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Subsequent losses to Minnesota, Ohio State and Oklahoma State.
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No Big Ten champions for the third year in a row.
Heading into the NCAA Championships, the season was a low point in the Tom Brands era. So much so that it sparked speculation about the direction of the show.
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The first two days at Rocket Arena restored some good vibes to the Hawkeye program.
The Hawkeyes landed seven NCAA All-Americans, the most since the 2020-21 season when the Hawkeyes won the team title. Excluding the canceled 2020 NCAAs, it is just the fourth time in Brands’ tenure (which began in 2006-07) that they have had seven or more All-Americans.
The icing on the cake? Extending NCAA finalist streak to 35 consecutive tournaments. Michael Caliendo advanced to the 165-pound final with an 8-5 upset victory over second-seeded Joey Blaze of Purdue. Caliendo lost earlier in the season to Blaze by decision, but bounced back after conceding the first takedown of the match on March 20.
“This time I just struggled with a little bit of resentment,” Caliendo said. “I was a little more prepared and I rose to the occasion.”
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There were more feel-good stories for the Hawkeyes. Gabe Arnold went from wrestling at 174 pounds in January to being an All-American at 197 pounds. He lost his first match by driving time during the playoffs against Oregon State’s Justin Rademacher, but won four straight in consolations to become an NCAA All-American for the first time. Ryder Block, who tore his ACL twice since graduating high school, also became an All-American in his first NCAA championship.
Struggling undersized and seeded No. 27, Arnold was not expected to have a performance like this. Block was a big question mark entering the year with limited time on the mat and even throughout the season with up-and-down results, but he’ll be sixth or better as a No. 15 seed.
In a year where Iowa consistently fell short, Arnold and Block exceeded expectations. As a result, Iowa was in fourth place entering the final day on Saturday and was in position to win a team trophy. The Hawkeyes and Ohio State will battle for the final trophy, separated by just 3.5 team points.
Not many had this on their bingo card for the Hawkeyes entering the tournament. Brands credited his team for hanging in there and respecting the wrestling cliché of “getting the best” when the results don’t go in your favor.
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“Changing things is not unusual,” Brands said. “To change things in this sport is what you are alive for.”
Not everything was rosy for Iowa, with Dean Peterson at 125 pounds and Nasir Bailey at 141 pounds falling in the blood round and one win away from All-American status. Iowa also lost two semifinal matches, with Angelo Ferrari losing in tiebreakers to Minnesota’s Max McEnelly and Patrick Kennedy losing by technical fall to Levi Haines. A lack of offense affected Ferrari in their match, while Kennedy failed to close the gap between himself and Haines after several previous losses.
And while Caliendo was the savior of Iowa’s NCAA finalist streak, he has a daunting task Saturday to overcome an 0-8 record against Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink. In two matches this year, Caliendo has lost a major decision each time.
Iowa’s chance of crowning a champion seems slim given the gap shown between Caliendo and Mesenbrink, but so did the Hawkeyes’ chance to rebound from a brutal skid that stretched from late November to the Big Ten Championship.
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“He’s a good fighter, but sometimes all it takes is one match,” Caliendo said. “If there’s ever a time I’m going to get it, this will be it. If I rise to the occasion in front of this big crowd, at the national finals, I’d be very happy if this was the one I got, even just once.”
Team scores after day 2
Iowa wrestling’s standing after Day 2 of the NCAA Championships
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125 – Dean Peterson: 2-2, eliminated
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133 – Drake Ayala: 4-1, fighting for third place
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141 – Nasir Bailey: 2-2, eliminated
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149 – Ryder Block: 5-1, fighting for third place
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165 – Michael Caliendo: 4-0, NCAA finalist
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174 – Patrick Kennedy: 3-1, fighting for third place
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184 – Angelo Ferrari: 3-1, fighting for third place
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197 – Gabe Arnold: 4-2, fighting for seventh
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285 – Ben Kueter: 4-1, fighting for third place
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Hawk Central: Iowa wrestling extends runner-up streak, will have seven All-Americans