Iowa and Penn State flex their muscles heading into Quarterfinals
By: Win Magazine
Tags: Featured

Photo: The COVID-19 pandemic limited the number of fans who could attend Round 2 during the 2021 NCAA Division I Championships in St. Louis’ Enterprise Center.

By Mike Finn

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Iowa and Penn State, the top two rated teams before the 2021 NCAA Division I Championships began today at the Enterprise Center, flexed their muscles as the two Big Ten powers will combine to set 15 wrestlers to Friday morning’s quarterfinals.

Brackets after Round 2

Similar to today’s two sessions that were broken up into two sections — which allowed officials to limit the number of wrestlers on the floor and allowed them to clean the mats — Friday’s quarterfinals will take place at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Friday’s semifinals will take place at 7 p.m.

The Hawkeyes won 18 of 20 matches over Thursday’s first and second rounds and will feature eight quarterfinalists as Iowa scored bonus points in 11 of those victories. That includes a pair of technical falls by Spencer Lee (125), a pin and technical fall by Austin DeSanto (133), a pair of major decisions by Alex Marinelli (165) and two technical falls by Michael Kemerer (174)

Penn State, meanwhile, won 15 of 18 bouts on the day and scored bonus points in 11 matches as Roman Bravo-Young (133), Nick Lee (141) and Greg Kerkvliet (Hwt) each produced one technical fall and one major decision.

But perhaps the Nittany Lions’ biggest win came at 157 pounds where PSU’s №12 seed Brady Berge upset Iowa’s №5 Kaleb Young, 3–2.

Most of the top eight seeds held at each of the ten weight classes, even though Ohio State’s #1 Sammy Sasso had to rally to beat Fresno State’s Kyle Parco at 149 pounds. Meanwhile nine wrestlers, seeded No 10 or higher, also qualified for the quarterfinals

2021 NCAA Quarterfinalists

125 pounds

#1 Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. #8 Devin Schroder (Purdue)

#5 Brody Teske (Northern Iowa) vs. #4 Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan)

#3 Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) vs. #6 Jakob Camacho (NC State)

#7 Taylor Lamont (Utah Valley) vs. #2 Sam Latona (Virginia)

133 pounds

#1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs. #8 Chris Cannon (Northwestern)

#5 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) vs. #4 Austin DeSanto (Iowa)

#4 Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) vs. #6 Matt Schmitt (Missouri)

#10 Louie Hayes (Virginia) vs. #2 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State)

141 pounds

#1 Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) vsa. #9 Dresden Simon (Central Michigan)

#21 Real Woods (Stanford) vs. #4 Tariq Wilson (NC State)

#3 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) vs. #6 Allan Hart (Missouri)

#10 Zach Sherman (North Carolina) vs., #2 Nick Lee (Penn State)

149 pounds

#1 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) vs. #25 Yahya Thomas (Northwestern)

#12 Max Murin (Iowa) vs. #4 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State)

#3 Brock Mauller (Missouri) vs. #6 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech)

#7 John Millner vs.m #2 Austin O’Connor (North Carolina)

157 pounds

#1 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) vs. #8 Jared Franek (North Dakota State)

#12 Brady Berge (Penn State) vs. #4 Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider)

#3 David Carr (Iowa State) vs. #6 Brayton Lee (Minnesota)

#23 Jacob Wright (Wyoming) vs. #2 Hayden Hidlay (NC State)

165 pounds

#1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) vs. #8 Shane Griffith (Stanford)

#5 Zach Hartman (Bucknell) vs. #4 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)

#3 Jake Wentzel (Pitt) vs. #6 Keegan O’Toole (Missouri)

#7 Ethan Smith (Ohio State) vs. #2 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State)

174 pounds

#1 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) vs. #8 Daniel Bullard (NC State)

#12 Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) vs. #4 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska)

#3 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs. #6 Andrew McNally (Kent State)

#7 Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) vs. #2 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley)

184 pounds

#1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) vs. #8 Taylor Venz (Nebraska)

#5 Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) vs. #4 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)

#3 Lou DePrez (Binghamton) vs. #6 John Poznanski (Rutgers)

#7 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois vs. #2 Trent Hidlay (NC State)

197 pounds

#1 Myles Amine (Michigan) vs. #8 Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming)

#5 Jacob Warner (Iowa) vs. #4 A.J. Ferrari (Oklahoma State)

#3 Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) vs. #6 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt)

#26 Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) vs. #15 Michael Beard (Penn State)

Heavyweight

#1 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) vs. #9 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)

#5 Anthony Cassioppi (Iowa) vs. #4 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State)

#14 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) vs. #6 Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State)

#7 Ethan Laird (Rider) vs. #2 Mason Parris (Michigan)

Breakdown of Top 10 Teams

Pl. School Points Q-finalists W-L Pins TF MD 1. Iowa 33.5 8 18–2 1 5 5 2. Penn State 28 7 15–1 0 4 7 3. Missouri 23.5 4 14–6 2 1 5 4. NC State 21 5 13–5 0 4 2 5. Oklahoma State 20 3 13–6 2 1 3 6. Arizona State 19 4 12–4 0 0 6 (1 DQ) 7. Minnesota 16.5 2 9–9 3 1 1 8. Michigan 16 2 10–6 2 1 1 9. Nebraska 14.5 2 10–8 2 1 0 (1 med forf) 9. Virginia Tech 14.5 4 11–5 1 0 2