IOWA CITY – The seventh-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team fell to top-ranked Penn State, 28-13, on Saturday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.
With its 28-13 win over Iowa on Saturday, Penn State clinched the outright Big Ten Wrestling Dual Meet Championship.
The Hawkeyes won three matches, getting bonus points from Pennsylvania natives Spencer Lee and Michael Kemerer and upsetting a defending NCAA champion at 165, but the Nittany Lions won seven bouts and clinched the Big Ten regular season title.
The Hawkeyes opened the dual with a first-period fall from freshman Spencer Lee. Penn State won the next three decisions before consecutive wins from Kemerer and Alex Marinelli put the Hawkeyes in front 13-9. The Nittany Lions closed the dual with four consecutive wins, including two by fall and one by major decision.
“It unraveled in a hurry,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “We have to do a better job in those situations that are mismatches on paper that our guys don’t believe that. We can tell them that all day long and they can tell themselves that all day long, but if they don’t have a presence when they walk out there we are in trouble. We have to have a presence and battle in there. You need to go out there and represent yourself the way you need to represent yourself. It doesn’t matter what it says on paper. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.”
Marinelli handed top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph his first loss of the season. Trailing, 5-3, Marinelli took Joseph from his feet to back for a six-point move in the third period. Joseph escaped in the final minute, but was unable to close the gap.
Murrysville, Pennsylvania, natives Spencer Lee and Michael Kemerer both won in their return to their home state.
Lee spent all of two minutes, five seconds on the mat in his homecoming. He finished a shot 23 seconds into the match and flipped Devin Schnupp to his back for the first period fall in 2:05.
Kemerer scored three takedowns in the first, two in the second, and one in the third on his way to a 14-4 major decision at 157. He added 3:22 of riding time to extend his winning streak to 23 matches.
Iowa returns to the mat Sunday, Feb. 18, at Iowa State. The Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series matchup begins at 2 p.m. (CT) at Hilton Coliseum.
The 2018 Big Ten Wrestling Championships will be held from March 3-4 at Michigan State University.
· Attendance was 15,998, the third-highest attended dual in NCAA history.
· Sorensen’s 20-match win streak was snapped. He finished his career with a 33-2 career record in Big Ten duals.
· Kemerer extended his winning streak to a career-best 23 matches.
· Marinelli improved to 13-0.
#7 IOWA 13, #1 PENN STATE 28
125 — #3 Spencer Lee (IA) pinned Devin Schnupp (PSU), 2:05; 6-0
133 — Corey Keener (PSU) dec. Paul Glynn (IA), 5-2; 6-3
141 — #8 Nick Lee (PSU) dec. Vince Turk (IA), 11-8; 6-6
149 — #1 Zain Retherford (PSU) dec. #2 Brandon Sorensen (IA), 6-2; 6-9
157 — #2 Michael Kemerer (IA) major dec. Bo Phipher (PSU), 14-4; 10-9
165 — #7 Alex Marinelli (IA) dec. #1 Vincenzo Joseph (PSU), 9-6; 13-9
174 — #2 Mark Hall (PSU) pinned Joey Gunther (IA), 1:00; 13-15
184 — #1 Bo Nickal (PSU) pinned #20 Mitch Bowman (IA), 0:50; 13-21
197 – Shakur Rasheed (PSU) major dec. #7 Cash Wilcke (IA), 11-2; 13-25
285 — #6 Nick Nevills (PSU) dec. #3 Sam Stoll (IA), 3-2; 13-28
Bryce Jordan Center
Records: #7 Iowa (11-3, 6-3) | #1 Penn State (13-0, 9-0)
