever they do.
That leaves the 2017-2018 Iowa Wrestling team with half of a team to replace. Brandon Sorensen will be the team leader next year as the lone senior. I always appreciate the consistency and toughness of Sorensen. I look for Sorensen to remain at 149. Michael Kemerer had a great freshman year that found him scoring nineteen points and placing third at the NCAA tournament. Kemerer will be back even better at 157 next year. Cash Wilcke at 197 won three huge matches at nationals and was one match shy of being an All-American. Those three wrestlers will be the core of the 2018 Iowa Wrestling team.
Sam Stoll had knee surgery in January instead of late March like last year. That extra time will help him prepare for the upcoming season. Stoll has at least two years of eligibility remaining. A sixth year from medical hardship is a possibility as well. For now, I will list Stoll as a junior. I look for Stoll to come back better than ever and to provide leadership for the entire program.
I am giving you one last look at 2017 as a way to see what needs to be replaced and then a look at next year. So much of who takes the mat for Iowa Wrestling next season will depend on the off-season so my projected lineup is nothing more than a good guess at this time.
I expect the entire outstanding Iowa Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2017 to redshirt.
My pre-season projection for the 2018 team race:
- Penn State
- Ohio State
- Oklahoma State
- Michigan
My projected 2018 Iowa Wrestling lineup:
125 – Phillip Laux, Sr
133 – Carter Happel, Redshirt Fr
141 – Vince Turk, Soph
149 – Brandon Sorensen, Sr
157 – Michael Kemerer, Soph
165 – Alex Marinelli, Redshirt Fr
174 – Kaleb Young/Joey Gunther, Redshirt Fr/Soph
184 – Cash Wilcke, Soph
197 – Mitch Bowman/Steven Holloway, Jr/Soph
Hwt – Sam Stoll, Jr
2017 NCAA tournament points:
Total points scored by Iowa Wrestling – 97
Seniors scored 58.5 points at nationals.
Returning points – 38.5
Junior – 16.5 points
Freshman – 22 points
2017 NCAA National Tournament results for Iowa Wrestling:
125 – Thomas Gilman 32-1 placed 3rd and scored 17.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Thomas Gilman (Iowa) won by major decision over Brent Fleetwood (Central Michigan) (MD 19-6)
Champ. Round 2 – Thomas Gilman (Iowa) won by major decision over Nathan Kraisser (Campbell) (MD 22-8)
Quarterfinal – Thomas Gilman (Iowa) won by fall over Nicholas Piccininni (Oklahoma State) (Fall 6:04)
Semifinal – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) won in sudden victory – 1 over Thomas Gilman (Iowa) (SV-1 4-2)
Cons. Semi – Thomas Gilman (Iowa) won by decision over Joey Dance (Virginia Tech) (Dec 5-2)
3rd Place Match – Thomas Gilman (Iowa) won by decision over Nicholas Piccininni (Ok St) (Dec 13-6)
133 – Cory Clark (20-3) placed 1st and scored 20.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Cory Clark (Iowa) won by decision over Connor Schram (Stanford) (Dec 4-0)
Champ. Round 2 – Cory Clark (Iowa) won by decision over Pat D`Arcy (Princeton) (Dec 10-5)
Quarterfinal – Cory Clark (Iowa) won by decision over Stevan Micic (Michigan) (Dec 6-4)
Semifinal – Cory Clark (Iowa) won by decision over Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) (Dec 7-4)
1st Place Match – Cory Clark (Iowa) won by decision over Seth Gross (South Dakota State) (Dec 4-3)
141 – Christopher Carton (26-10) scored 2.50 team points.
Prelim – Christopher Carton (Iowa) won by decision over Joshua Heil (Campbell) (Dec 4-0)
Champ. Round 1 – George DiCamillo (Virginia) won by major decision over Christopher Carton (Iowa) (MD 13-4)
Cons. Round 1 – Christopher Carton (Iowa) won by major decision over Cole Martin (Wisconsin) (MD 16-4)
Cons. Round 2 – Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) won by decision over Christopher Carton (Iowa) (Dec 9-6)
149 – Brandon Sorensen (31-5) placed 3rd and scored 16.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) won by fall over Matthew Zovistoski (Appalachian State) (Fall 2:11)
Champ. Round 2 – Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) won by decision over Andrew Crone (Wisconsin) (Dec 6-2)
Quarterfinal – Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) won by decision over Micah Jordan (Ohio State) (Dec 3-0)
Semifinal – Zain Retherford (Penn State) won by fall over Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) (Fall 2:37)
Cons. Semi – Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) won by major decision over Solomon Chishko (Virginia Tech) (MD 8-0)
3rd Place Match – Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) won by decision over Micah Jordan (Ohio State) (Dec 4-0)
157 – Michael Kemerer (33-3) placed 3rd and scored 19.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Michael Kemerer (Iowa) won by major decision over Jake Danishek (Indiana) (MD 14-3)
Champ. Round 2 – Michael Kemerer (Iowa) won by tech fall over Chase Delande (Edinboro) (TF-1.5 6:34 (22-6))
Quarterfinal – Dylan Palacio (Cornell) won by fall over Michael Kemerer (Iowa) (Fall 3:28)
Cons. Round 4 – Michael Kemerer (Iowa) won by major decision over May Bethea (Pennsylvania) (MD 14-3)
Cons. Round 5 – Michael Kemerer (Iowa) won by major decision over Paul Fox (Stanford) (MD 15-6)
Cons. Semi – Michael Kemerer (Iowa) won by major decision over Tyler Berger (Nebraska) (MD 10-1)
3rd Place Match – Michael Kemerer (Iowa) won in sudden victory – 1 over Joseph Smith (Oklahoma State) (SV-1 7-1)
165 – Joseph Gunther (20-10) scored 1.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Brandon Womack (Cornell) won by major decision over Joseph Gunther (Iowa) (MD 12-3)
Cons. Round 1 – Joseph Gunther (Iowa) won by decision over Lorenzo De La Riva (CSU Bakersfield) 19-13 (Dec 3-1)
Cons. Round 2 – Joseph Gunther (Iowa) won by decision over Branson Ashworth (Wyoming) (Dec 6-3)
Cons. Round 3 – Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa) won by decision over Joseph Gunther (Iowa) (Dec 8-3)
174 – Alex Meyer (26-9) scored 2.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Alex Meyer (Iowa) won by decision over Austin Dewey (Boise State) (Dec 6-1)
Champ. Round 2 – Alex Meyer (Iowa) won by decision over Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) (Dec 7-5)
Quarterfinal – Bo Jordan (Ohio State) won by decision over Alex Meyer (Iowa) (Dec 4-3)
Cons. Round 4 – Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma State) won by decision over Alex Meyer (Iowa) (Dec 13-10)
184 – Sammy Brooks (28-4) placed 4th and scored 16.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Sammy Brooks (Iowa) won by decision over Nicholas Gravina (Rutgers) (Dec 7-3)
Champ. Round 2 – Sammy Brooks (Iowa) won by fall over Dakota Geer (Edinboro) (Fall 3:44)
Quarterfinal – Sammy Brooks (Iowa) won by fall over Emery Parker (Illinois)(Fall 6:01)
Semifinal – Bo Nickal (Penn State) won by fall over Sammy Brooks (Iowa) (Fall 1:02)
Cons. Semi – Sammy Brooks (Iowa) won by decision over Myles Martin (Ohio State) (Dec 6-2)
3rd Place Match – TJ Dudley (Nebraska) won by fall over Sammy Brooks (Iowa) (Fall 2:38)
197 – Cash Wilcke (19-13) scored 2.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Cash Wilcke (Iowa) won in sudden victory – 1 over Tom Sleigh (Bucknell) (SV-1 4-2)
Champ. Round 2 – Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) won by decision over Cash Wilcke (Iowa) (Dec 4-1)
Cons. Round 2 – Cash Wilcke (Iowa) won by decision over Josh Marchok (Stanford) (Dec 6-2)
Cons. Round 3 – Cash Wilcke (Iowa) won in sudden victory – 2 over Frank Mattiace (Pennsylvania) (SV-2 4-3)
Cons. Round 4 – Kevin Beazley (Old Dominion) won by decision over Cash Wilcke (Iowa) Dec 7-6)
