It was a bittersweet Session 2 for the Iowa Hawkeyes at the NCAA national tournament. The great news is Iowa is right in the team race. The Hawks are in third place behind Ohio State and Penn State. Iowa went 3-5 in matches in the championship second round. The Hawks advanced three into the quarterfinals and each wrestler scored bonus points. Spencer Lee won his second straight match by the score of 18-0 by winning the tech fall in 3:59. Michael Kemerer looked very good in winning by a fall in 4:52 at 157 for his second fall of the day. Alex Marinelli recorded his second fall of the day with a pin in 6:15.
Iowa’s three Quarterfinalist have scored bonus point in all six of their matches with four falls and two tech falls and account for 17 of the 27 team points scored. Those three wrestlers, Lee, Kemerer, and Marinelli are also a true freshman, sophomore, and freshman. The future looks great for Iowa Wrestling.
The bad news is that Iowa dropped five bouts in the championship round. The biggest surprise was second seed Brandon Sorensen coming out on the short end of a 3-2 decision at 149. Sam Stoll dropped a 7-2 decision at Hwt. That is a real tough blow to the Iowa Hawkeyes as both wrestlers were a strong favorite to win their matches. I fully expect Sorensen and Stoll to fight back through the backside of their brackets and become an All American. Both are tough competitors and they will respond.
Vince Turk, Mitch Bowman, and Cash Wilcke also lost their matches and are now in the consolation bracket. The five wrestlers that lost tonight will have to win three matches tomorrow to be an All American. I look for Iowa to not only win their two matches in the third round tomorrow morning, I am looking for bonus points to be scored. Iowa can really make a huge move in the team race with their wrestlers on the backside. A third place finish in the team race would be a very good tournament for the Hawks.
In the wrestlebacks, Joey Gunther dropped a 3-1 decision at 174 to be eliminated from the tournament.
Quarterfinal matchups:
125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs Nicholas Piccininni (Oklahoma St.)
157: Jason Nolf (Penn St.) vs Michael Kemerer (Iowa)
165: Alex Marinelli (Iowa) vs Chad Walsh (Rider)
The Quarterfinals begin at 10 AM CST.
Let’s get ‘em in the middle.
Go Hawks!
Team scores:
- Ohio St – 36
- Penn St – 28.5
- Iowa – 27
- Michigan – 23
- NC State – 20
- Missouri – 18.5
- Oklahoma St – 15
- Lehigh – 14.5
- Rutger – 14
- Cornell – 13.5
125
Spencer Lee (19-2) place is unknown and scored 5.00 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Spencer Lee (Iowa) 19-2 won by tech fall over Alonzo Allen (Chattanooga) 22-10 (TF-1.5 1:41 (18-0))
- Champ. Round 2 – Spencer Lee (Iowa) 19-2 won by tech fall over Luke Welch (Purdue) 30-10 (TF-1.5 3:59 (18-0))
141
Vincent Turk (15-9) place is unknown and scored 3.00 team points.
- Prelim – Vincent Turk (Iowa) 15-9 won by major decision over Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven) 35-14 (MD 12-2)
- Champ. Round 1 – Vincent Turk (Iowa) 15-9 won by decision over Cole Weaver (Indiana) 25-11 (Dec 4-3)
- Champ. Round 2 – Bryce Meredith (Wyoming) 31-1 won by decision over Vincent Turk (Iowa) 15-9 (Dec 5-2)
149
Brandon Sorensen (22-3) place is unknown and scored 1.00 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) 22-3 won by decision over Jared Prince (Navy) 22-5 (Dec 11-6)
- Champ. Round 2 – Ronald Perry (Lock Haven) 30-3 won by decision over Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) 22-3 (Dec 3-2)
157
Michael Kemerer (24-1) place is unknown and scored 6.00 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Michael Kemerer (Iowa) 24-1 won by fall over Coleman Hammond (CSU Bakersfield) 27-14 (Fall 1:38)
- Champ. Round 2 – Michael Kemerer (Iowa) 24-1 won by fall over Paul Fox (Stanford) 21-8 (Fall 4:52)
165
Alex Marinelli (18-3) place is unknown and scored 6.00 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Alex Marinelli (Iowa) 18-3 won by fall over Jacob Morrissey (Purdue) 21-19 (Fall 6:20)
- Champ. Round 2 – Alex Marinelli (Iowa) 18-3 won by fall over Nicholas Wanzek (Minnesota) 23-11 (Fall 6:15)
174
Joseph Gunther (16-8) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State) 19-6 won by major decision over Joseph Gunther (Iowa) 16-8 (MD 13-2)
- Cons. Round 1 – Josef Johnson (Harvard) 29-12 won by decision over Joseph Gunther (Iowa) 16-9 (Dec 3-1)
184
Mitchell Bowman (13-12) place is unknown and scored 2.00 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Mitchell Bowman (Iowa) 13-12 won by major decision over Canten Marriott (Missouri) 25-7 (MD 10-2)
- Champ. Round 2 – Myles Martin (Ohio State) 29-2 won by major decision over Mitchell Bowman (Iowa) 13-12 (MD 17-5)
197
Cash Wilcke (19-8) place is unknown and scored 1.00 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Cash Wilcke (Iowa) 19-8 won by decision over Eric Schultz (Nebraska) 18-10 (Dec 4-3)
- Champ. Round 2 – Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) 28-2 won by decision over Cash Wilcke (Iowa) 19-8 (Dec 5-3)
285
Samuel Stoll (20-5) place is unknown and scored 3.00 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Samuel Stoll (Iowa) 20-5 won by fall over Antonio Pelusi (Franklin & Marshall) 25-9 (Fall 2:25)
- Champ. Round 2 – Youssif Hemida (Maryland) 29-5 won by decision over Samuel Stoll (Iowa) 20-5 (Dec 7-2)
