[UPDATE 3/20 9:30 PM] Iowa won the 2021 NCAA championship with just one individual champion. Not surprising, that champion was Spencer Lee. The Iowa 125-pounder defeated Brandon Courtney of Arizona State 7-0.

Following the match, Lee said during an ESPN interview that, "Eight days ago I tore the ACL in my other knee. I'm wrestling with no ACL's... I didn't want to tell anyone, cause that's excuses. Excuses are for wusses."

Spencer Lee is definitely no wuss. He's now a 3-time national champion. He becomes the seventh Hawkeye all-time to win three individual national titles. He joins Joe Williams, Barry Davis, Jim Zalesky, Ed Banach, Tom Brands, and Lincoln McIlravy as three-time winners.

Iowa's other two top seeds in tonight's finals both lost.

At 141 pounds, Jaydin Eierman was defeated by Nick Lee of Penn State 4-2 in Sudden Victory.

At 174 pounds, Carter Starocci of Penn State beat Michael Kemerer 3-1, again in Sudden Victory.

Iowa had clinched the team title before the finals began. Iowa ended the tournament with 129 points. Penn State finished second with 113.5

[UPDATE 3/20 3:30 PM] The Iowa Hawkeyes know they're the champions of the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships, and the individual final matches are still more than two hours away.

With the completion of today's medal round, Iowa clinched the team title with 125 points. According to the University of Iowa Sports Information Department, neither Penn State (97.5) or Oklahoma State (95.5) can catch the Hawkeyes who have claimed their 24th NCAA team title. It's the Hawkeyes' first championship since 2010 and the 4th for Iowa coach Tom Brands.

Iowa went 6-1 in today's medal round with both Austin DeSanto (133 pounds) and Tony Cassioppi (285 pounds) claiming 3rd place.

DeSanto, who won five times in St. Louis, outscored his opponents 67-17. In his five wins in St. Louis, Cassioppi outscored his opponents 37-2.

Kaleb Young finished seventh at 157 pounds and Jacob Warner claimed 4th place at 197 pounds.

Iowa has seven All-Americans in 2021, their highest total since eight earned the honor in 2010.

Tonight's finals begin at 6:10 p.m. on ESPN. Jaydin Eierman (141 pounds) will actually be the first Hawkeye finalist to take the mat tonight because the finals will begin at 133 pounds. Michael Kemerer is in the title match at 174 pounds. Spencer Lee, the top seed at 125 pounds, will be the last wrestler to take the mat tonight. The finals will conclude at 125 pounds.

Tonight's final matches, featuring Iowa:

125 – #1 Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. #3 Brandon Courtney (ASU)
141 – #1 Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) vs. #2 Nick Lee (PSU)
174 – #1 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) vs. #3 Carter Starocci (PSU)

Team Standings Entering Tonight's Finals:

IOWA 125 (has clinched team title)
Penn State 97.5
Oklahoma St. 95.5
Arizona State 74.0
Michigan 69.0
NC State 68.0
Missouri 64.0
Minnesota 60.0

[UPDATE 3/19 9:45 PM] The Hawkeyes went 3-2 in Friday night's semifinals, with Spencer Lee (125 pounds), Jaydin Eierman (141 pounds), and Michael Kemmerer (174 pounds) all headed to Saturday night's finals.

Penn State has four wrestlers in the finals, including head-to-head match-ups with Iowa at both 141 and 174 pounds.

Team scores heading into the third and final day of the tournament:

  1. Iowa 109
  2. Penn State 94.5
  3. Oklahoma State 86.5
  4. Arizona State 67
  5. Michigan 58.5
  6. Missouri & North Carolina State 56.5

[UPDATE 3/19 3:45 PM] The Iowa Hawkeyes will have wrestlers in half of tonight's semifinal bouts but, overall, the fourth session came with some disappointments.

The Hawkeyes added two more to Friday night's semifinals as Michael Kemmerer and Tony Cassioppi joined Lee, DeSanto, and Eierman from earlier in the day. Here are Iowa's five semifinalists:

  • 125 pounds: Spencer Lee (10-2 winner in quarterfinals)
  • 133 pounds: Austin DeSanto (13-5 winner in quarterfinals)
  • 141 pounds: Jaydin Eierman (Win by Fall in 3:49)
  • 174 pounds: Michael Kemmerer (13-4 Major Decision)
  • 285 pounds: Tony Cassioppi (4-1 winner in quarterfinals)

Top-seeded Alex Marinelli was defeated at 165 pounds, as was #5 Jacob Warner at 197 pounds were both defeated Friday afternoon. Nelson Brands also lost in the consolation bracket, eliminating him from the tournament.

Here are the team scores heading into Friday night's semifinals:

  • Iowa 73.5
  • Penn State 57.5
  • Oklahoma State 51
  • North Carolina State 46
  • Missouri 40

[UPDATE 3/19 1 PM] The Iowa Hawkeyes kept rolling in Session 3 at the Big Ten Wrestling Tournament with three wins in the quarterfinals against one defeat, and a pair of consolation wins.

Iowa's 3 semi-finalists thus far are:

  • 125 pounds: Spencer Lee (10-2 winner in quarterfinals)
  • 133 pounds: Austin DeSanto (13-5 winner in quarterfinals)
  • 141 pounds: Jaydin Eierman (Win by Fall in 3:49)

Max Murin lost in sudden victory 6-4, and moves to the Round of 12. In the consolation bracket this morning, Kaleb Young won twice, moving him into the Round of 12.

The 165 pound through 285-pound quarterfinal matches begin at 2pm.

The team scoring after this morning's session:

  • Iowa 58.5
  • Penn State 43.5
  • NC State & Oklahoma State 37.5
  • Missouri 34.5
  • Arizona State 31.5

You've just gotta love Tom Brands' sense of humor:

[ORIGINAL STORY] The Iowa Hawkeyes last won an NCAA Wrestling Championship in 2010. On the first day of the 2021 tournament, the top-ranked Hawks looked like they were up to the task.

Iowa went 18-2 in the first two rounds on Thursday, with all ten wrestlers winning their first-round matches. In 12 of Iowa's 18 wins, they scored bonus points. In a release from the University of Iowa Sports Information Department, Iowa coach Tom Brands says those extra points are vital:

Bonus points are crucial. They’re an indication of your team and philosophy and you can see the communication getting through to our guys. Our guys have horsepower and it is starting to come out.

 

Max Murin is the only Hawkeye to be an at-large choice for the tournament, with all nine other members of the team qualifying via the Big Ten Tournament. Murin took the most of the opportunity, going 2-0 on opening day, including avenging a Big Ten Tournament loss to Ridge Lovett of Nebraska. Murin is the 12 seed at 149 pounds. Lovett was seeded 5th.

For the first time this season, top-seeded 125-pounder Spencer Lee of Iowa had a match go the full seven minutes. He still won by a major decision, 15-5 over Killian Cardinale of West Virginia in the second round. Lee's first opponent of the day lasted only a little over a minute-and-a-half before Lee won by Technical Fall, 16-1.

Here are the team standings after Day One:

  1. Iowa 33.5
  2. Penn State 28.0
  3. Missouri 23.5
  4. NC State 21.0
  5. Oklahoma St. 20.0
  6. Arizona State 19.5
  7. Minnesota 16.5
  8. Michigan 16.0
  9. Nebraska 14.5
  10. Virginia Tech 14.5

Here are Iowa's quarterfinal match-ups on Friday:

125 – #1 Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. #9 Devin Schroder (PU)
133 – #4 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) vs. #5 Micky Phillippi (PITT)
141 – #1 Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) #9 Dresden Simon (CMU)
149 – #12 Max Murin (Iowa) vs. #4 Boo Lewallen (OKST)
165 – #1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) vs. #8 Shane Griffith (STAN)
174 – #1 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) vs. #8 Daniel Bullard (NCST)
197 – #5 Jacob Warner (Iowa) vs. #4 A.J. Ferrari (OKST)
285 – #5 Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) vs. #4 Cohlton Schultz (ASU)

Kaleb Young (157 pounds) and Nelson Brands (184 pounds) of Iowa lost in the second round and will wrestle in the consolation bracket today.

2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships

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