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ST. LOUIS – University of Iowa senior Spencer Lee won the 125-pound NCAA Championship Saturday night, becoming the seventh three-time national champion in program history and putting an exclamation point on the Hawkeyes’ 2021 NCAA team title.
Lee defeated Arizona State’s Brandon Courtney, 7-0. He scored four points in the second period from an escape, caution point and takedown, and added another takedown in the third to go along with one minute, 44 seconds of riding time. He was 5-0 in the tournament, outscoring his opponents, 59-8. His seven-point margin of victory was the largest of any of the 10 championships matches.
“I go out there and wrestle my hardest and I score points for seven minutes or more if needed,” Lee said. “I won three (titles), awesome. Good for me. We won the team title, awesome. That’s what we came here to do. This is what I wanted and this is what I’ve been training for my whole life. Now we worry about what’s next. That’s all that matters.”
Lee was one of three Hawkeyes in the finals and one of seven to finish the tournament with All-America honors. Seniors Jaydin Eierman and Michael Kemerer both dropped overtime decisions in their respective matches. Iowa locked up the team title Saturday afternoon in the medal round.
“We were one for three in the finals. There is a lot of processing going on here,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands. “I think it’s time to enjoy. That’s hard for me to say but as a leader of the program I have to steer it that way because our fan base has craved this. This isn’t automatic. This was earned.”
Iowa finished the team race with 129 points, 15.5 clear of second-place Penn State. The team title is the 24th in program history and the first since 2010.
“It’s been 11 years since a real important trophy has been in Iowa City, and this team, the 35 guys back in that wrestling room and these 10 guys here, and this coaching staff and administration, brought a trophy back that is important to our fan base. That has got to be said. Is there relief, not really, but there is joy,” Brands said.
Iowa’s chase for the national title was expected to come to an end 52 weeks ago, but the COVID-19 pandemic ended a season that saw the Hawkeyes entering the national tournament as the undisputed favorite. When cleared to return to competition in January of 2021, Iowa picked up right where it left off and continued its run as the top team in the country. In doing so, it honored that 2020 team that never had a chance to prove the same.
“You do your job as an individual and team titles will come,” said Lee, “and I just want to say something quick. I didn’t just do this for me. I did it for the seniors that lost out last year. I wanted them to win with us. They didn’t get that opportunity, so I don’t even care about this trophy right now. I want to give it to my one brother who wasn’t able to compete last year. We do our job as individuals and our team title will come.”
One through 10, the Hawkeyes did their job. Each of Iowa’s 10 qualifiers contributed to the winning point total. Collectively Iowa was 38-14 in the NCAA tournament, scoring bonus points in 21 matches. The tournament was decided Saturday morning when the Hawkeyes went 6-1 on the back side of the bracket.
“You can’t win a team title with just one guy,” Lee said. “Even if I pinned every single opponent the most I can score is 30 points, and I’m pretty sure the second and third place teams were above 100. You can’t win it with one guy. You have to win it with a team. That’s all that matters. It takes a team effort.”
Iowa finished the season with its 24th national championship, 37th Big Ten championship and a Big Ten regular season title. Four Hawkeyes won Big Ten titles and seven earned All-America honors at the national tournament.
NCAA FINALS RESULTS
TEAM STANDINGS
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Matt Struck was 19-of-25 passing for 174 yards and the game’s only touchdown to help Missouri State beat Northern Iowa 13-6. Struck threw a 3-yard TD pass to Carson Buddemeyer to open the scoring with four minutes left in the first quarter and Missouri State (3-4, 3-1 Missouri Valley Conference) led the rest of the way.
Northern Iowa (2-3, 2-3), which went into the game ranked No. 10 in the STATS FCS poll, had won its last to matchups with the Bears by a combined score of 59-0. Redshirt freshman Justin Fomby was 18-of-29 passing for 215 yards with an interception for Northern Iowa. He started in place of Will McElvain, who missed to game due to issues surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Iowa got 24 points from Luka Garza to move into the second round of the NCAA Tournament with an 86-74 victory over Grand Canyon. The second-seeded Hawkeyes avoided the early upset that sent high seeds Ohio State, Purdue and Tennessee home on a wild opening first day of the tournament.
Iowa’s Luka Garza (55) bobbles a pass as Grand Canyon’s Chance McMillian (2) and Gabe McGlothan defend during the first half of a first round NCAA college basketball tournament game Saturday, March 20, 2021, at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Iowa shot 54% from the field and went 10 of 22 from behind the arc. Joe Wieskamp added 16 points to help lead the Hawkeyes into the next round They will play Oregon, which advanced after Virginia Commonwealth bowed out of the bracket due to a positive COVID-19 test.
VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — Caden Meis ran 15 times for 98 yards and a touchdown, Declan Carr made two interceptions and Drake beat Valparaiso 17-6. Cross Robinson added 57 yards rushing and a touchdown on 15 carries for the Bulldogs, who outrushed Valparaiso 164-81.
Meis carried it on all three plays of a 63-yard drive capped by his 42-yard TD run in the first quarter that made it 7-3 for Drake. Ollie Reese caught six passes for 86 yards for Valpo.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Evan Mobley had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 6 seed Southern California to a 72-56 victory over Drake in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Mobley made 7 of 15 field goals and blocked three shots. Isaiah Mobley scored 15 points and Drew Peterson added 14 for USC.
USC forward Evan Mobley (4) drives against Drake during the first half of a men’s college basketball game in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Saturday, March 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
The Trojans will play No. 3 seed Kansas in the second round. Joseph Yesufu scored 26 points for Drake. None of his teammates scored more than six. Drake shot 29%, including a dismal 19% in the second half.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Iowa clinched its first national team title since 2010 following the medal round of the NCAA wrestling championships. The Hawkeyes had 125 points entering the evening finals. Penn State had won four straight titles and eight of the last nine and is second with 97.5 points. Oklahoma State is third with 95.5. The Hawkeyes secured their 24th national team title.
Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix, right, takes on Iowa’s Austin DeSanto during their 133-pound match in the semifinal round of the NCAA wrestling championships Friday, March 19, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
They have three wrestlers in the finals. Penn State has four finalists and Oklahoma State has two.
The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Ric Hanson.
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Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Iowa leads the team race heading into the final day of the NCAA wrestling championships but Penn State showed it’s not going to easily loosen the grip it’s had on the title for nearly a decade. Spencer Lee and two of his Iowa teammates won semifinals and the Hawkeyes go into Saturday with 109 points. The Nittany Lions had all four of their semifinalists advance and had 94.5 points. The Hawkeyes are looking for their 24th team title and first since 2010. Penn State is looking for its ninth in 10 years and fifth in a row.
UNDATED (AP) — Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard says new basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger has agreed to a five-year contract that will be loaded with incentive bonuses. Terms of the contract are still being worked out. Pollard said it will be structured creatively to account for the athletic department’s financial problems stemming from the pandemic. Otzelberger was earning $1.2 million in the second year of his five-year contract at UNLV. Otzelberger says his Cyclone teams will play with high intensity on both ends of the court.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — With the first round of college basketball’s March Madness underway, Kansas legislators are moving closer toward legalizing sports betting. But action Friday by a state House committee showed that lawmakers disagree about where sports fans should be able to place live wagers. The House committee approved a bill that would allow live sports wagering at four state-owned casinos, racetracks and as many as 1,200 retail stores that current sell Kansas Lottery tickets. The Senate approved a proposal earlier this month to limit live wagering to four state-owned casinos. Both bills would allow online and mobile-app betting but with different players operating them.
(Radio Iowa) – The N-C-A-A basketball tournament is underway for the first time since sports gambling was legalized in Iowa. Racing and Gaming Administrator, Brian Ohorilko, says there’s a lot of excitement after last year’s tourney was canceled by COVID. But he says you have to be 21 to do any betting on the games. “The sports operators have a very robust age and identity verification process prior to letting people sign up for accounts,” he says. Ohorilko says you may’ve gone through this type of verification with your bank or credit union.
“Many of the controls that are used in the sports wagering industry are very similar to the financial controls that are used in the banking industry when people are trying to determine the identity of someone accessing their financial accounts. It’s a very similar process,” according to Ohorilko. He says some companies have additional proprietary controls of their own they use to verify identities. And there are some tried and true methods.
He says if they can’t verify the identity of the person signing up then they may request additional information, such as the photocopy of and I-D. Adults sometimes try to sneak underage people into casinos, and Ohorilko says that is a possibility with online gambling as well. “We always have the risk of a willing adult signing up or passing along their account information to a minor. But short of that, it really is very difficult for underage customers to obtain an account,” Ohorilko says.
Sports gambling companies face fines from the Racing and Gaming Commission if they are found to have allowed someone under the legal age to gamble. They are also required to cross-check gambling requests with the state self-ban list to keep people on that list from signing up.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Spencer Lee and four of his Iowa teammates reached the semifinals of the NCAA wrestling championships and the Hawkeyes continued their push to win their first team title since 2010. Lee is going for a third straight NCAA title. He faced his toughest test of the season in the quarterfinals.
Iowa’s Spencer Lee, right, takes on Purdue’s Devin Schroder during their 125-pound match in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA wrestling championships Friday, March 19, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
He led ninth-seeded Devin Schroder of Purdue 3-2 after the second period before scoring seven points in the third to post a 10-2 major decision for his 33rd straight win. Iowa had 73.5 points entering the semifinals. Defending champion Penn State had 57.5 points and Oklahoma State had 52.
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