Hawkeyes Send 3 to NCAA Semifinals

CLEVELAND — Three University of Iowa wrestlers — Michael Caliendo (165), Patrick Kennedy (174) and Angelo Ferrari (184) — advanced to Friday night’s semifinals during Session III of the 2026 NCAA Championships at Rocket Arena.

Six Hawkeyes remain alive on the backside of the bracket, and Iowa sits in fourth place with 50.5 points.

The quarterfinal victories clinched All America honors for Caliendo, Kennedy and Ferrari. They represent the 341st, 342nd and 343rd All America honors in program history. Iowa has crowned at least one All American in 55 consecutive tournaments, a streak dating back to 1972.

At 125 pounds, No. 8 seed Dean Peterson dropped a close match to top seeded Luke Lilledahl of Penn State, 2 1, in tiebreakers to fall to the consolation bracket. No. 6 seed Drake Ayala also suffered a narrow quarterfinal loss at 133, falling 5 3 to No. 3 seed Marcus Blaze of Penn State.

At 141, second seeded Sergio Vega of Oklahoma State defeated No. 7 seed Nasir Bailey, 4 1.

No. 3 seed Michael Caliendo dominated Stanford’s EJ Parco, the No. 27 seed, at 165 pounds, earning a 14 3 major decision to advance to the semifinals and become a four time All American.

“I am feeling good,” said Caliendo. “It is a grind of a tournament; you just have to take it one match at a time. I’ve been doing just that, focusing on the next match ahead of me. Getting my job done.”

At 174, No. 5 seed Patrick Kennedy became a two time All American with a 2 1 tiebreaker victory over No. 4 seed Carson Kharchla of Ohio State.

“He’s a great competitor,” said Kennedy. “We wrestled a couple times when we were 10th graders and then I think today was our sixth time in the last two years, so knowing that you have to get up for a guy like that.” 

At 184, No. 7 seed Angelo Ferrari secured his first career All America honor with a 4 1 sudden victory win over No. 2 seed Aoeden Sinclair of Missouri. Ferrari scored the winning takedown out of a scramble in extra time.

“Always have to stay calm in those types of situations,” said Ferrari. “High pressure situations, crowd maybe not for you, and that is what I love. That is what you dream about at night, match on the line in overtime and you are in a position where he is supposed to score and you come out on top.” 

At heavyweight, No. 7 seed Ben Kueter dropped a 4 2 decision to top seeded Yonger Bastida of Iowa State and moved to the consolation side of the bracket.

Ryder Block (149) and Gabe Arnold (197) each won two consolation matches to keep their tournaments alive and advance to Friday night’s session.

QUARTERFINAL MATCHUPS
125 – #1 Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) dec. #8 Dean Peterson, 2-1 TB1
133 – #3 Marcus Blaze (Penn State) dec. #6 Drake Ayala, 5-3
141 – #2 Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State) dec. #7 Nasir Bailey, 4-1
165 – #3 Michael Caliendo major dec. #27 EJ Parco (Stanford), 14-3
174 – #5 Patrick Kennedy dec. #4 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State), 2-1 TB1
184 – #7 Angelo Ferrari dec. #2 Aeoden Sinclair (Missouri), 4-1 SV1
285 – #1 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) dec. #8 Ben Kueter, 4-2

CONSOLATION ROUND 2 RESULTS
149 – #15 Ryder Block dec. #33 Austin McBurney (Brown), 8-1
197 – #27 Gabe Arnold dec. #21 Rune Lawrence (West Virginia), 7-1

CONSOLATION ROUND 3 RESULTS
149 – #15 Ryder Block major dec. #25 Michael Gioffre (Illinois), 18-5
197 – #27 Gabe Arnold dec. #14 Gabe Sollars (Indiana), 5-4

ATTENDANCE: 17,067

SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS
165 – #3 Michael Caliendo vs. #2 Joey Blaze (Purdue)
174 – #5 Patrick Kennedy vs. #1 Levi Haynes (Penn State)
184 – #7 Angelo Ferrari vs. #3 Max McEnelly (Minnesota)

CONSOLATION R4 MATCHUPS
125 – #8 Dean Peterson vs. #11 Tyler Klinsky (Rider)
133 – #6 Drake Ayala vs. #10 Maximilian Leete (American)
141 – #7 Nasir Bailey vs. #13 Wyatt Henson (Lock Haven)
149 – #15 Ryder Block vs. #12 Carter Young (Maryland)
197 – #27 Gabe Arnold vs. #15 Remy Cotton (Rutgers)
285 – #8 Ben Kueter vs. #12 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin)

TEAM SCORES
1. Penn State, 105.5
2. Nebraska, 66.0
3. Oklahoma State, 64.5
4. Iowa, 50.5
5. Ohio State, 44.0
6. Michigan, 41.0
7. Iowa State, 30.5
8. Stanford, 29.0
9. Virginia Tech, 28.0
10. Wyoming, 24.5

UP NEXT
Session IV of the 2026 NCAA Championships will begin at 7 p.m. (CT) and it will be televised live on ESPN2.