TULSA, Okla. – The University of Iowa wrestling team has five quarterfinalists and all 10 Hawkeyes are still alive following Session II of the 2023 NCAA Championships at the BOK Center.

The Hawkeyes went 7-3 in the second session and 15-5 on day one in Oklahoma.  Penn State leads the team race with 26 points after day one, while Iowa is second with 21.5 points, Missouri is third with 17.5 points and Minnesota and NC State are tied for fourth with 16.5 points.

“We have to get ready for day two and that’s real,” said head coach Tom Brands.

Top-seeded Spencer Lee cruised into the quarterfinals with a 16-0 technical fall victory over 16th-seeded Jack Medley of Michigan, needing just 2:30 of clock time.  Lee took Medley to his back in the opening seconds to take a 4-0 lead before piling up 12 points with various tilts to end the bout.

The victory was Lee’s 57th straight and it was his 13th career bonus point win at the NCAA Championships (in 17 career matches).  Lee, who hasn’t allowed a point in his last four NCAA matches dating back to the 2021 season, is outscoring his opponents 18-0 with a pin and tech fall in two wins.

No. 1 seed Real Woods advanced with a hard-fought 7-5 decision over No. 17 seed Dylan D’Emilio of Ohio State.  Woods had a pair of takedowns in the first, but the Buckeye used an escape and takedown in the second to even the match at five.   After Woods earned an escape point to take a 6-5 lead, he fought off a late attack (that held up after the review) and the riding time point made it the 7-5 final.

Woods improves to 18-0 this season and he advances to the quarterfinals for a second straight season. 

Eighth-seeded Max Murin was the third Hawkeye to advance, winning a 3-1 decision over Stanford’s No. 9 Jaden Abas.  A second-period takedown was the difference as he avenged a 2021 NCAA loss to Abas in the Round of 12.  Murin brings a 23-4 record into Friday’s quarters.

No. 11 seed Nelson Brands pulled of Iowa’s biggest upset of the day, downing Ohio State’s six seed Ethan Smith, 3-1, to advance.  Brands had a first-period takedown with four seconds remaining and added an escape in the third to advance to the quarters for the first time in his career.

“He scored a takedown in the first period and that’s a good thing,” said Brands. “He has a lot of scoring ability and that’s what we want to see.  We want to see more score ability as the tournament gets deeper and we have to get tougher.”

No. 4 seed Tony Cassioppi capped Iowa’s opening session with a 9-0 major decision over UNI’s 13th-seed Tyrell Gordon.  Cassioppi had a takedown in the closing seconds to secure his second straight major decision as he is outscoring his two NCAA opponents, 19-0.

Two Hawkeyes won on the back side of the bracket to stay alive.  No. 23 Brody Teske jumped out to an 8-2 first-period lead in an eventual 11-5 win over Missouri’s Connor Brown at 133 and No. 14 Cobe Siebrecht used a four-point near fall en route to a 10-2 major decision over Oklahoma’s Jared Hill at 157.

“It was good, we need that and that was a good characteristic to have,” said Brands.  “If you get something that is thrown at you that is a curveball, you have to stay in there and deal with it.  They did a good job and keep it going.”

The Hawkeyes dropped second round bouts at 165, 184 and 197.  No. 11 Cameron Amine (Michigan) used a third-period takedown to edge No. 6 Patrick Kennedy, 3-2, at 165; No. 5 Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) rode out No. 12 Abe Assad in a tiebreaker in a 2-1 decision at 184 and third-seeded Rocky Elam (Missouri) downed 14th-seeded Jacob Warner, 6-2, at 197.

All three wrestlers will be in action Friday morning on the consolation side of the bracket.

TULSA, Okla. – Iowa State pushed two through to the quarterfinals during Session II of the NCAA Championships Thursday evening inside the BOK Center. David Carr and Marcus Coleman each earned second-round victories to stay on the championship side of their respective brackets.

Iowa State sits tied for 13th place with 12.0 points after day one action. All eight Cyclones are still alive for day two with two wrestlers on the championship side and six in the wrestlebacks.

Carr was Iowa State’s first quarterfinalist. He controlled from start to finish as he picked up his third win of the season against Northern Iowa’s Austin Yant. Carr secured six takedowns in the 15-4 victory.

The win sets Carr up with a quarterfinal match up against 2021 165-pound NCAA Champion Shane Griffith of Stanford.

Coleman won a nail-biter over Iowa’s Abe Assad in the second round. The pair were deadlocked at 1-1 entering TB-1 but the Cyclone managed a 30-second ride out in the first half. Assad gave Coleman an escape, looking for the winning takedown, but Coleman managed to evade the Hawkeye for a 2-1 win.

Casey Swiderski lived to fight another day with a 7-3 win over Pennsylvania’s Carmen Ferrante in the consolation first round. Swiderski had three takedowns in the match, including two in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory.

Jason Kraisser also picked up a win in the wrestlebacks with a 7-2 victory over Appalachian State’s Tommy Askey. Kraisser was active early with a takedown in the first period before adding another in the third.

Zach Redding fell to the wrestlebacks after a 12-4 defeat to the No. 3 seed Vito Arujau of Cornell.

Paniro Johnson couldn’t overcome an early 6-0 deficit after Penn State’s Shayne Van Ness took him feet-to-back in the first period. Johnson battled back but couldn’t dig out of the hole as he fell, 14-8.

At 197 pounds, Yonger Bastida was much the aggressor but couldn’t finish several prime opportunities against No. 4 seed Ethan Laird of Rider. Bastida was in deep on a leg several times but was eventually countered by Laird and gave up a takedown with 22 seconds remaining, falling 3-1.

Sam Schuyler dropped a heartbreaker, 2-1, to Northwestern’s No. 9 Lucas Davison. Schuyler began the final period on bottom, trailing 1-0, when Davison returned Schuyler to the mat hard and the Cyclone was forced to take injury time. The mat return was reviewed for an illegal slam, but no call was made.

Out of the review, Davison was given his choice, chose bottom, and earned an escape. Schuyler received a late point for stalling but was unable to secure the winning takedown.

Up Next
Session III of the NCAA Championships is set for 11 a.m. on ESPNU. Quarterfinals, as well as the consolation second and third rounds, will be contested.

NCAA Women’s Basketbll Tournament
First Round Schedule
Friday, March 17, 2023

• Marquette vs. USF |10:30 a.m. |ESPN2
• West Virginia vs. Arizona | 11:00 a.m. | ESPN
• Georgia vs. Florida State | 12:30 p.m. | ESPN2
• Norfolk State vs. South Carolina| 1 p.m. | ESPN
• Holy Cross vs. Maryland | 1:30 p.m. | ESPNEWS
• UNLV vs. Michigan | 2 p.m. |ESPNU
• Southern Utah vs. Notre Dame | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN2
• Southeastern Louisiana vs. Iowa | 3 p.m. |ESPN- ON KJAN 2:45 p.m.
• Hawaii vs. LSU | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN2
• Chattanooga vs. Virginia Tech | 4:30 p.m. | ESPNU
• Mississippi State vs. Creighton | 5 p.m. | ESPNEWS
• Sacred Heart vs. Stanford | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN2
• Gardner-Webb vs. Utah | 6:30 p.m |ESPNU
• South Dakota State vs. USC | 7 p.m. | ESPNEWS
• Princeton vs. NC State | 9 p.m. | ESPN2
• Gonzaga vs. Ole Miss | 9 p.m. | ESPNU

NCAA Tournament First Round
Friday, March 17, 2023

• No. 10 USC vs. No. 7 Michigan State | 11:15 a.m. |CBS
• No. 14 Kennesaw St. vs. No. 3 Xavier | 11:40 a.m. | truTV
• No. 14 UC Santa Barbra vs. No. 3 Baylor | 12:30 p.m. | TNT
• No. 12 VCU vs. No. 5 Saint Mary’s | 1 p.m. | TBS
• No. 15 Vermont vs. No. 2 Marquette| 1:45 p.m. | CBS
• No. 11 Pitt vs. No. 6 Iowa State | 2:10 p.m. | truTV
• No. 11 NC State vs. No. 6 Creighton| 3 p.m. | TNT
• No. 13 Iona vs. No. 4 UConn | 3:30 p.m. | TBS
• No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. No. 1 Purdue| 5:50 p.m. | TNT
• No. 11 Providence vs. No. 6 Kentucky | 6:10 p.m. | CBS
• No. 12 Drake vs. No. 5 Miami | 6:25 p.m | TBS
• No. 14 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 Gonzaga| 6:35 p.m. | truTV
• No. 9 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 8 Memphis | 8:20 p.m.| TNT
• No. 14 Montana St. vs. No. 3 Kansas St. | 8:40 p.m. | CBS
• No. 13 Kent State vs. No. 4 Indiana | 8:55 p.m. | TBS
• No. 11 Arizona St vs. No. 6 TCU | 9:05 p.m. | truTV