NICEVILLE, Florida — The top-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team won 18-of-20 matches to sweep Central Michigan and No. 17 Lehigh on Monday during the opening day of competition at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals.
Iowa swept 10 matches against Central Michigan in the opener, scoring bonus points in six bouts. Spencer Lee and Austin DeSanto opened the dual with consecutive technical falls at 125 and 133. Max Murin won by major decision at 149 and Alex Marinelli, Abe Assad and Tony Cassioppi each put six points on the scoreboard.
Marinelli forced a stalling disqualification at 165. Assad registered a pin at 184 and Cassioppi led 5-0 before Matt Stencel withdrew with an injury at 285.
Cassioppi later ended the night with a 3-2 decision against Lehigh’s No. 8 Jordan Wood. The win was one of eight for the Hawkeyes against the Mountain Hawks. Lee again opened things up again with bonus points, scoring a takedown in each period to win by 8-0 major decision against No. 11 Jaret Lane.
DeSanto won again by technical fall, this time by a 20-5 score, and Assad added more bonus points with a 16-5 major decision.
The doubleheader sweep extended Iowa’s dual winning streak to 23 in a row and set up a top five matchup with No. 5 NC State on Tuesday at 5 p.m. (CT).
“There is a lot of work to do,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands. “It’s December. We have a weigh-in tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. and a match at 5 p.m. Ten individual matches. One dual meet. We have to be ready to go.”
LEE RETURNS WITH BONUS POINTS
Two-time Hodge Trophy winner and three-time defending NCAA champion Spencer Lee returned the mat for the first time since winning the national championship in March. Lee won by 17-0 technical fall in his season debut and answered with an 8-0 major decision in his second match. He has now won 37 straight, outscoring his opponents, 457-42.
“I like that Spencer looked like Spencer Lee. When you look like Spencer Lee, that’s a pretty good thing,” Brands said.
ASSAD RETURNS TO LINEUP IN FIRST DUAL APPEARANCES OF THE SEASON
All-American Abe Assad returned to the lineup for the first time since Iowa’s season opener at the Luther Open on Nov. 13. In his first dual of the season, Assad built an 8-1 lead before securing the fall in two minutes, 22 seconds. He returned for more in his second match, totaling five takedowns and adding nearfall points in a 16-5 major decision.
“Come out ready to go,” said Brands. “Doesn’t get rattled. There was no reason to get rattled. Guys try to slow you down. You know what, don’t let him slow you down. Whatever the strategy is you just wrestle your match. It didn’t look like there was much strategy out there because he was just scoring a lot of points. When you relax like that, that’s when your best wrestling comes out. He demonstrated that big time.”
UP NEXT
Iowa returns to action Tuesday against NC State at 5 p.m. (CT) inside Raider Arena. The dual is streamed live at Rokfin.com.
NOTABLES
• Iowa has won 23 straight duals.
• Spencer Lee made his season debut and outscored his opponents, 25-0. Lee has won 37 straight, outscoring those opponents, 457-42.
• DeSanto registered his sixth and seventh technical falls of the season. He has scored 20-plus points or more in five matches this season and 26 times in his career.
• Nelson Brands improved to 10-0 in his career at 174.
• Abe Assad made his 2021-22 dual debut.
#1 IOWA 44, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 0
125 #1 Spencer Lee (IA) tech. fall Brock Bergelin (CM) 17-0; 5-0
133 #3 Austin DeSanto (IA) tech. fall Vince Perez (CM), 16-1; 10-0
141 #2 Jaydin Eierman (IA) dec. #7 Dresden Simon (CM), 13-12; 13-0
149 #8 Max Murin (IA) major dec. Corbyn Munson (CM), 14-5; 17-0
157 #8 Kaleb Young (IA) dec. #19 Johnny Lovett (CM), 6-0; 20-0
165 #1 Alex Marinelli (IA) stalling DQ Tracy Hubbard (CM), 5:46; 26-0
174 Nelson Brands (IA) dec. Bret Fedewa (CM), 8-3; 29-0
184 Abe Assad (IA) pinned Ben Cushman (CM), 2:22; 35-0
197 #7 Jacob Warner (IA) dec. Aaron Bolo (CM), 9-4; 38-0
285 #6 Tony Cassioppi (IA) won by injury default #9 Matt Stencel (CM), 2:25; 44-0
Records: Iowa (4-0), Central Michigan (1-2)
#1 IOWA 28, #17 LEHIGH 7
125 #1 Spencer Lee (IA) dec. #11 Jaret Lane (L), 8-0; 4-0
133 #3 Austin DeSanto (IA) tech. fall Satoshi Abe (L), 20-5; 9-0
141 #2 Jaydin Eierman (IA) dec. Connor McGonagel (L), 8-3; 12-0
149 #30 Manzona Bryant (L) dec. #8 Max Murin (IA), 7-5 SV1; 12-3
157 #10 Josh Humphreys (L) major dec. #8 Kaleb Young (IA), 11-2; 12-7
165 #1 Alex Marinelli (IA) dec. Brian Meyer (L), 6-2; 15-7
174 Nelson Brands (IA) dec. Jake Logan (L), 3-2; 18-7
184 Abe Assad (IA) major dec. A.J. Burkhart (L), 16-5; 22-7
197 #7 Jacob Warner (IA) dec. JT Davis (L), 6-1; 25-7
285 #6 Tony Cassioppi (IA) dec. #8 Jordan Wood (L), 3-2; 28-7
Records: Iowa (5-0), Lehigh (4-3)
