Hawks put 3 in NCAA Finals

There were peaks and valleys in day two of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When the wrestling was done the Iowa Hawkeyes had three NCAA Finalists and two additional wrestlers competing for All American honors.

Iowa has fourth place locked up in the team race with 73.5 points.

The Hawks started out the day without Kyle Parco who was unable to continue in the tournament from an injury he sustained on Thursday night in the Round of 16.

In the Friday night session for the Semifinals and wrestlebacks Iowa was 6-1 including 3-0 in the semifinals and 2-0 in the Blood Round of 12.

Iowa will have three finalists in Drake Ayala(133), Michael Caliendo(165) and Stephen Buchanan(197).

Ayala will face #1 seed Lucas Byrd of Illinois in the finals. Ayala defeated Byrd 4-2 in the dual meet in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on January 17, 4-2 and Byrd pinned Ayala in the Big Ten finals two weeks ago.

Caliendo will have a rematch with #1 seed Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State who topped Caliendo 4-1 in the Big Ten finals.

Buchanan had a big win in the semifinals over former national champion AJ Ferrari of Cal State Bakersfield, 3-0. #2 seed Buchanan will now face #4 seed Josh Barr of Penn state in the finals. Buchanan defeated Barr 5-1 at Penn State in the dual meet on January 31.

There were a lot of huge wins for the Hawks today. As a fan for me there was none bigger than in the Blood Round of 12 when Patrick Kennedy defeated Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh), 7-6 to become an All American. Kennedy won his next match and will be in the Consolation Semifinals tomorrow morning.

Also I need to mention Ben Kueter winning his Blood Round of 12 match over Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh), 5-1 to become an All American. Kueter dropped his next match and will compete for 7th place in the Consolation Finals on Saturday.

The Iowa Hawkeyes had matches not go their way but battled back to have an outstanding Friday night performance.

The Consolation Semifinals begin at 10 AM CST followed by the Consolation Finals.

The Finals begin at 6 PM CST.

Let’s get ‘em in the middle.

QUARTERFINAL RESULTS
133 – #2 Drake Ayala (Iowa) major dec. #7 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State), 23-10
165 – #3 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) dec. #6 Beau Mantanona (Michigan), 7-2
174 – #3 Dean Hamiti (Oklahoma State) dec. #11 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa), 8-6
197 – #2 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa) tech. fall #23 Seth Shumate (Ohio State), 18-3
285 – #4 Owen Trephan (Lehigh) dec. #5 Ben Kueter (Iowa), 4-2

CONSOLATION RESULTS
149 – #22 Gavin Drexler (North Dakota State) MFF #5 Kyle Parco (Iowa)
184 – #11 Gabe Arnold (Iowa) dec. #21 Malachi DuVall (George Mason), 8-4
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184 – #14 DJ Parker (Oklahoma) pinned #11 Gabe Arnold (Iowa), 0:47

SEMIFINAL RESULTS
133 – #2 Drake Ayala (Iowa) dec. #14 Zan Fugitt (Wisconsin), 6-1
165 – #3 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) dec. #2 Peyton Hall (West Virginia),14-10
197 – #2 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa) dec. #3 AJ Ferrari (Cal State Bakersfield), 3-0

CONSOLATION RESULTS
174 – #11 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) dec. #15 Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh), 7-6
285 – #5 Ben Kueter (Iowa) dec. #10 Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh), 5-1
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174 – #11 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) dec. #7 Danny Wask (Navy), 7-3
285 – #9 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) major dec. #5 Ben Kueter (Iowa) 10-2

FINAL MATCHUPS
133 – #2 Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs. #1 Lucas Byrd (Illinois)
165 – #3 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) vs. #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State)
197 – #2 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa) vs. #4 Josh Barr (Penn State)

CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS
174 – #11 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) vs. #13 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State)

SEVENTH PLACE MATCHUPS
285 – #5 Ben Kueter (Iowa) vs. #6 Joshua Heindselman (Michigan)

TEAM SCORES
1. Penn State – 135.5
2. Nebraska- 101.5
3. Oklahoma State – 91.0
4. Iowa – 73.5
5. Minnesota – 47.0
6. Cornell – 46.0
7. Northern Iowa – 44.5
8. Ohio State – 44.0
9. Illinois – 40.5
10. Virginia Tech – 40.0