IOWA CITY, Iowa – Nine University of Iowa wrestlers were ranked in the top 10 of the NCAA coaches poll released Thursday by the NCAA. Jaydin Eierman (141) is Iowa’s highest ranked wrestler. He enters the postseason ranked No. 2 at 141 pounds. Eierman is one of six Hawkeyes ranked in the top five.
Austin DeSanto (133) and Tony Cassioppi (285) are ranked third at their respective weights. Jacob Warner (197) is ranked fourth and Alex Marinelli (165) and Michael Kemerer (174) are ranked fifth.
All 10 Hawkeyes are ranked. Drake Ayala (125) and Kaleb Young (157) are ranked ninth. Max Murin (149) is ranked 10th and Abe Assad (184) is ranked 18th.
The coaches’ rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each conference. Iowa and Penn State (6) are the only two schools with six wrestlers ranked in the top five.
Cassioppi, Young and Ayala were the only Hawkeyes listed in the Ratings Percentage Index released Thursday. Cassioppi was ranked No. 1 at 285. Young was No. 3 at 157 and Ayala was No. 10 at 125. Wrestler must have 15 matches against Division I opponents to be considered.
The NCAA also released its pre-allocations for the 2022 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, hosted in Detroit on March 17-19. The Big Ten Conference was awarded 88 of the 287 automatic qualifying bids.
The Big Ten hosts its qualifying tournament March 5-6 in Lincoln, Nebraska. The weight class conference champion in each qualifying tournament will earn an automatic berth to the national championships.
NCAA championship spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at conference tournaments based solely on place-finish.
The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 43 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 8, while brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 5 p.m. (CT) on March 9. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.
A full description of the entire selection process for the 2022 Division I Wrestling Championships is available at ncaa.org.
| Conference | 125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285 | Total |
| Atlantic Coast Conference | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 39 |
| Big 12 Conference | 6 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 58 |
| Big Ten Conference | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 88 |
| EIWC | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 42 |
| Mid-American Conference | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 22 |
| Pacific-12 Conference | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 23 |
| Southern Conference | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Pre-Allocations | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 287 |
| At-Large | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 43 |
