Iowa Wrestling Notebook — 2025 Final Notes

ON THE MAT
The University of Iowa wrestling team finished the 2024-25 season with a 14-1 overall record and a 7-1 Big Ten mark. The Hawkeyes placed third at the Big Ten Championships and fourth at the NCAA Championships. Iowa had five All-Americans. The program had 10 Academic All-Big Ten selections. 

BUCHANAN WINS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 
Grad student Stephen Buchanan II won the 197-pound title at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 22.  
• The title was Buchanan’s first after finishing in third in both 2024 and 2022. He is a four-time All-American and the first wrestler to earn All-America honors at three different schools. He outscored his opponents, 64-15, winning twice by decision, and once via major decision, and twice via technical fall. He scored 24 team points.  
• Buchanan opened the national tournament with a 22-9 major decision over Remy Cotton (Michigan State) and a tech fall in the second round over Joseph Novak (Wyoming). 
• After a technical fall over Seth Shumate (Ohio State) and a decision over AJ Ferrari (CSUB), Buchanan defeated Penn State’s Josh Barr in the final, 5-2.
• Buchanan is the first Hawkeye to win a national title at 197-pounds since the weight class was introduced in 1999. 
• His title is the 86th individual NCAA title in school history. 

HAWKEYE WRESTLING HISTORY
The Hawkeyes have won 24 national titles and 37 Big Ten titles. 
• Iowa’s 56 NCAA Champions have won a total of 86 NCAA individual titles, crowning seven three-time and 16 two-time champions.
• The Hawkeyes’ 118 Big Ten champions have combined for 210 conference titles. There have been eight four-time, 20 three-time and 31 two-time Big Ten champions from Iowa.
• Iowa’s 169 All-Americans have earned All-America status 372 times, including two five-time, 25 four-time, 38 three-time and 42 two-time honorees.

NCAA TROPHIES
The Hawkeyes have earned a team trophy at the NCAA Championships 15 times in the last 17 championships.  Iowa has won 15 team trophies in head coach Tom Brands’ 18 seasons. (The 2020 season, in which Iowa was favored, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
• Iowa has won 49 team NCAA trophies in program history and have 70 top 10 finishes.  The Hawkeyes have been the NCAA runner-up seven times.

CHASING THE HAWKEYES
Gary Kurdelmeier led Iowa to its first NCAA Championship in 1975, and in the 49 years since, the Hawkeyes have accumulated 24 team titles, more than any other school -- Penn State (12), Oklahoma State (7), Minnesota (3), Iowa State (2), Ohio State (1) and Arizona State (1).

HAWKEYES IN THE FINALS
Drake Ayala advanced to the 133-pound finals of the 2025 NCAA Championships to extend Iowa’s streak of NCAA finals appearances to 35 consecutive tournaments. Michael Caliendo also made the 165 pound-final and Stephen Buchanan II was in the 197-pound final.
• Iowa has had at least one wrestler in the NCAA finals every year since 1990, and in 49 of the last 50 tournaments dating back to 1975.

ALL-AMERICAN STREAK
The Hawkeyes have crowned at least one All-American in 54 consecutive tournaments, a stretch dating back to 1972.  Iowa has totaled 332 All-America honors during that stretch.  
Nine qualifiers
The Hawkeyes sent nine wresters to the NCAA Championships. The Hawkeyes have sent at least nine wrestlers for 13 straight years and 17 times since 2007, Tom Brands first year as head coach.
• Eight of Iowa’s nine qualifiers earned automatic bids to the NCAA tournament at the 2025 Big Ten Championships. Joey Cruz got an at-large bid at 125 pounds. 
• Iowa is one of 10 schools sending 9 wrestlers to the national tournament. 
•  Iowa has sent at least eight athletes to the NCAA Championships in each of head coach Tom Brands’ 18 seasons. 

ALL-AMERICAN: DRAKE AYALA
• Earning his second career All-America honors with a runner-up finish at 133, Ayala opened the national tournament with a 21-5 major decision over Kade Moore (Missouri) and a tech fall in the second round over Julian Farber (Northern Iowa). 
• Ayala defeated Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) and Zan Fugitt (Wisconsin) before falling to Illinois’ Lucas Byrd in the final. 
• Ayala entered as the No. 2 seed this season. He scored 19.5 team points.  
• Ayala is a Fort Dodge, Iowa, native. 

ALL-AMERICAN: MICHAEL CALIENDO
• With a runner up finish at 165, Caliendo picked up the third All-American honors of his career. He was seventh at 165 as a freshman at North Dakota State and fourth a year ago for the Hawkeyes.
• Caliendo’s path at the NCAA Championships this season included an 11-3 major decision win over Aiden Riggins (Iowa State) and a major decision against Jack Thomsen (Northern Iowa). A decision over Michigan’s Beau Mantanona and a decision over Peyton Hall (West Virginia) set up his finals match with Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State)
• He entered the week seeded third and scored 18 team points. 

ALL-AMERICAN: PATRICK KENNEDY
• Kennedy placed fourth at 174, becoming an All-American for the first time in his career. 
• Kennedy had lost in the consolations in his previous two trips to the championships. 
• An 11 seed at this year’s tournament Kennedy won five matches via decision and scored 12.5 team points. 

ALL-AMERICAN: BEN KUETER
• Kueter became an All-American for the first time, placing eighth at 285. Kueter a redshirt freshman was competing at his first NCAA Championship. 
• The No. 5 seed in the heavyweight bracket he scored 5.5 team points. 
• The Iowa City, Iowa, native finished his season with a record of 21-9, with all nine of his loses coming to seniors or fifth years.

ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN
10 Hawkeye wrestlers were among the 56 University of Iowa student-athletes named to the 2024-25 Big Ten Winter Academic All-Conference Team. 
•  To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten status, students must be on a varsity team, as verified by being on the official squad list as of March 1 for winter sports, who have been enrolled fulltime at the institution for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. 
•  The list of honorees includes Ryder Block, Nelson Brands, Easton Fleshman, Koye Grebel, Gage Marty, Charles Matthews, Aidan McCain, Jace Rhodes, Cullan Schriever and Victor Voinovich. 

NWCA SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICANS
Two University of Iowa wrestlers – Stephen Buchanan II and Kyle Parco – were named 2025 National Wrestling Coaches Association Division I Scholar All-Americans.
• NWCA DI Scholar All-Americans excel on the mat and in the classroom. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have a 3.0 GPA and be an All-American, have a 3.2 GPA and be a National Qualifier, or have a 3.5 GPA and represent their team at the conference tournament or win 60 percent of their matches.
• Iowa has received 64 NWCA academic honors since Tom Brands was named head coach in 2006.

A PERFECT (BIG) TEN
Stephen Buchanan II (8-0) finished the Big Ten duals season with perfect conference record. 
• Since 2007, Tom Brands’ first season as Iowa head coach, a wrestler has navigated a perfect Big Ten regular season 24 times. 
• From 2014-15 to 2020-21 when the conference went to a nine-dual regular season schedule, eight Hawkeyes posted perfect 9-0 records: Spencer Lee, Kaleb Young, and Michael Kemerer in 2019-20, Alex Marinelli did it in 2018-19, Thomas Gilman did it three times (2015, 2016, 2017), and Alex Meyer, Brandon Sorensen, and Sam Stoll were all 9-0 in 2015-16.
• Austin DeSanto and Jayden Eierman had perfect 5-0 records during the Big Ten only season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Hawkeyes had three duals cancelled that season.  
• Since the conference switched back to eight duals in 2020-21 two Hawkeyes have gone a perfect 8-0 (Buchanan this season and Lee in 2022-23)

FRESHMAN TRACKER
Eight Hawkeye freshman competed as attached competitors during the 2024-25 season.  Under new NCAA guidelines, freshmen can compete in five dates of competition during the student-athlete’s initial year of collegiate enrollment without using a season of competition.
• Here is a list of competitions for Iowa’s freshmen in 2024-25: Miguel Estrada (8), Angelo Ferrari (5), Kael Voinovich (4), Keyan Hernandez (3), Dru Ayala (2), Brady Benham (2), Anthony Lavezzola (1) and Brody Sampson (1)

ALL-AMERICANS
The Hawkeyes had six past All-Americans on the 2024-25 roster in Drake Ayala (125), Kyle Parco (149), Jacori Teemer (165), Michael Caliendo (165), Nelson Brands (174), Stephen Buchanan (197).
• The Hawkeyes have crowned at least one All-American in 53 consecutive tournaments, a stretch dating back to 1972. Iowa has totaled 327 All-America honors during that stretch. 

TV TIME
Seven University of Iowa men’s wrestling duals were televised on BTN during the 2024-25 season. 
• Iowa’s BTN appearances included home duals against Stanford, Illinois, Ohio State, Nebraska and Oklahoma State and road duals at Penn State and Minnesota. 
• The duration of the Big Ten Championships, held March 8-9 in Evanston, Illinois, was also televised on BTN.
• Iowa’s duals against Iowa State, Wisconsin, Maryland and Northwestern were streamed on B1G+ (subscription required). The Journeymen Wrestling “Uncivil War” against Princeton and Army was streamed on UFC Fight Pass 

STARTING AT 125
In the 320 matches that Iowa has wrestled under head coach Tom Brands the Hawkeyes have started at 125 pounds 268 times. Iowa is 240-27-1 in those matches. 
• Iowa is 50-1 under Brands when starting at a weight other than 125.
• Since 2003, Iowa is 251-32-1 when starting at 125 and 68-10 at when starting at a different weight. 

SOLD OUT X 4
Iowa wrestling’s season ticket allotment at Carver-Hawkeye Arena sold out for a fourth straight season.  The Hawkeyes have led the nation in attendance every year since 2006-07.  Iowa set an NCAA record, averaging 14,905 fans in 2021-22.

BROTHERHOOD
Drake and Dru Ayala, Joey and Patrick Kennedy and Victor and Kael Voinovich are the latest sets of brothers to compete for Iowa men’s wrestling. 
 • There have been 48 sets of brothers to come through the Iowa wrestling program, including head coach Tom Brands and associate head coach Terry Brands. 
• Terry and Nelson Brands are the ninth father son duo and Tom and Nelson are the fifth uncle nephew duo to wrestle for Iowa.  

CAMBUS SHUTTLE
Free parking is available in the Hancher Auditorium Parking Lot on dates where no performances are scheduled. When the Hancher Auditorium Lot is available, complimentary Cambus shuttles to Carver-Hawkeye Arena will begin 90 minutes prior to the start of the meet and run until one (1) hour following the conclusion of the meet. 

A NEW HOME FOR IOWA WRESTLING
Construction on the $31 million Goschke Family Wrestling Training Center finished in May 2024. The 38,000-square-foot facility is the new training home of the Iowa men’s and women’s wrestling programs. The wrestling room on the south end of the building is connected by underground tunnel to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
• The two-level building features a Hall of Champions that pays homage to the history of Iowa wrestling. The main entrance welcomes visitors with trophy displays celebrating Iowa’s All-Americans and national champions. The lower-level includes locker rooms, while the upper-level houses student-athlete lounges and coaches’ offices that overlook the wrestling room.
• The facility’s largest space, the Bob and Kathy Nicolls Wrestling Room, features 30-foot-high ceilings with nearly twice as much practice space as the former room. An adjacent strength and conditioning room on the lower level flows seamlessly into the wrestling room.

WRESTLETOWN, USA
Iowa City, Iowa, was dubbed Wrestletown, USA by NBC Sports when hosting the 2016 Olympic Team Trials. 
• The University of Iowa men’s wrestling program led the nation in attendance for the 17th straight year last year.
•  The Hawkeyes drew an average of 14,847 fans per home date during the 2023-24 season with 89,082 fans entering the doors of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa drew capacity crowds of 14,847 in all six of its home duals.
• Iowa has led the nation in attendance in each season of head coach Tom Brands’ tenure (attendance totals weren’t tracked during the 2020-21 season due to most venues having no-spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic). This was the 15th straight year the Hawkeyes have averaged more than 8,000 fans.

NCAA EXPERIENCE
The Hawkeyes had nine wrestlers on the roster with NCAA Championships experience entering the 2024-25 season. Drake Ayala was the 2024 runner up at 125 pounds. Caleb Rathjen (2024) and Victor Voinovich III (2023) have both qualified once at 149 pounds.  Kyle Parco (149) and Jacori Teemer (157) are both four-time All-Americans. Parco’s highest finish came in 2023 when he finished fourth and Teemer was the runner up in 2024. Michael Caliendo (165) is a two-time All-American and finished fourth in 2024. Patrick Kennedy is a two-time national qualifier at 165 and 174 pounds. Nelson Brands (174/184) is a two-time All-American and finished fifth in 2023 at 174. Stephen Buchanan (197) is a three-time All-American finishing 3rd in both 2022 and 2024. 

SOLDIER SALUTE CHAMPS
Iowa tallied 248 team points to win the 2024 team title at the Soldier Salute. It is the third straight year the Hawkeyes won the title. 
• Seven Hawkeyes won individual titles at the tournament. Drake Ayala (133), Kyle Parco (149), Michael Caliendo (165), Caleb Rathjen (149), Jared Franek (157), Michael Caliendo (165), Gabe Arnold (174-Unattached) and Zach Glazier (197).

HAWKEYES RETAIN DAN GABLE TROPHY
The University of Iowa wrestling team defeated No. 12 Iowa State, 21-15, on Nov. 23 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series. The win was Iowa’s 20th straight in the series and awarded Iowa possession of the Dan Gable Traveling Trophy for 13th consecutive year. Iowa has owned the Dan Gable Traveling Trophy every year since its inception in 2010. 

SPENCER LEE THE OLYMPIAN
Former University of Iowa All-American and three-time National Champion Spencer Lee won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, becoming the 11th Hawkeye wrestler in school history to medal at the Olympic Games

HAWKEYES AND CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA
Iowa is 138-14 (.907) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since Tom Brands took over the program prior to 2006-07. The Hawkeyes are 287-27 (.914) all-time at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since moving from the UI Field House in 1983. Iowa went 5-1 in Carver in 2023-24.
•  Carver-Hawkeye Arena has hosted two United States Olympic Team Trials, four Big Ten Championships (1983, 1994, 2005, 2016) and four NCAA Championships (1986, 1991, 1995, 2001). The Hawkeyes have won five tournament titles on their home mat, including the 1983 and 1994 Big Ten Championships, and the 1986, 1991 and 1995 NCAA Championships.