The National Tournament is upon us. Always an exciting time of the year.
Let’s take a look at each of our Hawkeyes one at a time that will be in competition at the 2024 NCAA National Wrestling Championships in Kansas City, Missouri on March 21-23.
Drake Ayala enters Nationals as the #3 seed at 125. If you have been reading my blog you know that I have been high on Ayala for quite some time. To the point that I do not believe we have yet to see his full potential in competition.
Ayala enters Nationals with a 23-4 record with two pins, nine tech falls and one major decision.
Ayala placed third at Big Tens. After a first round bye Ayala dropped a 4-2 match to Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern in the Quarterfinals.
Ayala responded by winning three straight matches in impressive fashion. After a fall over Brendan McCrone of Ohio State, Aylala defeated Eric Barnett of Wisconsin, 8-1. Barnett was ranked #5 in the country at the time. Ayala then defeated Dean Petersen of Rutgers, 4-1.
In the third place match Ayala defeated Matt Ramos of Purdue, 4-1. Ramos was the #1 seed at Big Tens and ranked #1 in the country. Ramos had defeated Ayala in the dual meet 4-1 on January 15.
The win over Barnett was big. The win over Ramos was huge.
The #1 seed at Nationals in Braedon Davis of Penn State. Ayala beat Davis 4-2 in the dual meet.
When you combine how the bracket is set up with how Ayala wrestled on Sunday of Big Tens, I could not ask for more.
We still have not seen the best version of Ayala yet in competition. I believe he has another level and gear to shift into.
Everything is lined up for Drake Ayala to be the 2024 NCAA National Champion at 125 lbs.
Brackets for the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships:
https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/images/2024/03/13/2024NCAAd1Wrestlingbrackets.pdf
Drake Ayala – 125 lbs.
#29 Elijah Griffin (Cal Baptist) W-MD 18-8 1-0
Luther Open – 1st Place
Julian Long (Nebraska Wesleyan) W-Pin 1:20 2-0
Dalton Whitehall Gikes (Wartburg) W-TF 17-2 3-0
Cade Hornback (Coe) W-TF 19-4 4-0
Akhil Vega (Stevens Tech) W-TF 21-6 5-0
Joey Cruz (Iowa) W-TF 19-3 6-0
#18 Branden Kaylor (Oregon State) L-D 7-6 6-1
#8 Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) W-D 7-2 7-1
#19 Max Gallagher (Penn) W-D 8-7 8-1 Nick Babin (Columbia) W-TF 18-3 9-1
Soldier Salute – 1st Place
Garrett Rinken (Northern Iowa) W-TF 19-4 10-1
Hayden Benter (Navy) W-TF 19-4 11-1
#20 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) W-D 5-4 12-1
#7 Jore Volk (Wyoming) W-D 4-2 13-1
#7 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) W-D 7-3 14-1
#18 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) W-D 8-5 15-1
#2 Matt Ramos (Purdue) L-D 4-1 15-2
#30 Justin Cardani (Illinois) W-TF 18-3 16-2
Massey Odiotti (Northwestern) W-TF 19-4 17-2
#12 Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) L-D 2-1 TB1 17-3
#2 Braeden Davis (Penn State) W-D 4-2 18-3
#12 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) W-D 8-1 19-3
Big Ten Championships – 3rd Place
#16 Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) L-D 4-2 19-4
#24 Brendan McCrone (Ohio State) W-Pin 1:46 20-4
#5 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) W-D 8-1 21-4
#22 Dean Peterson (Rutgers) W-D 8-4 22-4
#1 Matt Ramos (Purdue) W-D 4-1 23-4
Schedule for the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships
***All time listed are CST
Thursday, March 21
Session 1: Championship First Round 11 AM ESPNU/ESPNt
Session 2: Championship Second Round and Consolations 6 PM ESPN/ESPNt
Friday, March 22
Session 3: Quarterfinals and Consolations 11 AM ESPN/ESPNt
Session 4: Semifinals and Blood Round 7 PM ESPN/ESPNt
Saturday, March 23
Session 5: Consolation Medal Round 10 AM ESPNU/ESPNt
Session 6: Finals 6 PM ESPN/ESPNt
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
