Spencer Lee - 125
Spencer Lee got a tech fall and a major decision, and there are good and bad with it. The good is that his gas tank looks good. He was able to wrestle hard for seven minutes in that second match and eventually overwhelmed his opponent. The bad is that this is not the same Lee that tore through the tournament. He is working his ass off to get everything, and he also got in deep on some shots that he was unable to finish against NC State's Sean Fausz. I think the length of Fausz may be to blame for that, but for how great he did at getting to the legs, he needs to finish those shots today. Sean Russell of Minnesota should not be an issue as he has yet to score a point on Lee in two matches this year, but tonight it's going to matter. Pat Glory could give Nick Piccinnini trouble, but either guy can be a challenge to Lee. I still like Lee to go 2-0 today and make it to the finals, but I do not see an easy win tonight.
Austin DeSanto - 133
Good God, DeSanto had a hell of a day yesterday. And as amazing as it was, I do not see a way to even put him in the top three of best days for the Hawkeyes yesterday. He got his first round opponent disqualified for stalling in 2:20. That has to be a record. Then, he faced off against Roman Bravo-Young and just kept the pressure on for seven minutes and pulled off a victory in a very close match that had my butthole tight the entire time. Also, he showed he could escape from the bottom which is his number one question as a wrestler, so that was great to see. This morning, it's Stevan Micic, who performed well yesterday but likely isn't at 100%. DeSanto will test him with everything, and if he can win, he likely gets a rubbermatch against Nick Suriano. DeSanto could have two wars today, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to be one of the guys facing him.
Max Murin - 141
You have to give Murin the MVP, right? Eh, I'm saying second best Iowa performance. As the 22 seed, he knocked off both the 11 and 6 seed. And that 6 seed felt so amazing as Mike Carr mocked Murin after beating him in their first match this year, and now Murin has beaten him twice in the last two weeks. Seeing Carr's face straining as he couldn't get away from Murin was definitely a zen moment for me. Murin knows how to wrestle tough, but he sure has a tough outing coming up against Penn State's Nick Lee, one of just three guys to pin his first two opponents at the tournament. I won't count out Murin with the way he's wrestling, but it seems likely that he's going to have to do damage in the consolation bracket tonight.
Patricio Lugo - 149
Lugo is 2-0, so that's the most important thing. He looked good against Josh Maruca in the first round and was taken to overtime by Virginia Tech's Ryan Blees where he was able to scramble his way into a takedown. It was fine but not all that impressive. If he wrestles like that today, he's not getting by Micah Jordan, but Lugo is a tough out, and if he can get aggressive and force a mental error by Jordan, it's not impossible to see him move onto the semifinals.
Kaleb Young - 157
M-V-P. Kaleb Young went out and whooped ass. He got a second period tech fall in his first match and came just one takedown away from a second tech fall against 11 seed, Ke-Shawn Hayes. I haven't seen this sort of aggression all year from Young, but if he brings this today, I don't see any reason he can't upset Ryan Deakin and the winner of Tyler Berger and Larry Early. He was so impressive in not just getting takedowns but turning guys as well. I'm still partially in shock. This Kaleb Young is a damn world beater (as long as that world doesn't involve Jason Nolf, unfortunately).
Alex Marinelli - 165
Marinelli got the job done. I wouldn't say I was worried when Marinelli went down 4-1 to Joe Smith of Oklahoma State in the first round, but I was concerned. I knew Marinelli would keep putting pressure on Smith, and I did have confidence that the pressure would pay off. That's exactly what happened as after the first period, Smith had nothing to keep up with Marinelli. In the second round, it was back to Marinelli whooping ass when he got a major decision against Thomas Bullard of NC State. Today, he starts off with Mekhi Lewis, who beat Marinelli in freestyle, but not only are these different rules, I think this is a different Marinelli. It will be a tough match, but I'm pretty confident in The Bull's chances. Then it is either round four against Evan Wick or a first match against Chance Marsteller. There are no easy matches at this point, but I still feel confident in Marinelli's ability to be wrestling Saturday night.
Cash Wilcke - 184
It was almost an amazing day for Wilcke. After gutting out a tough win against Nick Gravina, he was leading Max Dean with under a minute to go, but he was called for stalling when kicking out of a takedown attempt which forced overtime and Dean was able to get the takedown. Wilcke has a tough road ahead. He should be able to take out Mason Reinhardt of Wisconsin, but then he wrestles into Emery Parker of Illinois who appears to have his number. It's going to take a big upset to get Wilcke on the podium, but Wilcke has pulled off these upsets at the NCAA Tournament before so let's hope he can do it again.
Jacob Warner - 197
Warner had the two goofiest matches for the Hawkeyes yesterday. He was up 8-2 with a riding time point and going for a major decision when he got into an awkward scramble and got turned for a six-point move to barely win the match 9-8. Then, he got an immediate takedown on Cal Poly's Thomas Lane and rode him for the rest of the period. Lane returned the favor and rode him for the entire second period, and in the third, Warner was again in a weird scramble and came out on the losing end as Lane got the takedown and rode him out through regulation. Warner was gassed in overtime and got taken down to send him to the consolation bracket. Warner has the skills to run through everyone in the consolation bracket; it's just a question of whether he has the gas tank to win all those matches.
Sam Stoll - Heavyweight
HELL YEAH, SAM STOLL. Stoll, from the 28 seed, went out and did what was necessary to get the wins. He upset #5 Mason Parris by bullying him around the mat. Also, Stoll can now get up from bottom which is amazing to see. Stoll still isn't moving great, but he's a massive man with a lot of determination which was all he needed to beat #12 Conan Jennings. I jokingly said he would make the NCAA Finals. That is still going to be tough, but it's no joke. Jordan Wood is a tough way to start the day, and then he gets the winner of #1 seed Derek White and Central Michigan's Matt Stencel. There is nobody I will be rooting harder for than Sam Stoll.
Iowa also plays basketball today.
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