I was going to save Iowa for last on my road trip through college wrestling but after going through Cedar Falls and Ames, I just couldn't bypass Iowa City. So, here it goes:
125 – Lee (So) <Franklin Regional, PA>
Spencer Lee certainly had a blast last season. Lee went into the tournament as the 3 seed and proceeded to pummel the field on his way to a championship as a true freshman. He even managed to give Penn State an assist, pinning NaTo in the semis. Lee had an overall season record of 22-2 with the 2 losses coming to Ronnie Bresser at Midlands and NaTo at the Big 10 championship. Fix @125 or not, I don’t think Lee will be challenged this year. The only question to be answered is, can anyone hold him to a regular decision?
133 – DeSanto (So) <Exeter Twp, PA> or Renteria (So) <Oak Park, IL>
It will be interesting to see which way Iowa goes with this one as both still have a redshirt available. Austin DeSanto entered last season’s tournament for Drexel as the 7 seed and went 2-2 (30-7 season record) after imploding against Steven Micic. Jason Renteria went 8-4 on the season for Nebraska after having his redshirt pulled and didn’t qualify for the tournament. Last season Paul Glynn (Jr) went 7-11 for Iowa and didn’t qualify for the tournament.
141 – Murin (Fr) <Central Cambria, PA> or Turk (Jr) <Montini Catholic, IL>
Max Murin is coming off his redshirt year where he went 15-3. His three losses were all to NCAA qualifiers: Tyler Smith (Bucknell), Colton Schilling (Cal Poly) and Cole Martin (Wisconsin). Vince Turk went 16-10 last year and made it to the round of 16 at the tournament (3-2 with a pigtail). He had several quality wins over the season with the biggest coming against future AA, Chad Red in the Big Ten tournament (who he later lost to at the NCAAs). Carter Happel (So) also got some starts @141 last year. He had an 11-7 season record including wins against Schilling and Thorn and a couple of loses to Murin.
149 – Lugo (Jr) <South Dade, FL>
Two-time qualifier Patricio Lugo (1-2 in 2017, R12 in 2016) transferred in from Edinboro before the start of last season. He redshirted last year for the Hawkeyes and went 6-2. His loses were against Ryan Deakin and Josh Maruca. Lugo had wins against Kolodzik and Austin O’Connor. Lugo takes over for 4-time AA Brandon Sorenson (5th in 2018, 3rd in 2017, 2nd in 2016, 4th in 2015).
157 – Young (So) <Punxsutawney, PA> or Glosser (Jr) <EBF, IA>
Kaleb Young wrestled at 165 and 174 last year going 9-7 on the season. He had some wins against qualifiers @165. Jaren Glosser (Jr) went 13-4 on the season (mostly in opens) with regular decision loses to Pantaleo, O’Connor and Deakin. Last year, Michael Kemerer went 27-3 on the season and was a victim of terrible seeding, meeting up with the Nolfinator in the quarter finals. Kemerer ended up finishing in 4th place (3rd in 2017).
165 – Marinelli (So) <St. Paris Graham, OH>
Alex Marinelli entered the 165 meat grinder last season and AA’d coming in 6th from the 5th seed (19-6 season record). Of course we all know about his biggest win versus 2-time national champion Vincenzo Joseph. Marinelli went into the Big 10 championships undefeated and finished the year 6-6. That’s not a criticism about him. It’s a testament to how stacked it was and continues to be at 165 (133 has nothing on 165). I look forward to a Marinelli-Joseph rematch.
174 – Kemerer (Jr) <Franklin Regional, PA>
Kemerer had enough of Nolf and is running to 174
. Last season, Joey Gunther moved up from 165 and went 16-9 on the season and 0-2 in the tournament (he went 2-2 @165 in 2017). Gunther has since transferred to Illinois to be their starter @165.
184 – Wilcke (Jr) <OA-BCIG, IA>
Cash Wilcke moves back down to his natural weight class after manning 197 for the last two years. Last year, Mitch Bowman went 14-13 on the season and 2-2 in the tournament.
197 – Warner (Fr) <Washington Community, IL>
Jacob Warner enters the lineup after a 15-4 redshirt season. His loses were to 3 NCAA qualifiers: Wilcke, Patrick Brucki, Christian Brunner and to Jake Woodley of Oklahoma (who he also had a win against). His most notable wins were against Miklus and Jake Smith (WVU). Last year, Wilcke went 21-9 on the season and making it to the round of 12 at the tournament (he also went R12 in 2017).
Heavy – Stoll (Sr) <Kasson-Mantorville, MN>
After finishing a season healthy for the first time, Stoll unfortunately added a gunshot wound to his list of knee injuries this offseason. I’m assuming for now that he will be fully recovered for his last season at Iowa. Stoll went 25-6 last season and after getting upset by Hemida in the 2nd round, he went through the wrestlebacks to finish 5th to match his seeding. Dude, its not a good idea to break into your locked and loaded buddy's house at 4:30 in the morning. If I saw frickin Gregor Clegane breaking through my front door, I'd shoot him too. Sam is really lucky that Turk is a bad shot.
Iowa returns their national champion and 3 of their 4 other AAs. Iowa should have 10 qualifiers this season and have a very good chance at improving upon their 97 points from last season and will have a great battle for 2nd place with tOSU and OSU. It’s been said many times before and I will say it again, it will be a shame if a PSU-Iowa dual doesn’t happen. There are a lot of intriguing head to head matches here. Especially with all of the weight and lineup changes between both teams.
125 – Lee (So) <Franklin Regional, PA>
Spencer Lee certainly had a blast last season. Lee went into the tournament as the 3 seed and proceeded to pummel the field on his way to a championship as a true freshman. He even managed to give Penn State an assist, pinning NaTo in the semis. Lee had an overall season record of 22-2 with the 2 losses coming to Ronnie Bresser at Midlands and NaTo at the Big 10 championship. Fix @125 or not, I don’t think Lee will be challenged this year. The only question to be answered is, can anyone hold him to a regular decision?
133 – DeSanto (So) <Exeter Twp, PA> or Renteria (So) <Oak Park, IL>
It will be interesting to see which way Iowa goes with this one as both still have a redshirt available. Austin DeSanto entered last season’s tournament for Drexel as the 7 seed and went 2-2 (30-7 season record) after imploding against Steven Micic. Jason Renteria went 8-4 on the season for Nebraska after having his redshirt pulled and didn’t qualify for the tournament. Last season Paul Glynn (Jr) went 7-11 for Iowa and didn’t qualify for the tournament.
141 – Murin (Fr) <Central Cambria, PA> or Turk (Jr) <Montini Catholic, IL>
Max Murin is coming off his redshirt year where he went 15-3. His three losses were all to NCAA qualifiers: Tyler Smith (Bucknell), Colton Schilling (Cal Poly) and Cole Martin (Wisconsin). Vince Turk went 16-10 last year and made it to the round of 16 at the tournament (3-2 with a pigtail). He had several quality wins over the season with the biggest coming against future AA, Chad Red in the Big Ten tournament (who he later lost to at the NCAAs). Carter Happel (So) also got some starts @141 last year. He had an 11-7 season record including wins against Schilling and Thorn and a couple of loses to Murin.
149 – Lugo (Jr) <South Dade, FL>
Two-time qualifier Patricio Lugo (1-2 in 2017, R12 in 2016) transferred in from Edinboro before the start of last season. He redshirted last year for the Hawkeyes and went 6-2. His loses were against Ryan Deakin and Josh Maruca. Lugo had wins against Kolodzik and Austin O’Connor. Lugo takes over for 4-time AA Brandon Sorenson (5th in 2018, 3rd in 2017, 2nd in 2016, 4th in 2015).
157 – Young (So) <Punxsutawney, PA> or Glosser (Jr) <EBF, IA>
Kaleb Young wrestled at 165 and 174 last year going 9-7 on the season. He had some wins against qualifiers @165. Jaren Glosser (Jr) went 13-4 on the season (mostly in opens) with regular decision loses to Pantaleo, O’Connor and Deakin. Last year, Michael Kemerer went 27-3 on the season and was a victim of terrible seeding, meeting up with the Nolfinator in the quarter finals. Kemerer ended up finishing in 4th place (3rd in 2017).
165 – Marinelli (So) <St. Paris Graham, OH>
Alex Marinelli entered the 165 meat grinder last season and AA’d coming in 6th from the 5th seed (19-6 season record). Of course we all know about his biggest win versus 2-time national champion Vincenzo Joseph. Marinelli went into the Big 10 championships undefeated and finished the year 6-6. That’s not a criticism about him. It’s a testament to how stacked it was and continues to be at 165 (133 has nothing on 165). I look forward to a Marinelli-Joseph rematch.
174 – Kemerer (Jr) <Franklin Regional, PA>
Kemerer had enough of Nolf and is running to 174
. Last season, Joey Gunther moved up from 165 and went 16-9 on the season and 0-2 in the tournament (he went 2-2 @165 in 2017). Gunther has since transferred to Illinois to be their starter @165.184 – Wilcke (Jr) <OA-BCIG, IA>
Cash Wilcke moves back down to his natural weight class after manning 197 for the last two years. Last year, Mitch Bowman went 14-13 on the season and 2-2 in the tournament.
197 – Warner (Fr) <Washington Community, IL>
Jacob Warner enters the lineup after a 15-4 redshirt season. His loses were to 3 NCAA qualifiers: Wilcke, Patrick Brucki, Christian Brunner and to Jake Woodley of Oklahoma (who he also had a win against). His most notable wins were against Miklus and Jake Smith (WVU). Last year, Wilcke went 21-9 on the season and making it to the round of 12 at the tournament (he also went R12 in 2017).
Heavy – Stoll (Sr) <Kasson-Mantorville, MN>
After finishing a season healthy for the first time, Stoll unfortunately added a gunshot wound to his list of knee injuries this offseason. I’m assuming for now that he will be fully recovered for his last season at Iowa. Stoll went 25-6 last season and after getting upset by Hemida in the 2nd round, he went through the wrestlebacks to finish 5th to match his seeding. Dude, its not a good idea to break into your locked and loaded buddy's house at 4:30 in the morning. If I saw frickin Gregor Clegane breaking through my front door, I'd shoot him too. Sam is really lucky that Turk is a bad shot.
Iowa returns their national champion and 3 of their 4 other AAs. Iowa should have 10 qualifiers this season and have a very good chance at improving upon their 97 points from last season and will have a great battle for 2nd place with tOSU and OSU. It’s been said many times before and I will say it again, it will be a shame if a PSU-Iowa dual doesn’t happen. There are a lot of intriguing head to head matches here. Especially with all of the weight and lineup changes between both teams.
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