The University of Iowa men’s wrestling team won eight out of nine matches and secured six bonus-point victories during the opening session of the 2026 NCAA Championships on March 19 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
The strong performance places Iowa in second place with 15 team points after the first round, trailing only Penn State, which leads with 22.5 points. The event drew an attendance of 16,625 spectators.
Dean Peterson, seeded eighth at 125 pounds, started the tournament for Iowa with a major decision over Kael Lauridsen of Nebraska. This result began a series of four consecutive major decisions for the Hawkeyes. Drake Ayala (133 pounds), Nasir Bailey (141 pounds), and Ryder Block (149 pounds) each advanced to the next round with major decisions over their respective opponents.
At 165 pounds, Michael Caliendo recorded a fall against Thomas Snipes of The Citadel in just under three minutes. Patrick Kennedy moved forward at 174 pounds with an 8-2 decision over Holden Garcia from Princeton. Angelo Ferrari added more bonus points at 184 pounds by winning a major decision against Chase Kranitz from Pittsburgh.
Iowa’s only loss came at 197 pounds when Gabe Arnold was defeated by Justin Rademacher from Oregon State in tiebreakers. Ben Kueter closed out the session for Iowa at heavyweight with a decision victory over Alex Semenenko from Brown.
Looking ahead, seven Hawkeye wrestlers will compete in second-round matchups later in the day, while Arnold will enter the consolation bracket. Session II is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Central Time and will be broadcast live on ESPN.