NCAA Grants Kemerer Sixth Year
Iowa wrestler Michael Kemerer was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA.
Kemerer made the announcement on social media on Sunday night, and the university confirmed it with a Monday press release.
The NCAA granted Kemerer, a three-time All-American, an eligibility extension resulting from a redshirt season during his initial year of enrollment and a hardship waiver for an injury that kept him out of the 2018-19 season.
The decision means Iowa will return nine All-Americans from this season's team went 13-0 overall, 9-0 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes, who also won the Big Ten championships, were top-ranked nationally heading into the NCAA Championships, which were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I am thankful and already ready to compete again,” Kemerer said in a statement from the university. “We did so many things and met every challenge we faced last year. We had a great team and a lot of fun doing it. We are bringing a lot of guys back, but it is a new season now, so we are going to have to go out and earn it again. You don’t take your accomplishments from last year into the next year, so we have to be looking forward, but we have a good team and it is going to be a fun year.”
Kemerer went 15-1 this season, with his only loss coming in the Big Ten championships, an 8-5 decision to Penn State's Mark Hall. He is 75-7 with 16 pins in his career, with the most career victories among Iowa's active roster.
Kemerer, who took a redshirt season as a freshman in 2015-16, finished third in the 2017 NCAA Championships, and fourth in the following season. He would have been the No. 2 seed at 174 pounds heading into this season's NCAA tournament.
Kemerer had 10 wins over ranked opponents this season, including one over Hall in Iowa's dual-meet win over the Nittany Lions.