(State College) — The University of Iowa men’s wrestling team placed fourth at the 2026 Big Ten Wrestling Championships held at the Bryce Jordan Center. Seven Hawkeyes finished on the podium, and Iowa qualified nine of 10 weight classes for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Cleveland.
The Hawkeyes have now sent at least nine wrestlers to the national tournament for 14 consecutive seasons and 18 times since Tom Brands became head coach in 2007.
Iowa’s lone finals appearance came at 165 pounds, where third-seeded Michael Caliendo fell to top-seeded Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State Nittany Lions, wrestling by major decision, 12-3.
The Hawkeyes claimed three placement victories. Fifth-seeded Drake Ayala placed third at 133 pounds with a 4-2 decision over fourth-seeded Zan Fugitt of Wisconsin Badgers wrestling.
At 141 pounds, fourth-seeded Nasir Bailey also earned a third-place finish, defeating third-seeded Vance VomBaur of Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestling, 7-4.
In the fifth-place match at 125 pounds, eighth-seeded Dean Peterson defeated ninth-seeded Diego Sotelo of Michigan Wolverines wrestling, 5-2.
Third-seeded Patrick Kennedy finished fourth at 174 pounds after dropping the third-place match to fourth-seeded Carson Kharchla of Ohio State Buckeyes wrestling, 7-3.
At heavyweight, 10th-seeded Ben Kueter placed fourth after a 6-2 loss to third-seeded Nick Feldman of the Ohio State Buckeyes in the third-place match.
Earlier in the day, eighth-seeded Angelo Ferrari finished eighth after medically forfeiting his seventh-place bout.
Additional results for Iowa included ninth-place finishes by Ryder Block (149) and Victor Voinovich III (157), while Gabe Arnold placed 11th at 197 pounds.
