ON THE MAT
The top-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team hosts Oregon State on Saturday at 2 p.m. (CT) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
IOWA VS. OREGON STATE
Iowa and Oregon State are meeting for the eighth time in a series that dates back to 1973. Oregon State won the first meeting in 1973, 23-11, in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes have since won the last six, including a 22-14 win when the teams last met in 2012 (Ames, Iowa, national duals). Oregon State is making its first trip to Iowa City since 1981, a 43-0 Hawkeye victory.
WINNING STREAK
Iowa has won 19 straight overall and 19 straight at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes’ 19-dual winning streak is the longest active streak in the country.
Iowa’s 19-dual winning streak at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is its longest since winning 38 straight from 2008-12. The Hawkeyes’ last loss at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was Jan. 27, 2018 (19-17 versus No. 7 Michigan). Iowa has won 23 consecutive Big Ten duals, its longest conference streak since winning 24 straight from 2014-17.
MARINELLI CLIMBS TO NO. 1
Senior Alex Marinelli debuted at No. 2 in the preseason polls but climbed to the top spot at 165 when defending champion Shane Griffith was defeated 3-2 last weekend. Marinelli has entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 1 seeded wrestler in each of the last three years. He has a 78-10 career record, including a 39-1 record in duals and a 13-0 record in nonconference duals. He is 20-1 all-time at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA DEBUT
Redshirt freshman Jesse Ybarra won by forfeit in what was scheduled to be his Carver-Hawkeye Arena debut Nov. 19. Ybarra improved to 4-0 with the win. He went 3-0 en route to the 125-pound Luther Open title on Nov. 13.
SIEBRECHT DOMINATES IN DUAL DEBUT
Sophomore Cobe Siebrecht dominated Josh Breeding of Princeton on Nov. 19 in his varsity debut. Siebrecht opened the scoring with a takedown in the opening minute and used three four-point tilts to extend his lead to 14-0. He closed his first career varsity match with a takedown at the 2:25 mark.
Siebrecht, a native of Lisbon, Iowa, was wrestling in front of the hometown Carver crowd for the first time. He appeared in an “extra match” at Carver in 2021 when fans were not permitted to attend.
OLYMPIC, WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BLOODLINES
Junior Nelson Brands and freshman Wyatt Henson have Olympic bloodlines. Nelson’s father, Terry, was an Olympic bronze medalist in 2000. His uncle, Tom, won Olympic gold in 1996. Terry was a World Champion in 1993 and 1995. Tom won a World Championship in 1993. Freshman Wyatt Henson is the son of Olympic silver medalist and World Champion Sammie Henson. Sammie was a teammate of Terry Brands on the 2000 United States Olympic team. He won an Olympic silver medal in 2000 and a World Championship in 1998.
SCHRIEVER, HENSON WIN LINDENWOOD TITLES
Redshirt freshman Cullan Schriever and freshman Wyatt Henson won titles Nov. 27 at the 2021 Lindenwood Open. Schriever went 3-0 with a technical fall and a pin to win the 133-pound Gold Division. Henson won twice by fall and added a major decision to win the 141-pound Black Division. The gold medal was his second in as many weeks. Henson won the freshman division at the Luther Open on Nov. 13. Freshman Sebastian Robles went 4-1 at 157 pounds to place third in the Black Division.
8 HAWKEYES WIN TITLES AT LUTHER OPEN
The University of Iowa wrestling program opened the 2021-22 season winning eight titles Nov. 13 at the Luther Open. Twenty-one Hawkeyes combined for 19 falls, 45 bonus-point wins and a 62-11 record. Seven Iowa wrestlers won championships in the Elite Division, including Jesse Ybarra (125), Austin DeSanto (133), Jaydin Eierman (141), Cobe Siebrecht (149), Kaleb Young (157), Alex Marinelli (165) and Zach Glazier (197).Iowa was 53-6 in the Elite Division with four of those losses against fellow Hawkeyes, including two in the finals. DeSanto defeated Cullan Schriever, 8-4, in the 133-pound finals and Marinelli was a 3-2 winner against Patrick Kennedy in the 165-pound finals.
Eierman, Young, Joe Kelly and Jacob Warner each record a pair of pins. Eierman pinned both of his opponents before winning by medical forfeit in the 141-pound finals. Young was 4-0 with two falls, one technical fall and one major decision at 157. Kelly placed third at 165 with a pair of falls and Warner pinned his first two opponents and won a third match by major decision before medically forfeiting in the finals at 197. True freshman Wyatt Henson won the 141-pound Silver/Freshman division, rolling up three technical falls and a major in the finals.
CASSIOPPI WINS GOLD AT U23 WORLDS
Junior Tony Cassioppi pinned Azamat Khosonov of Greece on Nov. 7 to win the 125 kg gold medal at the 2021 U23 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
Cassioppi built a 13-0 lead before securing the fall with 16 seconds left in the first period. He is the United States’ second U23 World champion this year. Emily Shilson took home gold for the United States at 50 kg in women’s freestyle.
Cassioppi, a two-time freestyle Pan-American champion and two-time Hawkeye All-American, won three matches on Saturday to advance to the finals. In his four tournament wins, he won two matches by fall and outscored his four opponents, 38-8.
CASSIOPPI RECAP/RESULTS (125 kg)
WIN Martin Simonyan (Armenia), fall 5:55
WIN Paris Karepri (Albania), 7-0
WIN Saipudin Magomedov (Russia), 5-0
GOLD MEDAL MATCH: WIN Azamat Khosonov
(Greece), 2:44
A LOOK BACK ON THE MAT
The Hawkeyes finished the 2020-21 season as Big Ten and NCAA champions. The conference title is the 37th in program history and the national title is the 24th in program history. Iowa crowned one NCAA individual champion, seven All-Americans, four Big Ten individual champions and 13 academic All-Big Ten honorees. The Hawkeyes were 5-0 overall and 5-0 in the Big Ten, sharing the regular season conference title with Penn State.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The top-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team won the 2021 NCAA Championships on March 20 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. Iowa scored 129 points, 15.5 clear of second-place Penn State. The team title is the 24th in program history and the first since 2010.
The Hawkeyes qualified 10 wrestlers for the NCAA Championships. Those wrestlers combined for a 38-13 overall record with 21 bonus-point wins, good for 27 bonus points. Iowa crowned seven All-Americans, more than any other team.
Senior Spencer Lee won the 125-pound championship for the third time in his career. Seniors Jaydin Eierman (141) and Michael Kemerer (174) reached the finals for the first time in their careers, placing runner-up at 141 and 174, respectively. Austin DeSanto (133), Kaleb Young (157) and Jacob Warner (197) earned All-America honors for the third time in their careers. Tony Cassioppi earned his second career All-America honor at 285.
The Hawkeyes have won a team trophy in 12 of the last 13 national tournaments.
IOWA ALL-AMERICANS
Iowa returns 10 All-Americans to its lineup in 2021-22. They include four-timers Spencer Lee, Jaydin Eierman and Michael Kemerer; three-timers Austin DeSanto, Kaleb Young, Alex Marinelli and Jacob Warner; two-timer Tony Cassioppi; and one-timers Max Murin and Abe Assad.
Seven Hawkeye wrestlers earned All-America honors at the 2021 NCAA Championships, more than any other school. Iowa’s 2021 All-Americans included Spencer Lee (125), Austin DeSanto (133), Jaydin Eierman (141), Kaleb Young (157), Michael Kemerer (174), Jacob Warner (197) and Tony Cassioppi (285).
The seven All-Americans represent Iowa’s highest total since 2010, and five Hawkeyes place third or better for the first time since 2010.
The Hawkeyes’ seven 2021 All-Americans were a combined 33-8 with nine major decisions, six technical falls and three pins at the NCAA tournament. The All-Americans had a combined season record of 83-15.Iowa has had at least five All-Americans in eight straight seasons and 13 times in head coach Tom Brands’ 15 seasons.
WECOME TO CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA
The University of Iowa wrestling program has sold out of season tickets for the first time in program history. The 2021-22 season marks a return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena for fans that were not allowed to attend last season due to COVID restrictions. Iowa led the nation in attendance for the 14th consecutive season in 2019-20, setting an NCAA average attendance record of 12,568 fans in seven home dates. Official attendance records were not kept in 2020-21. The 2019-20 season marked the 12th straight that Iowa averaged more than 8,000 fans. It also marked the first time in NCAA history that a program put more than 10,000 fans in the building for every home dual.
