Caliendo Finishes as NCAA Runner-Up, Hawkeyes Fourth as a Team

CLEVELAND — University of Iowa wrestler Michael Caliendo finished as the NCAA runner-up at 165 pounds on Saturday night at the 2026 NCAA Championships at Rocket Arena.

Iowa finished fourth in the team race with 92.5 points bringing home a team trophy for the 50th time in program history and notching the 71st top 10 finish in program history.

“I’ve got a guy that he is upstairs right now and he has to come down and get on the awards stand after that performance, and he's not doing well,” said head coach Tom Brands. “I'm not doing well with him.” 

Caliendo dropped a 20-4 technical fall to top-seeded Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State in the finals. His appearance in the championship round extended Iowa’s streak of NCAA finalists to 35 consecutive tournaments.

The finals appearance was the second of Caliendo’s career and he finished the tournament as an All-American for the fourth time. 

“You evaluate; you make adjustments,” said Brands. “You execute those adjustments. You have to be really smart and really diligent… Go get what you want. It’s not that simple but maybe it is that simple. It’s too early to talk about that in my mind. We are in an adjustment period, because we are evaluating starting right now, and when I say right now, I mean you have to give me a minute with Caliendo, because you’ve got a guy hurting right now. You’ve got a Hawkeye that is hurting and I am hurting with him.” 

GRADUATING SENIORS
Iowa’s NCAA lineup included four graduating seniors. Those seniors include Dean Peterson (125, four-time NCAA qualifier), Drake Ayala (133, three-time All-American, two-time NCAA Finalist, four-time national qualifier), Michael Caliendo (165, four-time All-American, two-time NCAA Finalist), Patrick Kennedy (two-time All-American, four-time national qualifier). 

OF NOTE
–    Iowa has earned a team trophy at the NCAA Championships 16 times in the last 18 championships.
–    The Hawkeyes have won 50 team NCAA trophies in program history and have 71 top 10 finishes in program history.
–     Iowa has had an NCAA finalist in 35 consecutive national tournaments (every year since 1990).
–    Iowa has crowned at least one All-American in 55 consecutive tournaments, a stretch dating back to 1972. Iowa has totaled 339 All-Americans during that stretch.
–    Iowa has had at least four All-Americans in 19 straight seasons and 19 times in Brands’ 20 years.

FINALS RESULTS
141 – Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State) dec. Jesse Mendez (Ohio State), 4-1 SV1
149 –Aden Valencia (Stanford) dec. over Shayne Van Ness (Penn State), 8-5 SV1
157 – Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) dec. Antrell Taylor (Nebraska), 4-2
165 – Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) tech. fall Mikey Caliendo, 20-4
174 – Levi Haines dec. over Christopher Minto (Nebraska), 2-1
184 – Max McEnelly (Minnesota) dec. over Rocco Welsh (Penn State), 4-3
197 –Josh Barr (Penn State) dec. Cody Merrill (Oklahoma State), 6-3
285 – Isaac Trumble (NC State) dec. over Yonger Bastida (Iowa State), 5-0
125 – Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) dec. Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton), 2-1
133 – Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) dec. Ben Davino (Ohio State), 5-2

ALL-AMERICANS
2nd – Michael Caliendo (165)
3rd – Patrick Kennedy (174)
5th – Drake Ayala (133), Ben Kueter (285)
6th – Ryder Block (149), Angelo Ferrari (184)
7th – Gabe Arnold (197)

TEAM SCORES
1. Penn State, 181.5
2. Oklahoma State, 131.0
3. Nebraska, 100.5
4. Iowa, 92.5
5. Ohio State, 84.5
6. Stanford, 67.5
7. Michigan, 66.0
8. Iowa State, 52.0
9. Minnesota, 48.5
10. NC State, 44.5