University of Iowa wrestler Michael Caliendo advanced to the finals at the 2026 NCAA Championships, and four additional Hawkeyes earned All-America honors during Session IV on March 20 in Cleveland. The event took place at Rocket Arena, where Iowa finished the session in fourth place with 81 team points.
Caliendo, seeded third at 165 pounds, reached the NCAA finals for a second consecutive season after defeating Purdue’s Joey Blaze in sudden victory. He will face top-seeded Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State in the championship bout, marking their third meeting this season. “I was feeling great in that third period, in that overtime go,” said Caliendo. “I’m not going to say I wasn’t tired, but I was still feeling pretty fresh. I was ready to get after it. Yeah, that’s all there is to it. I wanted it more, and I wrestled the match. I wrestled a lot better of a match. It was more on my terms.”
Other Hawkeye wrestlers also made significant progress during Friday’s session. Drake Ayala (133 pounds), Ryder Block (149), Gabe Arnold (197), and Ben Kueter (285) each won their blood-round matches to secure All-America status. Ayala, Block, and Kueter continued their runs by winning consolation quarterfinals and will compete in Saturday morning’s consolation semifinals alongside teammates Patrick Kennedy (174) and Angelo Ferrari (184). Arnold will wrestle for seventh place after falling in his quarterfinal match.
Semifinal results included Caliendo’s win over Blaze (8-5 SV1), while Kennedy lost his semifinal at 174 pounds and Ferrari narrowly missed advancing at 184 pounds after a tiebreaker loss to Max McEnelly of Minnesota.
The team standings are led by Penn State with 153 points, followed by Oklahoma State and Nebraska before Iowa in fourth place. Attendance for Friday night’s session was reported at 17,115.
Session V is scheduled for Saturday morning and will feature consolation semifinals as well as placement matches for third, fifth, and seventh places.