The Iowa Hawkeyes will have Caleb Rathjen competing at Nationals as the #13 seed at 149.
I have always liked Rathjen and believe he has the talent to be an elite wrestler for the Hawks. It was not that long ago (2 weeks ago) that Rathjen was ranked #8 in the country and all was well.
He did not wrestle against Oklahoma State in the final dual meet of the season and then placed fifth at Big Tens.
Rathjen is 19-5 for the season with one pin, five tech falls, and two major decisions.
It was fairly easy to see that Rathjen was not 100% at Big Tens and was slowed down by an injury.
Rathjen has a challenging road ahead of him to find a spot on the podium as an All American. In the first round he will face #20 seed Jordan Williams of Oklahoma State. Williams defeated Rathjen’s replacement in the Oklahoma State dual meet Victor Voinovich, 7-3. The winner of Rathjen/Williams will face #4 seed Caleb Hensen of Virginia Tech in the Round of 16.
Just as I said about Teske, Rathjen can do some damage on the Consolation backside.
Regardless of seed Rathjen has the ability to become an All American. As I mentioned just two weeks ago he was ranked #8.
I must admit that I do not know what to expect here. A healthy Caleb Rathjen is a dangerous man that can roll with anyone. We will see.
Brackets for the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships:
https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/images/2024/03/13/2024NCAAd1Wrestlingbrackets.pdf
Caleb Rathjen (149)
Lindenwood Open
Ramiro Mosquera (Cumberland) W-TF 22-5 1-0
Sam Cartella (Northwestern) L-D 7-4 SV1 1-1
Victor Guzman (Cumberland) W-TF 24-8 2-1
Charlie Fifield (Illinois) W-TF 22-6 3-1
Jaden Two Lance (Carl Albert State College) W-TF 15-0 4-1
Joel Jesuroga (Iowa) W-D 3-2 TB1 5-1
Richard Fedalen (Columbia) W-MD 15-3 6-1
Soldier Salute – 1st Place
Carter McCallister (Missouri) W-D 10-6 7-1
Daniel Kimball (SDSU) W-MD 11-1 8-1
Cade Siebrecht (Iowa) W-TF 18-3 9-1
#8 Victor Voinovich (Iowa) W-D 6-3 10-1
Anthony Ferrari (Unattached) W-D 7-2 11-1
#1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) L-D 6-0 11-2
#13 Drew Roberts (Minnesoeta) W-D 7-3 12-2
#8 Kannon Webster (Illinois) L-D 4-1 SV1 12-3
Aiden Vandenbush (Northwestern) W-Pin 3:46 13-3
#10 Tyler Kasak (Penn State) W-D 11-8 SV1 14-3
#19 Joseph Zargo (Wisconsin) W-D 8-1 15-3
Big Ten Championships – 5th Place
Jake Harrier (Illinois) W-D 12-6 16-3
Ethan Miller (Maryland) L-D 7-6 16-4
Braden Stauffenberg (Michigan State) W-D 8-1 17-4
#16 Joseph Zargo (Wisconsin) W-D 7-2 18-4
#9 Tyler Kasak (Penn State) L-D 8-1 18-5
#10 Dylan D’Emilo (Ohio State) W-D 11-5 19-5
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!
