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!

Real Woods enters the National Tournament as the #3 seed at 141 in his senior year.

Woods is 18-3 on the season with one pin, five tech falls, and one major decision.

The Big Ten definitely has the best to offer for the entire country at 141 with the top three seeds of Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) – #1, Beau Bartlett (Penn State) – #2 and Woods – #3.

Folks, I honestly couldn’t have asked for this weight to be seeded out any more better for Real Woods. 

I would say the odds are pretty even for the top three at 141 to win it all.

Woods has so many weapons to score with. I just want to see him cut loose and get after it by letting his skills take over. 

Even if Woods does not get the first period takedown to see him dictate the pace and keep the pressure on Bartlett and Mendez until he eventually does score.

A very realistic path is set and there for the taking for Real Woods to become the 2024 141 lbs. NCAA National Champion. 

Brackets for the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships:

https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/images/2024/03/13/2024NCAAd1Wrestlingbrackets.pdf

Real Woods (141)

Darren Green (Cal Baptist) W-TF 15-0 1-0 

#20 Cleveland Belton (Oregon State) W-TF 18-3 2-0 

Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) W-D 4-1 SV1 3-0 

#11 CJ Composto (Penn) W-D 5-0 4-0 

Kai Owen (Columbia) W-TF 17-2 5-0 

Soldier Salute – 1st Place 

  Ben Lunn (Minnesota) W-TF 15-0 6-0 

  Parker Jassen (SDSU) W-TF 16-0 7-0

  #18 Josh Koderhandt (Navy) W-D 9-4 8-0 

  #5 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) W-D 8-4 9-0 

#7 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) W-D 8-2 10-0 

#17 Vance VomBaur (Minnesota) W-D 5-2 11-0 

#32 Greyson Clark (Purdue) W-MD 8-0 12-0 

#19 Sergio Lemley (Michigan) L-MD 14-2 12-1 

#1 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) L-D 7-2 12-2 

Felix Lettini (Wisconsin) W-Pin 4:37 13-2 

#8 Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) W-D 5-1 14-2

Big Ten Championships – 3rd Place 

   Felix Lettini (Wisconsin) W-TF 16-0 15-2 

   #24 Danny Pucino (Illinois) W-D 13-9 16-2 

   #3 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) L-D 6-3 16-3 

   #6 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) W-D 8-4 17-3 #10 

   Sergio Lemley (Michigan) W-D 11-8 18-3

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!

Incoming Iowa recruit Naomi Simon won the 170 lbs. title at Junior Folkstyle Nationals in Cedar Falls, Iowa today.

In the finals Simon pinned Amarisa Manuel of Michigan in 2:49 for the title. Simon was 4-0 on the day with three pins and an 8-1 decision.

Last month Simon, from Decorah, became the first four-time State champion in Iowa girls wrestling history. 

In the recent National Girls High School Rankings Simon is ranked #3 in the country at 170 lbs. and #23 in the overall P4P (pound for pound).

Simon is in the Iowa Women’s Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2024.

Junior Girls 170

Champ. Round 1 – Naomi Simon (Northeast Iowa Wrestling Club) received a bye () (Bye)

Champ. Round 2 – Naomi Simon (Northeast Iowa Wrestling Club) won by fall over Summer Schellinger (Gorge Wrestling Club) (Fall 1:18)

Quarterfinal – Naomi Simon (Northeast Iowa Wrestling Club) won by decision over Izzy Strickert (Immortal Athletics WC) (Dec 8-1)

Semifinal – Naomi Simon (Northeast Iowa Wrestling Club) won by fall over Kiley Dillow (Chanute Wrestling Club) (Fall 2:22)

1st Place Match – Naomi Simon (Northeast Iowa Wrestling Club) won by fall over Amarisa Manuel (Michigan Revolution Wrestling Club) (Fall 2:49)

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Throughout the course of a season you see a lot of matches. One match that I will remember from this season is from the first round of Big Tens at 133. #14 seed Brody Teske was behind #3 seed Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State 13-6 at the start of the third period. Teske won the match 15-13. Great match.

On the season Teske is 14-5 with one pin, four tech falls and two major decisions.

As a #15 seed at 133 Teske will face Derrick Cardinal of South Dakota State in the first round at Nationals.

From what we saw at Big Tens, never count Brody Teske out in a match.

One thing to keep in mind. You have two types of wrestlers in the Consolation backside at the National Tournament. One wrestler is devastated to be there because they lost and cannot be a national champion. The other type is a wrestler that is hungry and wanting to wrestle. 

Should Teske go into the Consolations early he certainly has the mentality and skill set to put himself in a position to finish strong in the tournament.

Brackets for the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships:

https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/images/2024/03/13/2024NCAAd1Wrestlingbrackets.pdf

Brody Teske – 133

Hunter Leake (Cal Baptist) W-MD 12-1 1-0

Luther Open

   Ashton Clark (St. Cloud State) W-TF 23-7 2-0 

   Dominik Mallinder (Wisconsin Whitewater) W-D 18-11 3-0 

   Trevor Hedges (Eureka) L-MMF 3-1 

#12 Gabe Wisenhunt (Oregon State) W-MD 18-8 4-1 

#19 Evan Frost (Iowa State) L-D 8-1 4-2 

Soldier Salute – 1st Place 

   Garrett Totten (Navy) W-Pin 4:34 5-2 

   Jake Gilva (Minnesota) W-D 4-0 6-2 

   Kale Petersen (UI-UNA) W-TF 15-0 7-2 

   #32 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) W-D 5-4 8-2 

#30 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) L-D 10-4 8-3 

141 Will Baysinger (Illinois) W-D 5-0 9-3 

141 Kolby McClain (Northwestern) W-TF 17-1 

Nicolar Rivera (Wisconsin) W-TF 19-4 11-3 

#3 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) L-D 7-3 11-4

Big Ten Championships – 5th Place 

   #10 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) W-D 15-13 12-4 

   Dean Norris (Purdue) W-D 11-5 13-4 

   #8 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) L-D 12-6 13-4 

   #16 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) L-D 11-6 13-5 

   #17 Braxton Brown (Maryland) W-D 4-1 14-5

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!

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!

Incoming Iowa Wrestling recruit Val Solorio was interviewed by Kyle Klingman of FloWrestling.

Last weekend Solorio was 4-0 with four pins to win a state title at 100 lbs. in the first ever PIAA Girls Wrestling Championships in Pennsylvania history.

Solorio recorded a fall in 1:23, :37 and 1:06 before winning by a fall in 3:14 over Grace Nesbitt of Central Dauphin in the finals.

Solorio was ranked #3 at 100 lbs. in the National Girls High School Rankings for February.

Solorio committed to Iowa on September 30 as the first member of the Recruiting Class of 2024.

Val Solorio interview on FloWrestling:

https://www.flowrestling.org/collections/7495280-womens-spotlight/video?playing=12298637

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Brackets for the 2024 NCAA National Wrestling Championships were released by NCAA.com.

Drake Ayala and Real Woods are the #3 seed, Mike Caliendo #6 and Zach Glazier #7. If seeds hold out that would give Iowa four All Americans.

I thought Jared Franek(#10), Patrick Kennedy(#12) and Caleb Rathjen(#13) would be higher. All three of these seeds are quite different from the final InterMat Rankings that are usually pretty close to seeds.

Hey, it’s tournament time and go time.

Let’s get ‘em in the middle.

Thurs-Sat March 21-23 – at NCAA Championships (Kansas City, MO)

Seeds for the 2024 NCAA National Wrestling Championships

125 – Drake Ayala #3

133 – Brody Teske #15

141 – Real Woods #3

149 – Caleb Rathjen #13

157 – Jared Franek #10

165 – Mike Caliendo #6

174 – Patrick Kennedy #12

197 – Zach Glazier #7

Hwt – Brad Hill  #25

Complete Brackets:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11EWy1J0qnZaVHHlXZggStcvEW6pGu_XH/view?pli=1

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Four Iowa Hawkeyes qualified for the 2024 Olympic Trials when they became an NCWWC national champion this past weekend.

Iowa won an exciting NCWWC national team title with six national champions in the first year of the program.

Emile Gonzalez, Ava Bayless, Felicity Taylor, and Reese Larramendy qualified for the Olympic Trials as non-Olympic weight qualifiers. 

Kylie Welker had already qualified for the Olympic Trials as a non-Olympic weight qualifier for being a 2021 World Team member. Marlynne Deede had also already qualified for placing second at 2023 Senior Nationals.

At 76 kg Rose Cassioppi has already qualified for the Olympic Trials by placing fifth at the 2023 Senior Nationals.

For the Hawkeye Wrestling Club Spencer Lee(57kg), Austin DeSanto(65 kg), Alex Marinelli(74kg), and Tony Cassioppi(97kg) have qualified for the Olympic Trials.

The Olympic Team Trials will be in State College, Pennsylvania on April 19 and 20.

Hawkeye Wrestling Club and Iowa Women’s Wrestling Club members competing in the 2024 Olympic Team Trials

Spencer Lee – 57 kg

Austin DeSanto – 65 kg

Alex Marinell – 74 lg

Tony Cassioppi – 97 kg

Rose Cassioppi – 76 kg

Marlynne Deede – 76 kg

Kylie Welker – Non-Olympic weight

Emile Gonzalez – Non-Olympic weight

Ava Bayless – Non-Olympic weight

Felicity Taylor – Non-Olympic weight

Reese Larramendy – Non-Olympic weight

2024 Olympic Team Trials Qualifiers as of 3/11/24

https://www.themat.com/news/2024/march/11/2024-u-s-olympic-team-trials-qualifiers-as-of-march-11

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

InterMat released new rankings following the Conference Tournaments over the weekend. Iowa is #2 in the country in the Tournament Rankings with Penn State #1.

Iowa qualified all nine of the wrestlers ranked for the National Tournament.

According to these rankings Iowa would have six All-Americans at the National Tournament in Kansas City on March 21-23.

Drake Ayala leads the way for the Hawks at #2 and Real Woods is #3. Zach Glazier gets a big jump to #5. Jared Franek and Mike Caliendo are at #6. Patrick Kennedy #7.

Caleb Rathjen is listed at #11, Brody Teske #12, and Brad Hill #22.

The 2024 NCAA wrestling Division I championship brackets will be revealed during a selection show streamed live on NCAA.com at 7 p.m. CST on Wednesday, March 13.

Let’s get ‘em in the middle.

Thurs-Sat March 21-23 – at NCAA Championships (Kansas City, MO)

InterMat Rankings – March 12, 2024

125 – Drake Ayala #2

133 – Brody Teske #12

141 – Real Woods #3

149 – Caleb Rathjen #11

157 – Jared Franek #6

165 – Mike Caliendo #6

174 – Patrick Kennedy #7

197 – Zach Glazier #5

Hwt – Brad Hill  #22

Complete InterMat Rankings:

https://intermatwrestle.com/rankings.html/ncaa-di-r26/

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Lennie Zalesky has been named as the new head wrestling coach at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Cal Poly Humboldt is a D-II college in Arcata, California that competes in the California Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAA).

Zalesky had previously coached in D-I at Cal Baptist and UC Davis.

Lenny Zalesky was a member of four NCAA national championship teams (1979-82) under Dan Gable at the University of Iowa. Zalesky was a three-time Big Ten champion (1980-82). He placed fourth in 1980 and was an NCAA Runner-Up at 142 lbs. in 1981 and 1982.

Zalesky has been inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame, California Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Alaska Hall Of Fame.

Zalesky is originally from Shueyville, Iowa. He began his wrestling career as a sophomore in high school at Prairie High School where he would win a state title in 1977.

From humboldtathletics.com:

After his collegiate wrestling career concluded, Zalesky began competing internationally, winning a handful of tournaments from 1983-86. He won a silver medal in the 1983 Pan American Games, the 1984 World Cup, 1984 Tblisi Tournament in the former Soviet Union and the 1983 Canadian Cup. He also won the Henri Deglane Tournament in Nice, France in 1983 and the Cerro Pelado International Tournament in Cuba in 1986.

Zalesky graduated from Iowa in 1983 with a degree in finance and later earned another bachelor’s in education and Russian language in 1990, also from Iowa. He earned his master’s degree from Indiana in Slavic linguistics and literature in 2000. He was recognized five times in the 1990s for outstanding achievement by the American Council of Teachers of Russian.

Congratulations and best of luck to former Hawkeye great Lenny Zalesky.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!