The Hawks will roll into #18 Illinois for a Big Ten dual meet on Sunday at 3 PM. The Iowa-Illinois dual meet will be televised live on BTN. Iowa looked impressive in a 33-6 win at #11 Northwestern on Friday night and have looked very good the last two dual meets against nationally ranked teams.
The highest ranked wrestler for Illinois is freshman #6 Lucas Byrd at 133. #3 Austin DeSanto has not competed in the last two dual meets. Freshman Cullan Schriever pulled his redshirt and competed against Northwestern where he dropped a 4-3 decision to #9 Chris Cannon. It sounds as though we will see Schriever in the lineup against Byrd.
#12 Drake Ayala continues to impress at 125 where he defeated #7 Austin DeAugustino of Northwestern, 6-5. Ayala will now face #26 Justin Cardani of Illinois. The best matchup of ranked wrestlers will be at 184. #18 Abe Assad will take on #19 Zac Braunagel. This match will provide Assad an opportunity to show where he is at in the national rankings. I believe Assad is a lot better than #18.
As with every conference dual meet every single match is important for seeds at the Big Tens and NCAA Tournament. I am expecting another real good performance by the Hawks in this dual meet.
*InterMat Rankings
#2 IOWA HAWKEYES (8-0, 2-0 BIG TEN) 2021-22 Overall Wt. Rank^ Name Yr. Hometown/High School Record
125 12 Drake Ayala Fr. Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge 11-3
133 3 Austin DeSanto Sr. Exeter, Pennsylvania/Exeter (Drexel) 11-0 -OR- Charles Matthews *Fr. San Mateo, California/Junipero Serra 4-5
141 2 Jaydin Eierman Sr. Columbia, Missouri/Father Tolton (Missouri) 11-0 -OR- Drew Bennett Jr. Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge (Northern Iowa) 2-4
149 12 Max Murin Sr. Ebensburg, Pennsylvania/Central Cambria 4-1 -OR- Cobe Siebrecht So. Lisbon, Iowa/Lisbon 5-2
157 12 Kaleb Young Sr. Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania/Punxsutawney 7-5
165 1 Alex Marinelli Sr. Miamisburg, Ohio/St. Paris Graham 12-0
174 2 Michael Kemerer Sr. Murraysville, Pennsylvania/Franklin Regional 2-0 -OR- Brennan Swaff ord Sr. Mediapolis, Iowa/Mediapolis (Graceland) 12-6 184
184 18 Abe Assad So. Carol Stream, Illinois/Glenbard North 7-2 197
197 5 Jacob Warner Sr. Tolono, Illinois/Washington Community 8-1
285 5 Tony Cassioppi Jr. Roscoe, Illinois/Hononegah 6-2 -OR- Aaron Costello Sr. Dubuque, Iowa/Western Dubuque 11-2
#2 in Tournament Rankings
#2 in Dual Meet Rankings
#18 ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (2-0, 0-0 BIG TEN) 2021-22 Overall Wt. Rank^ Name Yr. Hometown/High School Record
125 26 Justin Cardani So. Champaign, Illinois/Centennial 9-2
133 6 Lucas Byrd *Fr. Cincinnati , Ohio/La Salle 10-1
141 We Rachal So. Chicago, Illinois/Washington 8-8
149 Christian Kanzler Sr. Fox Lake, Illinois/Lincoln College 8-5
157 Joe Roberts Fr. Aurora, Illinois/Monini Catholic 9-7
165 27 Danny Braunagel So. Belleville, Illinois/Althoff Catholic 7-5
174 DJ Shannon So. Madison, Illinois/Christian Brothers 4-4
184 19 Zac Braunagel So. Belleville, Illinois/Althoff Catholic 6-2
197 29 Matt Wrobleewski Jr. Mt. Prospect, Illinois/Prospect 4-2
285 17 Luke Luffman So. Urbana, Illinois/Urbana 10-2
#18 in Tournament Rankings
#15 in Dual Meet Rankings
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
