No. 1 Iowa looks impressive in 30-9 victory over No. 12 Princeton

Photo from Iowa Athletics. 

PRINCETON, N.J. – In a crowded Jadwin Gymnasium, No. 1 Iowa defeated No. 12 Princeton, 30-9. Despite pulling off several upsets, the gritty Princeton squad could not match the firepower of the top-ranked Hawkeyes.

Pat Glory, who is ranked No. 5 in the FloWrestling rankings, started Princeton off strong, with a 10-4 victory over Iowa’s Aaron Cashman. Spencer Lee, the Hawkeye’s usual starter and the top-ranked wrestler in the country at 125, did not travel with Iowa to Princeton.

No. 1 Austin DeSanto got Iowa on the board at 133 pounds with a decisive technical fall, 25-10, over Princeton’s Sean Pierson. DeSanto put on a clinic from neutral, scoring 14 takedowns in the match.

No. 8 Max Murin kept Iowa’s momentum going at 141 pounds with a 12-2 major decision over Princeton’s Marshall Keller.

The first matchup between two ranked wrestlers was a double-overtime affair at 149 pounds. No. 3 Pat Lugo of Iowa earned the hard-fought decision over No. 11 Mike D’Angelo, 3-2. In the thirty second ride-outs, D’Angelo went down first and earned a quick escape. In the second ride-out period, Lugo came out on top of a scramble for two points and the win.

The first upset of the afternoon took place at 157 pounds where No. 9 Quincy Monday of Princeton defeated No. 4 Kaleb Young, 3-2. Monday scored early in the first period with a takedown, which would prove to be the difference in the match. Young picked up escapes in the first and second periods to tie the match, 2-2. However, Monday added an escape point in the third to take the one-point victory.

After the break, No. 2 Alex Marinelli of Iowa kicked off the second half of the dual with a fall over Connor Melbourne. Marnelli was dominating the match, 21-8, when he took Melbourne to his back with a cradle to pick up the pin in the third period.

Iowa continued to roll at 174 pounds, where No. 2 Michael Kemerer defeated Kevin Parker by technical fall, 19-4. Kemerer nearly pinned Parker in the first period with a cement job and continued to pile on points throughout the match, earning the technical fall in the third period.

Princeton earned its second upset of the night when unranked Travis Stefanik defeated No. 6 Nelson Brands, 7-6.

Stefanik earned the first points of the match with a takedown. Brands quickly escaped, and the score would hold, 2-1, going into the second period.

Stefanik chose down to start the second and extended his lead to 3-1 with an escape. Brands scored with a double-leg takedown to tie the match at three. Stefanik escaped and answered with a takedown of his own to take a 6-3 lead into the third period.

Brands took bottom and earned an escape to start the third period and cut the lead to 6-4. With 30 seconds remaining, Brands tied the score, 6-6, with a takedown on the edge of the mat. He would then opt to give Stefanik the escape point and work for another takedown. Stefanik fended off Brands in the closing seconds to complete the upset, 7-6.

At 197 pounds Iowa scored its own upset in a clash between highly ranked wrestlers. No. 4 Jacob Warner earned a come-from-behind victory over No. 2 Pat Brucki, 5-4. Both Brucki and Warner were All-Americans last season with Brucki placing fourth and Warner placing seventh.

Brucki scored a takedown at the end of the first period to take a 2-0 advantage into the second period. Warner chose bottom and escaped to cut the lead to 2-1. Then, Warner took the lead on a go-behind takedown, 3-2. Brucki quickly evened the score at 3 with an escape.

In the third period, Brucki selected bottom and earned an escape to take a 4-3 lead. However, Warner was relentless and scored a takedown in the waning seconds to earn the victory, 5-4.

Brucki defeated Warner at the 2018 Midlands Tournament, 4-2, in their only meeting before this match.

Closing out the dual for Iowa was No. 2 Anthony Cassioppi at heavyweight. Cassioppi earned a 10-2 major decision over Aiden Conner, racking up over five minutes of riding time.

Iowa improves to 4-0 on the season, while Princeton fell to 1-2.

Final Score: Iowa 30, Princeton 9
125: No. 5 Patrick Glory (Princeton) dec. Aaron Cashman (Iowa), 10-4
133: No. 1 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) tech. Sean Pierson (Princeton), 25-10
141: No. 9 Max Murin (Iowa) major Marshall Keller (Princeton), 12-2
149: No. 3 Pat Lugo (Iowa) dec. No. 11 Mike D’Angelo (Princeton), 3-2
157: No. 9 Quincy Monday (Princeton) dec. No. 4 Kaleb Young (Iowa), 3-2
165: No. 2 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) fall Connor Melbourne (Princeton)
174: Michael Kemerer (Iowa) tech. fall Kevin Parker (Princeton), 19-4
184: Travis Stefanik (Princeton) dec. No. 6 Nelson Brands (Iowa), 7-6
197: No. 4 Jacob Warner (Iowa) dec. No. 2 Pat Brucki (Princeton), 5-4
285: Anthony Cassioppi (Iowa)  Aiden Conner (Princeton), 10-2