Iowa Wins 2 Big Ten Titles, Finishes 2nd in Team Race

Iowa entered the final session of the 2023 Big Ten Tournament with three wrestlers competing for Big Ten championships, two competing for third place, two more competing for fifth place, and three having finished 7th in their respective weights. The Hawkeyes also retained a small chance of catching Penn State for the team championship, but needed a lot of results to go their way -- and also for Penn State to have pretty disastrous final session.

Iowa had a solid final session, going 2-1 in the championship matches, with Spencer Lee and Real Woods earning Big Ten championships. The Hawkeyes also went 4-0 combined in their 3rd and 5th place matches. But Penn State went 4-2 in the finals, which gave them enough of a cushion to hold off Iowa and claim their first Big Ten championship since 2019.

Iowa's final session started where it often does: with Spencer Lee. Lee, wrestling in his fourth Big Ten Tournament championship match, secured his third Big Ten championship with a solid 8-2 win over 2-seed Liam Cronin of Nebraska.

Lee's win was light on the fireworks that tend to mark his matches -- his points came via three takedowns (two in the first and one in the third), an escape, and a riding time point, but without any of the near fall points that usually define his matches. Cronin wrestled the match as if his main concern was to avoid his fate from the dual meet earlier this season (when he was pinned in a little over 30 seconds).

The win made Lee Iowa's 19th three-time Big Ten champion. The Big Ten championship was good, but the real prize awaits Lee in two weeks: a chance to win a fourth NCAA championship and secure a place among the wrestling immortals.

Lee was also named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Year and the Wrestler of the Big Ten Tournament for his efforts this season and this weekend.

Iowa's second match in the championship round came at 141 lbs, where Real Woods faced Nebraska's Brock Hardy. Woods and Hardy wrestled a tight match at the dual meet earlier this season (Woods won 6-4) and there wasn't much separation between the two in the rematch, either.

Woods got out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with a hard-fought takedown -- Woods got hold of Hardy's leg near the edge of the mat and dragged him back to the center of the mat before grabbing hold of both legs and finishing the takedown. Woods was able to rack up over two minutes of riding time by keeping Hardy down for the rest of the period, but he wasn't able to hit any of his trademark tilts for near fall points.

Or rather, he wasn't able to get the referees to count any of those tilts; he appeared to expose Hardy's back for a two count near the edge of the mat, but the referees determined no points should be awarded after video review. He clearly hit a tilt on Hardy at the end of the period, but the points were again taken away after video review when the referees ruled that there weren't two swipes before time expired in the period.

Woods took a 2-0 lead into the second period and chose down. Hardy put on a hard ride from the top position and kept Woods on the mat for the entire period; the ride erased Woods' riding time advantage and put him in danger of getting tilted himself on a few occasions. He also picked up a pair of stall warnings, which made the score 2-1 heading into the third period.

In the third period, Woods showed off his elite defensive skills, fending off a few strong attacks from Hardy, including a deep shot near the edge of the mat. Woods wasn't able to score any more points himself and the match ended with both men locked in a scramble and unable to score points. The 2-1 victory earned Woods his first Big Ten championship and made him a three-time conference champion overall (joining his two Pac-12 championships).

Iowa's third and final wrestler in the championship round was Patrick Kennedy at 165 lbs, who took on top-seeded Dean Hamiti of Wisconsin. Hamiti prevailed 9-6 in one of the more entertaining -- and action-packed -- matches of the final round. Hamiti was dangerous from his feet, using a variety of attacks to put Kennedy in danger. Hamiti scored on a slick attack, but Kennedy was able to get an escape to go into the second period down 2-1.

Hamiti got a quick escape to start the second period, then added another takedown to go up 5-1. Kennedy again got an escape and got a takedown of his own off a sudden attack to cut the deficit to 5-4. Hamiti was able to get an escape in the final seconds to take a 6-4 lead into the third period.

Kennedy went down to start the third period and struggled under a tough ride by Hamiti. Kennedy eventually got an escape to cut Hamiti's lead to 6-5 (7-5 with the riding time advnatage Hamiti had accrued), but his weary attack late in the match was countered into an easy takedown by Hamiti to finish the scoring. A final riding time point made the score 9-6 in favor of Hamiti.

Iowa fared pretty well in the consolation rounds as well. Max Murin and Tony Cassioppi won their consolation semifinal matches earlier in the day to advance to the third-place matches. Murin won via injury default when his opponent, Northwestern's Yahya Thomas, appeared to hit head hard on the floor on the edge of the mat.

Thomas was forced to enter concussion protocol and was not able to resume wrestling. Bizarrely, this was the second opponent (after Michigan State's Peyton Omania) that appeared to suffer a concussion while wrestling Murin at this year's Big Ten Tournament. Murin then beat Penn State's Shayne Van Ness for a third time this season in the third-place match, 3-2.

Cassioppi's toughest test in the consolation rounds came in the consolation semifinal, against 4-seed Lucas Davison of Northwestern. The match was tied just 2-2 after regulation, but Cassioppi prevailed in sudden victory with a takedown off a strong leg attack. In the third-place match, Cassioppi rolled past 7-seed Tate Orndorff of Ohio State with an 11-2 major decision, scoring several takedowns and earning a mountain of riding time (and stall points).

Nelson Brands and Jacob Warner earned fifth-place finishes at 174 and 197, respectively. Brands won 5-1 over Illinois' Edmond Ruth, thanks to a second period takedown, a third period escape, and a riding time point, and a stall point against Ruth. Warner finished 5th at 197 when Michigan State's Cameron Caffey medically forfeited the fifth-place match.

Brody Teske, Cobe Siebrecht, and Abe Assad all earned seventh-place finishes at their respective weights.

All 10 Iowa wrestlers earned automatic qualifying spots for the NCAA Tournament as a result of their performances in the Big Ten Tournament, so Iowa will take a full contingent to Tulsa in two weeks.

Iowa wrestlers finished at their seeded finish or better in eight of 10 weights at the Big Ten Tournament. Spencer Lee (1), Real Woods (1), Jacob Warner (5), and Tony Cassioppi (3) all placed at the exact position predicted by their seeds. Brody Teske (8), Max Murin (4), Patrick Kennedy (3), and Nelson Brands (7) all finished slightly better than the positions projected by their seeds. Only Cobe Siebrecht (5) and Abe Assad (5) finished below the positions projected by their seeds.

From that standpoint, Iowa's performance at the Big Ten Tournament either met or exceeded expectations. Obviously, the goal that Tom Brands and the Iowa team set -- a Big Ten championship -- was not met and no doubt many of the wrestlers on the Iowa team will feel that there were things they can improve on from this weekend. Even Lee and Woods, Iowa's Big Ten champions, spent their post-finals interviews talking about their dissatisfaction with their efforts and what they can do better in a few weeks.

Iowa will finish the season at the 2023 NCAA Tournament in Tulsa, OK on March 16-18. Full seeds and brackets for the NCAA Tournament will be released on Wednesday, March 8.

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