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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Three University of Iowa wrestlers defeated top-three opponents to lead the No. 1 Hawkeyes past No. 6 Wisconsin, 32-3, on Sunday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Austin DeSanto upset No. 1 Seth Gross at 133. Tony Cassioppi topped No. 2 Trent Hillger at 285, and Alex Marinelli defeated No. 3 Evan Wick at 165.
In a battle of one versus two, DeSanto prevailed, 6-2, behind the strength of three takedowns; one in the first period and two more in the second. Marinelli is ranked No. 2 and won his fourth straight against Wick, this time by 4-2 decision. Cassioppi, ranked No. 12 at 285, used a first-period takedown to win the dual’s final match, 3-2.
“When you look at 133, 165, and heavyweight, that’s a lot of fun for a lot of fans in here,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands.
The dual featured five ranked matchups and the Hawkeyes won them all. Ninth-ranked Max Murin made his season debut at 141, defeating No. 10 Tristan Moran, 3-2. At 149 pounds, No. 3 Pat Lugo used a pair of takedowns to defeat No. 17 Cole Martin, 5-3.
The Hawkeyes won nine-of-10 bouts overall and outscored the Badgers 76-32 in match points, holding a 22-3 advantage in takedowns. Wisconsin held a match lead for only 46 seconds of the entire dual.
Spencer Lee opened the dual with a 16-0 technical fall at 125. Lee scored a takedown 70 seconds into the match and added three sets of four-point tilts to build a 14-0 lead after one. He reversed Michael Cullen 14 seconds into the second period to terminate the match.
At 174, Michael Kemerer scored five takedowns to build a 17-6 lead before flattening Jared Krattinger in five minutes, 47 seconds.
“Kemerer, really efficient offense. Hits the high crotch, brings his hips with you, drives him down. No scramble, no ankles. That’s what we need, we need more of that on this team,” said Brands.
Kemerer and Lee are a combined 6-0 with six bonus-point wins this season.
QUOTING THE HAWKEYES
Austin DeSanto on scoring points and facing big challenges:
“Scoring points is good, that’s what you plan to do. The big thing is with Terry telling me to stay on my attack be ready for anything and just go out there let loose and be calm. That’s what I did, and it worked.”
“We prepare for each match like it’s the next best thing. The next best thing is Princeton, so we are heading to Princeton on Sunday. We have to prepare for that really hard. I just went out and wrestled. I know he is a professional, he is an adult, and he is going to come back harder. He is the man, but I just wrestled.”
Alex Marinelli on a statement win:
“It doesn’t matter if its December 1st or if it is March 1st. You go out there and you compete the same way. You have all these competitiosn and dual meets but every match counts, every match matters. It makes the season fun when you have got No. 6 ranked Wisconsin coming in, that was a good crowd out there.”
NOTABLES
- DeSanto handed Gross his first NCAA loss at 133 pounds since Cory Clark beat him, 4-3, in the 2017 NCAA finals.
- The win was the 100th Big Ten Conference win of Tom Brands’ career (100-10).
- Iowa has won 22 straight conference openers, including 14 in a row under Tom Brands.
- Spencer Lee (13-0), Alex Marinelli (14-0), and Jacob Warner (6-0) remain undefeated at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
UP NEXT
Iowa wrestles at No. 12 Princeton on Dec. 8 in Princeton, New Jersey.
#1 IOWA 32, #6 WISCONSIN 3
125 — #1 Spencer Lee (IA) tech. fall Michael Cullen (WIS), 16-0; 5-0
133 — #2 Austin DeSanto (IA) dec. #1 Seth Gross (WIS), 6-2; 8-0
141 — #9 Max Murin (IA) dec. #10 Tristan Moran (WIS), 3-2; 11-0
149 — #3 Pat Lugo (IA) dec. #17 Cole Martin (WIS), 5-3; 14-0
157 — #4 Kaleb Young (IA) dec. Garrett Model (WIS), 12-6; 17-0
165 — #2 Alex Marinelli (IA) dec. #3 Evan Wick (WIS), 4-2; 20-0
174 — #3 Michael Kemerer (IA) pinned Jared Krattinger (WIS), 5:47; 26-0
184 — Johnny Sebastian (WIS) dec. Cash Wilcke (IA), 7-5 SV2; 26-3
197 — #3 Jacob Warner (IA) dec. Taylor Watkins (WIS), 5-2; 29-3
285 — #12 Tony Cassioppi (IA) dec. #2 Trent Hillger (WIS), 3-2; 32-3
Records: Iowa (3-0, 1-0), Wisconsin (6-1, 0-1)
Attendance: 10,603
