Skip to main content
iowa logo

Iowa procures three NCAA finalists amidst positive Day 2 in Philly

by:Tanner Lafever•03/22/25•

TannerLafever

Stephen Buchanan
One of three finalists for Iowa, Stephen Buchanan's win over AJ Ferrari was part of an uplifting finish to Day 2 at NCAAs for the Hawkeyes. (Photo Credit: Iowa Wrestling Twitter)

No, the Iowa men’s wrestling program won’t be bringing home its latest NCAA team championship trophy in 2025.

Friday’s results in Philadelphia merely affirmed that all-but-certain pre-tournament notion.

But after a Day 2 performance that started fine before ending phenomenally, Hawkeye fans will still have plenty to root for on Championship Saturday.

Drake Ayala (133), Michael Caliendo (165) and Stephen Buchanan (197) will all compete for NCAA individual titles – the most wrestlers Iowa has advanced to the finals since 2021.

Patrick Kennedy (174) and Ben Kueter (285) are officially All-Americans for the first time in their college careers – with the opportunity to place even higher come Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, Iowa has all but locked up a team trophy (top four) finish – marking its 15th over the last 17 national tournaments.

But enough of the 10-thousand-foot view. How about we get down to eye-level and examine the men/moments which surely elicited plenty of cheers from Hawkeye wrestling fans.

Session III Summary

Iowa entered Friday morning’s session in a tie for fourth place, just 10 points back of second. A few hours later, it left with that position all to itself – albeit with several teams still chasing close behind it, while second (and third) pulled even further ahead.

A medical forfeit by Kyle Parco (injured last night mid-match) meant the Hawkeyes lost one of their seven remaining wrestlers before the day even began.

As for the other six – including five quarterfinalists – it was a mixed bag in terms of their early results.

The trio of Ayala/Caliendo/Buchanan all advanced to the semifinals with ease. They also secured All-American honors in the process.

Meanwhile, both Patrick Kennedy and Ben Kueter fell in agonizing two-point defeats.

That left Gabe Arnold (184), who prolonged his NCAA stay with an opening win only to see it come to an end later in the session.

Here’s how it all went down for the Hawkeyes.

Session III – The Good

Tom Brands couldn’t have asked for a better start to his team’s day than what it got from Drake Ayala.

In what many perceived to be a tricky matchup against #7 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State), the returning NCAA finalist dazzled. Ayala racked up a whopping seven takedowns against the big-move Buckeye over seven minutes of action.

Many of them came via his signature slide-by – which repeatedly left Bouzakis looking like a bull and Ayala the matador.

Iowa punched its second quarterfinal ticket in a row courtesy of Michael Caliendo.

It took a bit, but the junior finally cracked #6 Beau Mantanona’s defenses for a second-period takedown/ride out with short time remaining. And having forced the lanky Michigan freshman to chase, Mikey countered a shot in the third to extend his lead.

At 197 pounds, Stephen Buchanan rounded out the semifinal triumvirate in dominating fashion – doing so despite some early adversity.

His foe, #23 Seth Shumate (Ohio State), nearly hit a big early throw that was overturned upon review. But soon after the Buckeye took the lead on a blast double, ending the first period up 3-1.

No matter though, as a Buchanan reversal early in the second was finally parlayed into a four-point tilt just before the period ended.

The senior kept rolling right into the third, extending his lead to 10-3 with a takedown. Then he put the nail in the coffin with two more four-point tilts.

For their efforts, Ayala/Caliendo/Buchanan earned the opportunity to extend Iowa’s streak of 34 consecutive NCAAs with a national finalist.

Session III – The Bad

The first two entries in this category very nearly avoided it altogether.

At 174 pounds, Patrick Kennedy faced the tall task of #3 Dean Hamiti (Oklahoma State) – against whom he was 0-2 in their college careers.

And while the series is now 3-0 in favor of Hamiti, the Hawkeye sure as heck made him earn it.

That notion didn’t seem so probable when the Cowboy scored just moments in. But Kennedy stayed in the fight and eventually connected on a swing of his own.

A nice low-level shot resulted in a tying takedown (4-4), before the two traded escapes on either side of the third-period opening whistle to make it five-apiece. Hamiti regained the advantage with a takedown of his own. And after a quick escape, PK nearly returned the favor but couldn’t quite convert the finish.

An 8-6 defeat was the result, but it was a performance Kennedy should hardly hang his head about.

(Especially when one considers Hamiti had an easier time defeating #2 Levi Haines in the semifinals.)

Meanwhile, Iowa’s last quarterfinalist also fell by a two-point margin.

In a pretty action-free bout between Ben Kueter and #4 Owen Trephan (Lehigh), Trephan scored the only takedown. And though the Iowa freshman picked up his pace late, a takedown of his own was never in the cards.

And for the sixth and final Hawkeye competing on Friday morning, big moves were the theme (for better and worse).

Gabe Arnold trailed #21 Malachi DuVall (George Mason) 4-1 in his first consolation match before whipping DuVall feet-to-back for the decisive seven-point sequence.

An hour-and-change later, it was the Hawkeye who was put on his back to decide a match – getting cradled/pinned mid-roll attempt by Oklahoma’s #14 DJ Parker.

The loss ended Arnold’s NCAA debut two wins shy of the podium.

Session III Results

133lbs – #2 Drake Ayala

  • Quarterfinal – #2 Drake Ayala (Iowa) 20-2 won by major decision over #7 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) 24-8 (MD 23-10)

149lbs – #5 Kyle Parco

  • Cons. Round 2 – #22 Gavin Drexler (North Dakota State) 24-11 won by medical forfeit over #5 Kyle Parco (Iowa) 21-4 (M. For.)

165lbs – #3 Michael Caliendo

  • Quarterfinal – #3 Mike Caliendo (Iowa) 24-2 won by decision over #6 Beau Mantanona (Michigan) 17-6 (Dec 7-2)

174lbs – #11 Patrick Kennedy

  • Quarterfinal – #3 Dean Hamiti (Oklahoma State) 26-1 won by decision over #11 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) 17-6 (Dec 8-6)

184lbs – #11 Gabe Arnold

  • Cons. Round 2 – #11 Gabe Arnold (Iowa) 19-6 won by decision over #21 Malachi DuVall (George Mason) 20-7 (Dec 8-4)
  • Cons. Round 3 – #14 DJ Parker (Oklahoma) 21-8 won by fall over #11 Gabe Arnold (Iowa) 19-6 (Fall 0:48)

197lbs – #2 Stephen Buchanan

  • Quarterfinal – #2 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa) 25-1 won by tech fall over #23 Seth Shumate (Ohio State) 20-17 (TF-1.5 6:35 (18-3))

285lbs – #5 Ben Kueter

  • Quarterfinal – #4 Owen Trephan (Lehigh) 24-1 won by decision over #5 Ben Kueter (Iowa) 21-8 (Dec 4-2)

Session IV Summary

Everything in the sport of wrestling is earned. So, the idea that someone or some team is ever ‘due’ anything at any given moment in time seems foolish to suggest.

But after three up-and-downs sessions at the national tournament – including several injury-related obstacles – I’m sure Iowa fans may’ve felt like they were due for things to finally swing in the direction of their team.

That’s exactly what happened on Friday night, though it took gritty efforts from five Hawkeyes to make it happen.

Three finalists. Five All-Americans.

Iowa went 6-1 during the final session of Day 2 at NCAAs to write those headlines itself.

A perfect 3/3 semifinal showing earns the lead. But a pair of must-win performances to secure spots on the podium were no less commendable.

Add it all up and Iowa extended its 4.5-point cushion for the fourth and final team trophy spot to 26.5 points.

And while acknowledging that’s not necessarily the hardware the program (or its fans) wants to be fighting for – given the circumstances of this weekend it’s still pretty darn impressive.

Here’s how the Hawkeyes made things go their way on a fantastic Friday night in Philadelphia.

Session IV – Three for Three

When it comes to the NCAA semifinals, forget about style points.

Wrestle for seven minutes. Get your hand raised. Worry about straightening your tie afterwards.

All three Hawkeyes embodied every bit of that (haphazard) metaphor.

For Drake Ayala, it meant exercising patience and perseverance against an opponent he’d teched (21-6) barely two months ago.

That’s what he did though, besting the white-hot Wisconsin Badger, #14 Zan Fugitt by a score of 6-1.

Fugitt has been a different animal than the foe Ayala crushed (21-6) back in January – knocking off the #6 and #3 seeds to reach the semis. And after escaping first-period danger with some great defense, Ayala finally seized his moment late in the second.

First, the junior urged his coaches to challenge a scramble sequence on the edge – ultimately getting rewarded with takedown following an officials review. Moments later, he held a rolling Fugitt on his back for two near fall points to close the second period.

That was more than enough to send the junior back to the NCAA finals for a second-consecutive year:

At 165 pounds, Michael Caliendo found his success with a guns-a-blazing approach. Two minutes into his match against #2 Peyton Hall (West Virginia) Caliendo had already built a 9-1 lead.

Two takedowns and a three-point roll-through tilt will do that for you, I suppose.

He’d add a third-period takedown for good measure, booking his first-ever trip to the NCAA finals.

That left Stephen Buchanan – he of a much talked about semifinal pairing with one AJ Ferrari.

As it turned out, a lot has changed in the four years since their two previous meetings – then at Wyoming/Oklahoma State respectively, both won by Ferrari (13-8 and 4-2).

On this day, Buchanan beat the brash-yet-brilliant tactician at his own game, riding Ferrari for the entire second period. Suddenly behind the eight-ball, Ferrari gave up a locked hands call and an escape in the third.

The Hawkeye had little trouble warding off his advances from there, and because of it, Buchanan will make his NCAA finals debut in his sixth-and-final year of college wrestling.

Session IV – Earning a spot on the podium

All three of Iowa’s 2025 finalists had earned All-American honors long before this week’s national tournament.

Patrick Kennedy and Ben Kueter couldn’t say the same about themselves…until now.

Having both lost close quarterfinal bouts in the morning, they returned to the mat knowing full well that a spot on the podium was just one victory away.

14 combined minutes of wrestling later, it was firmly in both of their grasps.

Kennedy trailed early against #15 Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh), including a 5-2 deficit entering the third period. But not to be denied, a late takedown plus an accumulation of riding time got PK the oh-so-sweet victory.

Ironically, it was also a Pitt Panther who stood in the way of Ben Kueter’s All-American aspirations.

#10 Dayton Pitzer, the reigning ACC champ, couldn’t keep the Iowa City native from them, though. Kueter used a second-period takedown and plenty of riding time to prevail via 5-1 decision.

A short time later, Kennedy used a similar script – lots of riding and a third-period takedown – to win again. This time, it was a 7-3 decision over #7 Danny Wask (Navy).

Unfortunately for Kueter, he couldn’t quite replicate his own earlier formula.

Trailing 2-1 on the scoreboard (and by 60-70 pounds in the weight department) to massive Arizona State senior #9 Cohlton Schultz, Kueter got caught in an upper body tie while trying to avoid a stall call on the edge and the Sun Devil capitalized with a match-sealing feet-to-back throw.

Even so, All-American honors are nothing to sneeze at for a freshman heavyweight.

Session IV Results

133lbs – #2 Drake Ayala

  • Semifinal – #2 Drake Ayala (Iowa) 20-2 won by decision over #14 Zan Fugitt (Wisconsin) 23-8 (Dec 6-1)

165lbs – #3 Michael Caliendo

  • Semifinal – #3 Mike Caliendo (Iowa) 24-2 won by decision over #2 Peyton Hall (West Virginia) 33-2 (Dec 14-10)

174lbs – #11 Patrick Kennedy

  • Cons. Round 4 – #11 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) 17-6 won by decision over #15 Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) 20-10 (Dec 7-6)
  • Cons. Round 5 – #11 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) 17-6 won by decision over #7 Danny Wask (Navy) 23-8 (Dec 7-3)

197lbs – #2 Stephen Buchanan

  • Semifinal – #2 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa) 25-1 won by decision over #3 AJ Ferrari (CSU Bakersfield) 20-1 (Dec 3-0)

285lbs – #5 Ben Kueter

  • Cons. Round 4 – #5 Ben Kueter (Iowa) 21-8 won by decision over #10 Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh) 17-6 (Dec 5-1)
  • Cons. Round 5 – #9 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) 25-6 won by major decision over #5 Ben Kueter (Iowa) 21-8 (MD 10-2)

What’s next

All five Hawkeyes will wrestle at least once more between Saturday’s morning/evening sessions.

Up first (10:00 a.m. CT on ESPNU), early birds Kennedy/Kueter can finish as high as third/seventh respectively.

PK will face #13 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) in a consolation semifinal at 174 pounds.

For Kueter, it’s #6 Joshua Heindselman (Michigan) – whom he defeated 2-1 at Big Tens – in a winner-takes-seventh matchup at heavyweight.

As for Iowa’s finalists:

#2 Drake Ayala vs #1 Lucas Byrd (Illinois)

  • The two split matches earlier this season, Ayala winning 4-2 at the dual and Byrd getting a second-period pin in the Big Ten championship bout. Ayala made no bones about wanting this rematch when speaking with the media post-semifinals.

#3 Michael Caliendo vs #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State)

  • Can the sixth time be the charm? After losing four previous matchups by a combined margin of 71-26, Caliendo had his best showing yet against the Nittany Lion in a competitive 4-1 Big Ten final two weeks ago.

#2 Stephen Buchanan vs #4 Josh Barr (Penn State)

  • ‘Only’ Part Two for this Iowa/PSU matchup, the Hawkeye senior prevailed 5-1 when they met in Happy Valley back in late-January. In his last collegiate match, can Buchanan take the freshman to school one more time?

Finals will commence on Saturday night, beginning at 6:00 p.m. (CT) on ESPN.

Suffice it to say, I’m pretty stoked for the third and final day of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships.

(Here’s guessing these five Hawkeyes feel very much the same.)

You may also like