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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Six University of Iowa wrestlers earned tournament seeds when the NCAA selection show announced the official brackets for the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Championships on Wednesday.
Five Hawkeyes are seeded fifth or better, including top-seeded Thomas Gilman at 125, No. 2 Michael Kemerer at 157, No. 3 Sammy Brooks at 184, No. 4 Cory Clark at 133, and No. 5 Brandon Sorensen at 157. Alex Meyer is seeded 11th at 174.
Five of Iowa’s six seeded wrestlers are returning All-Americans. Gilman, Clark, and Sorensen reached the NCAA finals last season, and Brooks and Meyer both placed eighth. Kemerer is making his NCAA debut with three unseeded Hawkeyes – Topher Carton (141), Joey Gunther (165), and Cash Wilcke (197).
Iowa competes at the national championships March 16-18 in St. Louis. Seven Hawkeyes earned automatic berths at the national qualifier, and the NCAA announced Tuesday and Wednesday that Joey Gunther and Cash Wilcke were awarded at-large bids.
The NCAA Championships begin March 16 at 11 a.m. (CT) at the Scottrade Center. Hawkeye fans can follow the tournament online at Hawkeye All-Access and ESPN3. The second round, semifinals, and finals will air live on ESPN. The opening round, quarterfinals, and Saturday’s medal round is on ESPNU.
IOWA’S FIRST ROUND NCAA MATCHUPS (# indicates tournament seed)
125 – #1 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) vs. Brent Fleetwood (Central Michigan)
133 – #4 Cory Clark (Iowa) vs. Connor Schram (Stanford)
141 – Topher Carton (Iowa) vs. Josh Heil (Campbell)
149 – #5 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) vs. Matthew Zovistoski (Appalachian State)
157 – #2 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) vs. Jake Danishek (Indiana)
165 – Joey Gunther (Iowa) vs. #13 Brandon Womack (Cornell)
174 – #11 Alex Meyer (Iowa) vs. Austin Dewey (Boise State)
184 – #3 Sammy Brooks (Iowa) vs. Nicholas Gravina (Rutgers)
197 – Cash Wilcke (Iowa) vs. #13 Tom Sleigh (Bucknell)
