The University of Iowa men’s wrestling team earned seven top-10 seeds for the NCAA Championships, according to a March 11 announcement from the governing body. Nine Hawkeye wrestlers will compete at the national tournament.
This development highlights Iowa’s continued strength in collegiate wrestling and its consistent presence at the NCAA Championships. The event is scheduled to take place March 19–21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Michael Caliendo received the No. 3 seed at 165 pounds after posting an 18-4 season record and a 12-4 mark against ranked opponents. Patrick Kennedy was seeded fifth at 174 pounds, also with an 18-4 record and an 11-4 tally against ranked foes. Drake Ayala is seeded sixth at 133 pounds, while Nasir Bailey and Angelo Ferrari are both seventh seeds at 141 and 184 pounds, respectively. Dean Peterson (125 pounds) and Ben Kueter (heavyweight) each secured eighth seeds.
Ryder Block will enter as the No. 15 seed at 149 pounds, and Gabe Arnold rounds out Iowa’s qualifiers as the No. 27 seed at 197 pounds.
The Hawkeyes have sent at least nine wrestlers to the NCAA Championships for fourteen consecutive seasons and eighteen times since Tom Brands became head coach in 2007.
First-round matchups include Dean Peterson facing Kael Lauridsen of Nebraska, Drake Ayala meeting Marcel Lopez of SIUE, Nasir Bailey taking on Braden Basile of Army, Ryder Block matched with Eugene Harney of Morgan State, Michael Caliendo competing against Thomas Snipes of Citadel, Patrick Kennedy wrestling Holden Garcia of Princeton, Angelo Ferrari facing Chase Kranitz of Pittsburgh, Gabe Arnold up against Justin Rademacher of Oregon State, and Ben Kueter meeting Alex Semenenko of Brown.
