Iowa Finishes 4th at Big Ten Championships

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The University of Iowa men’s wrestling team finished fourth at the 2026 Big Ten Championships at the Bryce Jordan Center. Seven Hawkeyes finished on the podium, and Iowa qualified nine of 10 weights for the NCAA Championships in Cleveland.

The Hawkeyes have sent at least nine wrestlers to the national tournament for 14 straight years and 18 times since 2007, Tom Brands’ first year as head coach.

“Nine in for Cleveland,” said head coach Tom Brands. “We will see what our seeds are. Wait on Victor Voinovich. Thoughts on the tournament are some good coming back strong today. We want to be on the championship side of things; these guys want to be on the championship side of things. We have work to do to do that. The work will start on Thursday in Cleveland. Thursday, Friday, Saturday.”

Iowa dropped its lone finals bout in Session IV.

Third-seeded Michael Caliendo dropped a decision at 165 pounds to No. 1 seed Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State.

The Hawkeyes won three placement matches. No. 5 seed Drake Ayala finished third after defeating No. 4 Zan Fugitt of Wisconsin, 4-2.

At 141 pounds, No. 4 seed Nasir Bailey also finished third, defeating No. 3 Vance VomBaur of Minnesota, 7-4.

In the 125-pound fifth-place match, No. 8 seed Dean Peterson defeated Michigan’s No. 9 Diego Sotelo.

No. 3 seed Patrick Kennedy dropped the 174-pound third-place match to No. 4 Carson Kharchla, 7-3. 

No. 10 seed Ben Kueter finished fourth at 285 pounds, falling to No. 3 Nick Feldman of Ohio State, 6-2.

No. 8 seed Angelo Ferrari finished eighth earlier in the day after medically forfeiting the seventh-place bout.

FINALS RESULT
165 – #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) major dec. #3 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) 12-3

THIRD PLACE RESULTS
133 – #5 Drake Ayala (Iowa) dec. #4 Zan Fugitt (Wisconsin), 4-2
141 – #4 Nasir Bailey (Iowa) dec. #3 Vance VomBaur (Minnesota), 7-4
174 – #4 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) dec. #3 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa), 7-3
285 – #3 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) dec. #10 Ben Kueter (Iowa), 6-2

FIFTH PLACE RESULTS
125 – #8 Dean Peterson (Iowa) dec. #9 Diego Sotelo (Michigan), 5-2

CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL RESULTS
125 – #2 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) dec. #8 Dean Peterson (Iowa), 6-4
133 – #5 Drake Ayala (Iowa) dec. #2 Lucas Byrd (Illinois), 4-1 SV1
141 – #4 Nasir Bailey (Iowa) dec. #10 Joey Olivieri (Rutgers), 11-6
174 – #3 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) dec.  #5 Beau Mantanona (Michigan), 2-1 TB1
285 – #10 Ben Kueter (Iowa) dec. #4 Cole Mirasola (Penn State), 2-0

9TH PLACE BRACKET SEMIFINAL RESULTS 
149 – #8 Ryder Block (Iowa) major dec. #12 Gavin Brown (Purdue), 8-0
157 – #10 Victor Voinovich III (Iowa) dec. Tony White (Rutgers), 7-3 

9TH PLACE BRACKET FINALS RESULTS
149 – #8 Ryder Block (Iowa) dec. #6 Chance Lamer (Nebraska), 8-7 SV1
157 –     #10 Victor Voinovich (Iowa) won via forfeit.

11TH PLACE BRACKET SEMIFINAL RESULTS
197 – #13 Gabe Arnold (Iowa) dec. #10 Hayden Walters (Michigan), 4-2 

11TH PLACE BRACKET FINAL RESULTS
197 – #13 Gabe Arnold (Iowa) MFF #7 Kael Wisler (Michigan State)