NCAA Wrestling Championships 2021: Results, Updated Team Standings After Friday
March 19, 2021
After finishing Thursday with the lead at the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Iowa has maintained its hold on first place following the conclusion of the semifinal round on Friday.
The Hawkeyes have 109 total points as a team with three wrestlers still vying for individual titles in the 10 weight classes. Penn State, which is chasing its fifth straight national title, is in second place with 94.5 points. The Nittany Lions have four wrestlers in competition for singles titles.
Oklahoma State, which trails Penn State by eight points for second, has two wrestlers remaining.
Iowa ultimately has the inside track to leave St. Louis with its 24th national championship and first since 2010.
Here are the updated standings after Friday's matches from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
Team Standings
1. Iowa (109)
2. Penn State (94.5)
3. Oklahoma State (86.5)
4. Arizona State (67)
5. Michigan (58.5)
T6. North Carolina State (56.5)
T6. Missouri (56.5)
8. Minnesota (55.5)
9. Ohio State (45.5)
10. Pittsburgh (40.5)
Full standings available at trackwrestling.com.
Day 2 Recap
Iowa began the day with six wrestlers in the quarterfinals, including No. 1 seeds Spencer Lee (125 pounds), Jaydin Eierman (141 pounds), Alex Marinelli (165 pounds) and Michael Kemerer (174 pounds).
Lee set the tone for the Hawkeyes with a majority decision 10-2 win over Purdue's Devin Schroder to reach the semifinals. He then defeated Drew Hildebrandt of Central Michigan 11-0 to earn a finals berth. The undefeated 125-pounder is looking for his third straight national title.
Eierman advanced to the semis with a second-period pinfall win over Central Michigan's Dresden Simon. He then took down North Carolina State's Tariq Wilson with a third-period pinfall.
One of the biggest upsets did involve a No. 1 seed from Iowa. Marinelli was taken down by No. 8 seed Shane Griffith 3-1 in overtime.
Marinelli, who entered the NCAA tournament fresh off winning his third straight individual Big Ten title, will end his college career without winning a 165-pound national title. He's also the only top seed in any weight class who didn't advance to the semifinals.
Austin DeSanto (133 pounds) and Tony Cassioppi (285 pounds) each lost their semifinal matches. They fell to their respective weight classes' top seeds in Oklahoma State's Daton Fix and Minnesota's Gable Steveson, respectively.
Even though Cinderella tends to be associated with the NCAA basketball tournaments, Oklahoma's Jake Woodley put together a miracle run at the wrestling championships. The redshirt junior was ranked No. 26 in the 197-pound division and has beaten three top-15 seeds to reach the semifinals:
Woodley needed to get past Pittsburgh's Nino Bonaccorsi (16-1 overall) if he wanted to make history as the lowest seed ever to reach the final. However, Bonaccorsi won a 4-1 decision to earn a berth in the finals against Oklahoma State's AJ Ferrari.
Steveson is one win away from capping off a perfect season. The 20-year-old knocked off Penn State's Greg Kerkvliet with a 9-4 decision in the quarterfinals before his 16-6 majority decision over Cassioppi.
The Golden Gophers haven't had an individual with the 285-pound title since Tony Nelson did it in 2012 and 2013.
Fix (133 pounds), Ohio State's Sammy Sasso (149 pounds) and Penn State's Aaron Brooks (184 pounds) are the other No. 1 seeds who will be competing Friday night for a chance to reach Saturday's final round.
A few No. 1 seeds lost in the semifinals in Northwestern's Ryan Deakin (157 pounds) and Michigan's Myles Amine (197 pounds). Deakin lost to Rider's Jesse Dellavecchia, who became the school's first-ever participant in a national championship final. He'll take on No. 3 David Carr of Iowa State.
Amine lost 5-1 to Ferrari.