IOWA CITY, Iowa – Eight University of Iowa wrestlers were seeded fourth or better when the Big Ten Conference released its tournament pre-seeds for the 2022 Big Ten Championships set for Saturday and Sunday in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Defending Big Ten champions Jaydin Eierman and Alex Marinelli are two of five Hawkeyes entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed. Eierman is No. 2 at 141 pounds and Marinelli is second at 165. They’re joined on the No. 2 line by Austin DeSanto (133), Kaleb Young (157) and Tony Cassioppi (285).
Defending conference tournament champion Michael Kemerer (174) is one of three Hawkeyes seeded fourth. He’s joined by Max Murin at 149 and Jacob Warner at 197. All eight wrestlers seeded fourth or better return to a postseason lineup that won the 2021 Big Ten and 2021 NCAA championships.
Abe Assad, who missed the 2021 postseason but wrestled at 184 when Iowa won the 2020 Big Ten title, returns to the postseason lineup as the No. 5 seed at 184. Freshman Drake Ayala is making his postseason debut as the No. 6 seed at 125.
The Hawkeyes are the two-time defending Big Ten Conference tournament champions. Iowa has 37 conference team titles, more than twice as many as the next school (Illinois, 17). Eierman, Marinelli and Kemerer are defending Big Ten champions. Marinelli is a three-time defending champion seeking to become the eighth Hawkeye in program history to win four conference titles.
The complete tournament brackets and official seeds will be released Friday afternoon following the Big Ten Conference coaches meeting. For more information on the 2022 Big Ten Wrestling Championships visit bigten.org.
Iowa Pre-Seeds | 2022 Big Ten Championships
125 #6 Drake Ayala
133 #2 Austin DeSanto
141 #2 Jaydin Eierman
149 #4 Max Murin
157 #2 Kaleb Young
165 #2 Alex Marinelli
174 #4 Michael Kemerer
184 #6 Abe Assad
197 #4 Jacob Warner
285 #2 Tony Cassioppi