Iowa advances three to Big Ten finals

The Iowa Hawkeyes have advanced three wrestlers to the Big Ten finals on Sunday evening in Ann Arbor, MI. Spencer Lee, Real Woods, and Patrick Kennedy will have their opportunity at a conference championship when they take the mat on the Big Ten Network.

While Iowa would have liked to have more wrestlers competing for conference titles, the good news is that the Hawkeyes have officially qualified their entire 10 person lineup for the NCAA Championships coming up later this month in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Iowa has three wrestlers who could finish as high as third after losing in the semifinals. Those wrestlers are Max Murin at 149 pounds, Jacob Warner at 197 pounds, and Tony Cassioppi at 285 pounds. Meanwhile, Brody Teske at 133, Cobe Siebrecht at 157, and Abe Assad at 184 will be wrestling for 7^th or 8^th place on Sunday.

“The overall assessment is hard,” said head coach Tom Brands. “We won three in the semifinals and lost three. Those last two are to a team we are in a tight race with. We have to be ready to go tomorrow, that’s the biggest thing.  We have to come back strong tomorrow and be ready.”

Penn State leads the team race with 120 points and they have six finalists. Iowa is in second with 105.5 points and the three finalists. Meanwhile, Nebraska is in third with 98.5 points and they have five wrestlers in the finals.

Iowa’s three wrestlers who made it to the title match all did it in different ways. Spencer Lee was once again dominant in his match. Lee captured his 54^th straight win by securing a 20-2 tech fall in the final minute of his match with #5 seed Patrick McKee. Lee will face #2 seed Liam Cronin from Nebraska in the final.

Real Woods advanced to the title match at 141 pounds after outlasting #4 Frankie Tal Sharar. Woods led 1-0 late in the third period before he executed a late takedown to win 3-0. Woods will meet #3 Brock Hardy from Nebraska in the title match.

Finally, Patrick Kennedy battled hard and pulled off a takedown in the final minute against #2 seed Cameron Amine for a hard fought 3-2 victory. Kennedy will now meet #1 seeded Dean Hamiti from Wisconsin in the championship bout.

Team Standings Through Session II

1.            Penn State          120

2.            Iowa                      105.5

3.            Nebraska             98.5

4.            Ohio State           77

5.            Minnesota          73

6.            Michigan              64

                Northwestern   64

8.            Wisconsin            46.5

9.            Illinois                   36.5

                Purdue                 36.5

11.          Rutgers                30

12.          Indiana                 27

                Michigan State  27

14.          Maryland             19.5

Semifinals Results

125 – #1 Spencer Lee (UI) tech. fall #5 Patrick McKee (MINN), 20-2 (6:50)

141 – #1 Real Woods (UI) dec. #4 Frankie Tal Shahar (NU), 3-0

149 – #1 Sammy Sasso (OSU) dec. #4 Max Murin (UI), 8-2

165 – #3 Patrick Kennedy (UI) dec. #2 Cameron Amine (UM), 3-2

197 – #1 Max Dean (PSU) dec. #5 Jacob Warner (UI), 3-1

285 – #2 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) dec. #3 Tony Cassioppi (UI), 5-0

Consolation Results

133 – #8 Brody Teske (UI) dec. #10 Taylor Lamont (UW), 4-1

133 – #4 Chris Cannon (NU) dec. Brody Teske (UI), 9-4

157 – #5 Cobe Siebrecht (UI) pinned #14 Michael North (MD), 3:33

157 – #8 Trevor Chumbley (NU) dec. #5 Cobe Siebrecht (UI), 3-2

174 – #7 Nelson Brands (UI) dec. #9 Max Maylor (UM), 3-2

174 – #7 Nelson Brands (UI) dec. #6 Donnell Washington (IU), 3-1 (SV1)

184 – #5 Abe Assad (UI) dec. #11 Evan Bates (NU), 5-1

184 – #8 Brian Soldano (RU) pinned #5 Abe Assad (UI), 0:53

Finals Matchups

125 – #1 Spencer Lee (UI) vs. #2 Liam Cronin (NEB)

141 – #1 Real Woods (UI) vs. #3 Brock Hardy (NEB)

165 – #2 Patrick Kennedy (UI) vs. #1 Dean Hamiti (UW)

Consolation Matchups

133 – #8 Brody Teske (UI) vs. #7 Joe Heilmann (RU) – 7th place/8th place

149 – #4 Max Murin vs. #3 Yahya Thomas (NU)

157 – #5 Cobe Siebrecht (UI) vs. #10 Derek Gilcher (IU) – 7th place/8th place

174 – #7 Nelson Brands (UI) vs. #4 Bailee O’Reilly (MINN)

184 – #5 Abe Assad (UI) vs. #6 Layne Malczewski (MSU) – 7th place/8th place

197 – #5 Jacob Warner (UI) vs. #6 Jaxon Smith (MD)

285 – #3 Tony Cassioppi (UI) vs. #4 Lucas Davison (NU)