MAD MAX
Senior Max Murin has a career-high 10 bonus point victories in his 16-3 this season. The 16 wins are the second-most in a single season in his collegiate career. He has a career-high four pins and four technical falls to go along with two major decisions. (Murin had one career technical fall prior to this season.)
• Murin notched his 16th win — a 10-4 victory over Michigan’s Chance Lamer on Feb. 10. On the year, Murin has three wins over ranked foes — downing Penn’s No. 10 Doug Zapf (D, 6-4), Penn State’s No. 12 Shayne Van Ness (D, 4-1) and Minnesota’s No. 15 Michael Blockhus (D, 11-7).
• All three of Murin’s losses have come against top 10 ranked opponents — Iowa State’s No. 8 Paniro Johnson (3-1, SV1), Northwestern’s No. 5 Yahya Thomas (3-2) and Wisconsin’s No. 2 Austin Gomez (5-2).
• In December, Murin cruised to the Soldier Salute title at 149 pounds with two pins, a technical fall and two decisions. He downed teammates Joel Jesuroga and Caleb Rathjen in consecutive decisions to win the crown.
LAST MEETING | #2 IOWA 23, #12 OKLAHOMA STATE 9 | FEB. 12, 2022 | ARLINGTON, TEXAS
125 – #7 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OSU) dec. Jesse Ybarra (UI), 6-5
133 – #2 Daton Fix (OSU) dec. #3 Austin DeSanto (UI), 5-3
141 – #2 Jaydin Eierman (UI) dec. #21 Carter Young (OSU), 6-1
149 – #10 Max Murin (UI) dec. #13 Kaden Gfeller (OSU), 5-2
157 – #12 Kaleb Young (UI) dec. #18 Wyatt Sheets (OSU), 4-1
165 – #5 Alex Marinelli (UI) dec. #8 Travis Wittlake (OSU), 3-2
174 – #2 Michael Kemerer (UI) dec. #10 Dustin Plott (OSU), 6-1
184 – #11 Dakota Geer (OSU) dec. #15 Abe Assad (UI), 9-2
197 – #4 Jacob Warner (UI) major dec. Gavin Stika (OSU), 11-3
285 – #4 Tony Cassioppi (UI) major dec. #31 Luke Surber (OSU), 9-1
COBE AT 157
Junior Cobe Siebrecht is 10-3 this season, posting bonus point victories in five matches with two pins and three major decisions. The Lisbon native won his first six matches of the 2022-23 season.
• Siebrecht notched his third top 10 victory of the season when he scored a sudden victory takedown to defeat Michigan’s No. 10 Will Lewan, 3-1, on Feb. 10 in Carver.
• He has six victories over ranked foes this season, which includes top 10 wins over Penn’s No. 10 Anthony Artalona (fall – 4:02), Northwestern’s No. 9 Trevor Chumbley (D, 6-3). He is 6-2 against ranked foes.
• Siebrecht is rated as high as No. 10 in the national rankings, the highest ranking of his career.
PK PUTS ON A SHOW
• Sophomore Patrick Kennedy has scored 193 points — 11.4 points per match — in his 17 matches this season. The Minnesota native is 15-2 with three technical falls, four majors and three falls this season.
• Kennedy recorded his third pin of the season after locking up a cradle and sticking Michgan’s Alex Wesselman in 2:31 on Feb. 10.
• Kennedy notched his fourth ranked win in Iowa’s road dual at No. 1 Penn State, downing No. 13 Alex Facundo, 2-1, in tiebreakers. He is 4-2 against ranked opponents this season, including posting a 15-4 major decision over Illinois’ No. 11 Danny Braunagel on Jan. 6 in Iowa City.
• His two defeats came against Iowa State’s No. 3 David Carr (10-4) and Wisconsin’s No. 6 Dean Hamiti (4-3).
• Kennedy is squarely in the top 10 of the rankings for the first time in his career, coming in as high as No. 7 for the highest ranking of his career.
BONUS ABE
Junior Abe Assad has tallied a bonus point victory in half of his 14 victories this season. The Illinois native has four majors, two falls and one technical fall. Assad has not wrestled since Jan. 22 at Wisconsin.
• Assad is 4-1 against ranked opponents, including a 6-5 win over No. 13 Lenny Pinto of Nebraska. It was Assad’s 50th career victory.
BT AT 133
• Junior Brody Teske recorded his first technical fall victory as a Hawkeye after rolling to a 19-3 victory over Michigan’s Wilfried Tanefeu on Feb. 10. The win was Teske’s sixth as a Hawkeye.
• Teske is 6-1 with one major and one technical fall.
• He is 1-1 against ranked opponents on the year, posting a 4-0 decision over No. 28 Taylor LaMont of Wisconsin.
WARNER’S 12TH WIN
Senior Jacob Warner tech falled Michigan’s Brendin Yatooma, 16-1 in 2:26, to notch his 12th victory of the season. The Illinois native is 12-4 with a career-high nine bonus point victories this season — four majors, three techs and two falls.
• Warner has a pair of victories over ranked opponents this season and is 42-22 against ranked foes in his Hawkeye career.
HAWKEYE HONOREES
• Junior Cobe Siebrecht was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week on Nov. 30 after defeating the highest ranked opponent of his career, pinning No. 10 Anthony Artalona of Penn to cap the Hawkeyes’ 26-11 dual victory on Nov. 26. Siebrecht got caught in a headlock early in the second period before rolling through and sticking Artalona in 4:02. It was his second pin and fourth bonus point victory of the season.
• Spencer Lee was named the Big Ten Co-Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 11 — his fifth career honor. He earned the distinction after going 2-0 with two first-period falls in wins over Illinois’ Maximo Renteria and Purdue’s ninth-ranked Matt Ramos. Lee fought back from an 8-1 deficit to pin Ramos in 2:54 for his fourth fall of the season.
• Lee was named the NCAA, Big Ten and USA Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 24 after pinning a pair of top-10 opponents in dual wins over No. 11 Nebraska and No. 16 Wisconsin. Lee stuck No. 7 Liam Cronin in 38 seconds and No. 6 Eric Barnett in 4:38 for his fifth and sixth consecutive falls.
SPENCER LEE TARGETS FOURTH TITLE
• Senior Spencer Lee won the 125-pound NCAA Championship in 2021, becoming the seventh three-time national champion in program history and putting an exclamation point on the Hawkeyes’ 2021 NCAA team title. Lee was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year and won the Dan Hodge Trophy for the second straight season.
• Lee is the seventh three-time NCAA champion in program history, joining the ranks of Ed Banach (1981, 81, 83), Barry Davis (1982, 83, 85), Jim Zalesky (1982-84), Tom Brands (1990-92), Lincoln McIlravy (1993, 94, 97) and Joe Williams (1996-98).
• Only four wrestlers in NCAA history have won four Division I national titles: Oklahoma State’s Pat Smith (‘90-92, ‘94), Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson (‘99-02), Cornell’s Kyle Dake (‘10-13), and Ohio State’s Logan Stieber (‘12-15).
• Iowa’s three-time champions include:
1. Ed Banach (177, 177, 190) 1980-81, 1983
2. Barry Davis (118, 126, 126) 1982-83, 1985
3. Jim Zalesky (158) 1982-84
4. Tom Brands (134) 1990-92
5. Lincoln McIlravy (142, 150, 150) 1993-94, 1997
6. Joe Williams (158, 158, 167) 1996-98
7. Spencer Lee (125) 2018-19, 2021