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Caliendo leads seven All-Americans for Iowa after Day 2 at NCAAs

by: Tanner Lafever03/21/26TannerLafever

After Day 2 at the 2026 NCAA Championships, Iowa men’s wrestling sits in fourth place thanks to several noteworthy performances.

Seven of Iowa’s nine qualifiers earned All-America honors – the program’s most since 2021.

Among them was now four-timer Michael Caliendo – who also extended Iowa’s 36-year streak with at least one NCAA finalist.

The Hawkeyes certainly didn’t win every match on Friday in Cleveland. But they put forth an effort that many had questioned was within their capabilities given the team’s uneven output all season long.

Iowa sits in fourth place after Day 2, a position that will earn it the final NCAA team trophy if the status quo holds.

And they’re not done yet, either.

While Caliendo will be Iowa’s lone wrestler in the finals on Saturday night, six others will try to climb as high up the podium as possible during the morning session – five of whom can still place third at their respective weights.

Here’s how Day 2 transpired at Rocket Arena, starting with a busy Friday evening on the mats.

Session IV summary – clutch Caliendo highlights 1/3 semifinal showing

At times, Michael Caliendo’s odds of a return trip to the NCAA finals didn’t appear promising.

Facing #2 Joey Blaze (Purdue) – whom he’d lost to 7-4 in February – the Iowa senior narrowly avoided a first-period takedown with some desperation defense. And shortly into the second, he did find himself trailing 3-1 to the Boilermaker.

Caliendo got to legs twice during the frame but couldn’t convert, leaving the third period to find a way to do so or see his title hopes slip away.

And so, that’s exactly what he did – his first takedown coming 20 seconds later. With the match tied at five, he worked like heck to score the winner amidst a wild scramble to close regulation. And when that didn’t work, he attacked moments into sudden victory – where he didn’t miss.

Back in the finals for a second-consecutive year, Caliendo will get one last crack at Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink with a title on the line.

Iowa’s two other semifinalists weren’t quite as fortunate.

At 174 pounds, Patrick Kennedy ran into the buzzsaw that is #1 Levi Haines (Penn State), losing via 18-3 tech. fall to the reigning World silver medalist.

And at 184, Angelo Ferrari fell in tiebreakers for the third time this season – the only fashion in which he’s lost a contested match in 2025-26.

Minnesota’s #3 Max McEnelly – a reigning U20 World champion – got the better of the Iowa freshman when Ferrari couldn’t top the Gopher’s seven-second escape in TB1.

In an otherwise defensive match by both wrestlers – despite what a bizarre post-match ESPN interview might lead you to believe – Ferrari nearly scored the winning takedown as time expired in sudden victory.

But hours after his own dramatic (quarterfinal) victory another was not in the cards for his NCAA debut.

Session IV summary – podium pursuits

While the aforementioned trio had already secured All-American status by reaching the semifinals, six other Hawkeyes had work to do.

Competing in the vaunted ‘bloodround’ 4/6 experienced elation while two dealt with devastation.

For redshirt sophomores Ryder Block and Gabe Arnold, razor-thin victories made them first-time All-Americans – a benchmark for any college wrestler.

Block’s result came in sudden victory (4-1) over #12 Carter Young (Maryland). Meanwhile, Arnold flipped the script on a guy who’d defeated him a Big Tens less than two weeks prior – beating #15 Remy Cotton (Rutgers) via 4-3 decision thanks to a powerful first-period takedown.

Before/after those wins, two returning All-Americans joined them as top-eight placers for the Hawkeyes.

Two-time finalist Drake Ayala rebounded from a disappointing quarterfinal for an 8-3 win over #10 Maximilian Leete (American). And Ben Kueter responded to his own earlier loss with 5-2 win over #12 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) – scoring the winning takedown in the final seconds after a stall call on the Hawkeye had tied the match.

Unfortunately, Iowa’s two other bloodrounders came up just short.

Especially cruel was the end for Dean Peterson, who transferred to Iowa hoping to reach the podium in his final collegiate season.

Instead, a scramble-filled match against #11 Tyler Klinsky (Rider) ended on the worst of notes with Klinsky scoring the winner with just 10 seconds left – marking the third occasion in which Peterson has lost in the bloodround.

And at 141 pounds, Nasir Bailey seemed to be trending toward a return trip to the podium only for #13 Wyatt Henson (Lock Haven) to get in the way.

A former Hawkeye, Henson rode Bailey out in the second period then scored the go-ahead takedown midway through the third of a 6-4 win.

Session IV summary – keep climbing

After critical first wins during the session, each of Ayala/Block/Arnold/Kueter returned to the mat once more.

As wrestlers are so accustomed to saying, the ‘next best thing’ is still out there – and that means third place for anyone who drops into the consolation bracket.

Ayala continued his climb, defeating #7 Lucas Byrd (Illinois) in a rematch of last year’s NCAA final, 10-4. And Block did the same, prevailing in another sudden victory match when he took down Oklahoma State’s #8 Casey Swiderski – even after the Cowboy had forced overtime with a flurry of third-period points.

Arnold’s remarkable consolation run finally hit a speed bump against Big Ten finalist #11 Camden McDanel. But Ben Kueter made sure Iowa’s night ended on a high note, defeating #10 David Szuba (Arizona State), 7-0.

Those results set up a busy Day 3 for the Hawkeyes – starting at 10:00 a.m. (CT) with the consolation semifinals and medal matches:

FINALS MATCHUP
165 – #3 Michael Caliendo vs. #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State)

CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS
133 – #6 Drake Ayala vs. #4 Aaron Seidel (Virginia Tech)
149 – #15 Ryder Block vs. #11 Lachlan McNeil (Michigan)
174 – #5 Patrick Kennedy vs. #15 Danny Wask (Navy)
184 – #7 Angelo Ferrari vs. #10 Caleb Campos (American) 
285 – #8 Ben Kueter vs. #3 Taye Ghadiali (Michigan)

SEVENTH PLACE MATCHUP
197 – #27 Gabe Arnold vs. #16 Branson John (Maryland)

Full Session IV match results

SEMIFINALS
165 – #3 Michael Caliendo dec. #2 Joey Blaze (Purdue), 8-5 SV1
174 – #1 Levi Haines (Penn State) tech. fall #5 Patrick Kennedy, 18-3
184 – #3 Max McEnelly (Minnesota) dec. #7 Angelo Ferrari, 3-2 TB1

CONSOLATION Round 4
125 – #11 Tyler Klinsky (Rider) dec. #8 Dean Peterson, 4-1
133 – #6 Drake Ayala dec. #10 Maximilian Leete (American), 8-3
141 – #13 Wyatt Henson (Lock Haven) dec. #7 Nasir Bailey, 6-4
149 – #15 Ryder Block dec. #12 Carter Young (Maryland), 4-1 SV1
197 – #27 Gabe Arnold dec. #15 Remy Cotton (Rutgers), 4-3
285 – #8 Ben Kueter dec. #12 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin), 5-2

CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS
133 – #6 Drake Ayala dec. #7 Lucas Byrd (Illinois), 10-4
149 – #15 Ryder Block dec. #8 Casey Swiderski (Oklahoma State), 8-5 SV1
197 – #11 Camden McDanel (Nebraska) dec. #27 Gabe Arnold, 4-2
285 – #8 Ben Kueter dec. #10 David Szuba (Arizona State), 7-0

Session III summary – lack of offense costs quartet of quarterfinalists

The quarterfinal round got off to an inauspicious start for the Hawkeyes.

Each of the first three wrestlers to take the mat found themselves defeated via low-scoring decisions. And in all three instances offensive opportunity, much less success, was a real struggle.

None of Dean Peterson (125), Drake Ayala (133) or Nasir Bailey (141) generated much in the way of their own attacks – which becomes a problem if your opponent can.

It bit Ayala against #3 Marcus Blaze (Penn State) – who took the Hawkeye down midway through the second period, then rode him for much of the third in a 5-3 decision.

The loss marked the third time this season which Blaze defeated Ayala in a one-takedown affair. It also ended the Iowa senior’s hopes of a third consecutive trip to the NCAA finals.

A similar theme held true with Nasir Bailey against #2 Serio Vega (Oklahoma State). In the end, Vega’s second-period takedown was all he needed to defeat the Hawkeye, 4-1 – an identical three-point margin to their previous meeting back in November.

Meanwhile, a slightly different story played out at 125 pounds. There, Dean Peterson used stellar single-leg defense to take #1 Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) all the way into tiebreakers. But after Lilledahl managed to escape in 11 seconds, Peterson couldn’t better the effort to pull off the upset.

In fact, Lilledahl rode the Hawkeye out in TB2, securing a semifinal spot after winning the closest of three matches between them this season.

Iowa’s fourth quarterfinal defeat fit snugly into this category as well, with Ben Kueter defending for the vast majority of a 4-2 loss to #1 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) at heavyweight.

With the losses, all four Hawkeyes dropped to the ‘bloodround’ needing one more win to secure All-America honors.

Session III summary – trio of winners help turn the tide

With vibes lagging midway through the session Iowa found a much-needed pick-me-up at 165/174/184 pounds.

Michael Caliendo started things off, continuing his bonus-point kick with a 14-3 major decision over #27 EJ Parco (Stanford) – a surprise quarterfinalist and the younger brother of 2025 Iowa starter Kyle Parco.

The win gave Iowa an All-American for the 55th-consecutive NCAA Championships, ensured Caliendo a spot on the podium for the fourth-consecutive year and punched his semifinal ticket for the third year in a row.

Shortly thereafter, Caliendo had company in the semis thanks to fellow senior Patrick Kennedy.

Iowa’s 174-pounder advanced in fitting fashion too, grinding out a win in tiebreakers (2-1) over Ohio State #4 seed Carson Kharchla. The win evened their all-time series at three-apiece – the entirety of which took place over the past two seasons.

It was made possible when PK escaped just three seconds into the first tiebreaker, forcing Kharchla to choose neutral and chase a takedown that never came.

Now with a pair of semifinalists, Iowa added another with its most dramatic match of the morning.

No fewer than five times did #2 Aeoden Sinclair (Missouri) get to a single leg against Angelo Ferrari over seven-plus minutes of action between the pair of title contenders at 184 pounds. And every single time the Hawkeye thwarted his efforts.

The final time (midway through sudden victory) didn’t just end in a stalemate, however. Instead, Ferrari managed to scramble through the position for a score of his own and a spot in the semifinals to boot.

Not that anyone should’ve been surprised by the wizardry – which Ferrari also used to defeat Sinclair back in November – but it’s still a sight to see every time from the redshirt freshman.

Session III summary – Block/Arnold stay alive

The two other Hawkeyes in action Friday morning didn’t have semifinal berths at stake.

Instead, Ryder Block and Gabe Arnold were just focused on keeping their tournament runs alive. And that’s exactly what they did, each tallying a pair of wins to advance to Friday night’s bloodround.

Block won comfortable matches against the #33 and #25 seeds – earning a bonus point against the latter. Meanwhile, Arnold had to dig deep in his second victory.

The undersized sophomore trailed 4-2 in the third period after getting taken down by #14 Gabe Sollars (Indiana). But when he needed it most, Arnold responded with a score of his own – taking down Sollars in the waning moments for a thrilling victory.

The wins by Block/Arnold meant that all nine Iowa qualifiers would still be wrestling on Friday night – the most of any team at NCAAs.

Full Session III match results

QUARTERFINALS
125 – #1 Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) dec. #8 Dean Peterson, 2-1 TB1
133 – #3 Marcus Blaze (Penn State) dec. #6 Drake Ayala, 5-3
141 – #2 Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State) dec. #7 Nasir Bailey, 4-1
165 – #3 Michael Caliendo major dec. #27 EJ Parco (Stanford), 14-3
174 – #5 Patrick Kennedy dec. #4 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State), 2-1 TB1
184 – #7 Angelo Ferrari dec. #2 Aeoden Sinclair (Missouri), 4-1 SV1
285 – #1 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) dec. #8 Ben Kueter, 4-2

CONSOLATION ROUND 2
149 – #15 Ryder Block dec. #33 Austin McBurney (Brown), 8-1
197 – #27 Gabe Arnold dec. #21 Rune Lawrence (West Virginia), 7-1

CONSOLATION ROUND 3
149 – #15 Ryder Block major dec. #25 Michael Gioffre (Illinois), 18-5
197 – #27 Gabe Arnold dec. #14 Gabe Sollars (Indiana), 5-4

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