***Big Ten Tournament Session II***

[Chuck C]

Four Hawkeyes Advance to Finals at B1G Championships

PISCATAWAY, New Jersey – The top-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team advanced four Hawkeyes to the finals and sits in first place at the 2020 Big Ten Championships following Saturday night semifinal action at the Rutgers Athletic Center.

Spencer Lee (125), Pat Lugo (149), Alex Marinelli (165), and Michael Kemerer (174) will compete for Big Ten titles Sunday beginning at 2:30 p.m. (CT).

Lee won by 19-3 technical fall and outscored his two opponents Saturday, 35-3. He has outscored his opponents 218-16 this season. Lee, the top seed at 125 pounds, wrestles Purdue’s No. 2 Devin Schroder. He defeated Schroder 17-0 in their previous meeting.

Lugo advanced to his first Big Ten finals with a 4-1 win at 149. The No. 2 seed faces top-seed Sammy Sasso of Ohio State in the finals. Sasso handed Lugo his only loss of the season, a 2-1 overtime decision.


Marinelli is back in the finals for the second straight year as the No. 2 seed. He won by fall in the semis and will face No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State in the 165-pound finals. Marinelli defeated Joseph, 9-3, in the 2019 Big Ten finals. Joseph defeated Marinelli, 7-5, in their only meeting this year.

Kemerer returns to the finals for the first time since 2017. The top-seed at 174 won by 21-9 major decision in the semis to earn a meeting with No. 2 Mark Hall of Penn State. Kemerer won their only previous meeting, 11-6.

Five more Hawkeyes are alive on the backside of the bracket. Austin DeSanto (133), Abe Assad (184), and Tony Cassioppi (285) dropped semifinal matches and will compete in the consolation semifinals Sunday morning beginning at 11 a.m. (CT). Max Murin (141) and Jacob Warner (197) both won a pair of matches Saturday afternoon to advance through the consolation round.

All nine of Iowa’s nine wrestlers still competing in the tournament have earned automatic berths to the 2020 NCAA Championships in Minneapolis on March 19-21. Junior Kaleb Young was eliminated from the tournament and is eligible for an at-large berth the national tournament at 157 pounds.

The Hawkeyes are in first place after Session II with 121.5 points. Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, and Purdue round out the top five.

QUOTING COACH TOM BRANDS

"Day 2 coming up and I know that Day 2 is really important. We have guys back at the hotel that are relaxing, they are eating. Some guys are maybe working on their weight control a little bit. We've got a heavyweight cooling down that is going to be on the backside of the bracket. That's what's on my mind.

“The other thing is bonus points. Kemerer ended up getting bonus points after he ran into a little adversity. Spencer Lee bonus points. Murin had a major decision, Warner had a fall. So those bonus points continued from this earlier session."

NOTABLES

• Spencer Lee outscored his opponents 35-3 today, and has outscored his opponents 218-16 this season.
• Pat Lugo is making his first career appearance in the Big Ten finals.
• Alex Marinelli is one win shy of his second straight Big Ten title, becoming the first Hawkeye to go back-to-back since Sammy Brooks in 2016-17.
• Kemerer is back in the conference finals for the second time (2017).

UP NEXT

Session III begins Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT) and will be streamed on BTN Plus. The finals, third-place, and fifth-place matches begin at 2:30 p.m. The finals are televised live on BTN.

SEMIFINAL RESULTS

125 - #1 Spencer Lee (IA) tech. fall #5 Jack Medley (MICH), 19-3
133 - #2 Roman Bravo-Young (PSU) dec. #3 Austin DeSanto (IA), 3-2
149 - #2 Pat Lugo (IA) dec. #3 Brayton Lee (MINN), 4-1
165 - #2 Alex Marinelli (IA) pinned #6 Shane Oster (NU), 2:41
174 - #1 Michael Kemerer (IA) major dec. #4 Devin Skatzka (MINN), 21-9
184 - #2 Cam Caffey (MSU) dec. #3 Abe Assad (IA), 5-3
285 - #2 Gable Steveson (MINN) dec. #3 Tony Cassioppi (IA), 9-4

CONSOLATION RESULTS

141 - #3 Max Murin (IA) major dec. #12 Matt Santos (MSU), 16-5
141 - #3 Max Murin (IA) dec. #7 Dylan Duncan (ILL), 9-6
157 - #8 Eric Barone (ILL) dec. #2 Kaleb Young (IA), 3-1
197 - #3 Jacob Warner (IA) pinned #12 Nick May (MSU), 2:10
197 - #3 Jacob Warner (IA) dec. #10 Hunter Ritter (MINN), 6-1

FINALS MATCHUPS

125 - #1 Spencer Lee (IA) vs. #2 Devin Schroder (PU)
149 - #2 Pat Lugo (IA) vs. #1 Sammy Sasso (OSU)
165 - #2 Alex Marinelli (IA) vs. #1 Vincenzo Joseph (PSU)
174 - #1 Michael Kemerer (IA) vs. #2 Mark Hall (PSU)

CONSOLATION MATCHUPS

133 - #3 Austin DeSanto (IA) vs. #4 Travis Piatrowski (ILL)
141 - #3 Max Murin (IA) vs. #4 Chad Red (NEB)
184 - #3 Abe Assad (IA) vs. #11 Max Lyon (PU)
197 - #3 Jacob Warner (IA) vs. #5 Lucas Davisson (NU)
285 - #3 Tony Cassioppi (IA) vs. #5 David Jensen (NEB)

TEAM STANDINGS

1. IOWA 121.5
2. Nebraska 102.5
3. Ohio State 94
4. Penn State 93.5
5. Purdue 77.5
6. Michigan 64.5
7. Northwestern 63.0
8. Minnesota 55
9. Michigan State 52
10. Wisconsin 48
11. Illinois 45.5
12. Rutgers 24.5
13. Indiana 11.5
14. Maryland 0.0

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Does the session tomorrow start at 11am Central or Eastern. Above says Central but I have also seen 11 eastern.

 

[js8793]

Kaleb Young doesn't look "injured" to me. He's been offensively challenged from Day One and it's biting him in the ass more this year than previously.

He's still a tough SOB as far as I'm concerned, he just needs more "game".

Maybe, but to me the biggest tell something is up is his finishing. He was one of the best finishers on the team last year. He wrestled the same close matches last year, but he always finished in the big exchange of the match. This year, he's not finishing. You don't all of a sudden get bad at finishing leg attacks. He doesn't look nearly as strong this year.

 

[24 so far]

Maybe, but to me the biggest tell something is up is his finishing. He was one of the best finishers on the team last year. He wrestled the same close matches last year, but he always finished in the big exchange of the match. This year, he's not finishing. You don't all of a sudden get bad at finishing leg attacks. He doesn't look nearly as strong this year.

Matt McD Senior year injury was obvious, but he had proven offensive dominance previously. Kaleb Young doesn't belong in that particular conversation.

If he's injured he's injured, but I don't see it and that's all I have to go by as a fan in the cheap seats. Maybe he is, no idea.

 

[Jackhawk87]

Not sure what is up with Kaleb, but he is not setting up his shots well. The only time he shoots, it is a straight on shot from a long ways away. It is pretty easy to them to counter and really hard for Kaleb to finish.

 

[CurtisLoew40]

Is Stevenson just lazy? He can blast through Tony at will and just dances around after his one shot a period.

Yes

 

[HoundedHawk]

LOL at Angel Rivera giving two stall calls in less than five seconds in the Hall match, and Hall then wins by 1 point, and yet RBY was allowed to do nothing.

 

[TailgateTom]

LOL at Angel Rivera giving two stall calls in less than five seconds in the Hall match, and Hall then wins by 1 point, and yet RBY was allowed to do nothing.

Rivera should only be allowed to do Maryland’s matches.

 

[24 so far]

LOL at Angel Rivera giving two stall calls in less than five seconds in the Hall match, and Hall then wins by 1 point, and yet RBY was allowed to do nothing.

Shocking......this shit has been going on for years. It's plain as day, and Hall has gotten more help than anybody, and doesn't need it..............most of the time. But when he does, lookout! You're gonna get nailed if the stripes can help him. Bet the farm on it.

Kem didn't give'em the chance to screw him over.

 

[CurtisLoew40]

Why you watchin kids lose weight creep?

Lol it was in my younger days when I had to do it myself. It was kinda like a little competition who could lose the most during twoadays then how much could you put back on after lunch.

 

[oldhawk56]

Thank you! I was just giving a cliff notes version of this thread. I'm not sure why that upset everyone.

You came here to be a dick. Congratulations. Feel better?

 

[Mpchillin]

Sounds like a lot of fun was had by all here today. Well done.

 

[just_somebody]

I'd volunteer to be a mod, and i promise to only use my power to remove posts like #652 on this page. Im sure its a misunderstood post (somehow) but nothing to be gained by it existing

 

[roosterwrestle]

J'den Cox is at Iowa?

Not yet, but he left Mizzou too. Why is that??

 

[Aleric1]

I believe the reason Meredith was still wrestling even though he didn't get an allocation is because being one place out of auto qualification is part of the selection criteria. Since there was eight qualifiers, they wrestled to place nine.

 

[Hawkeye4Life78]

I believe the reason Meredith was still wrestling even though he didn't get an allocation is because being one place out of auto qualification is part of the selection criteria. Since there was eight qualifiers, they wrestled to place nine.

Yep, but he doesn’t count anymore got points.