10 Iowa Wrestlers Named All-Americans

Nine honored as first-team selections.

Ten Iowa wrestlers were honored as All-Americans by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

Nine Hawkeyes — Spencer Lee, Austin DeSanto, Max Murin, Pat Lugo, Kaleb Young, Alex Marinelli, Michael Kemerer, Jacob Warner, and Tony Cassioppi — were first-team selections. Abe Assad was named a second-team selection.

It is the first time in program history that all 10 Hawkeyes were named to an All-America team.

Iowa was the only NCAA Division I team with 10 All-Americans, and the only team with nine first-team selections. It is the seventh time in program history, and the first time since 1995, that nine Hawkeyes earned first-team All-America honors. 

The NWCA names its All-Americans based on the NCAA Championships, but that event was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Because of that, All-America honors were based on overall body of work for the season through the conference tournaments.

“Officially naming All-Americans is the right thing to do,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands in a statement. “Our guys were consistent and earned their results. They earned their seed at the national tournament. They were dominant and based on their entire body of work they deserved to be recognized.”

The 10 Hawkeyes combined for a record of 184-29. They scored bonus points in 90 matches and defeated 79 ranked opponents.

The Hawkeyes were going into the NCAA Championships as heavy favorites for the national title. They went undefeated — 13-0 overall and 9-0 in the Big Ten — during the regular season, along with winning the Big Ten regular-season championship and the conference tournament title. Iowa had qualifiers in all 10 weight classes at the national tournament, with three top seeds and nine wrestlers seeded eighth or better.

It's been a postseason of honors for the Hawkeyes. Brands was named coach of the year by the NWCA and the Big Ten, while Lee was awarded the Hodge Trophy, given to the most dominant college wrestler, as well as the Big Ten's wrestler of the year.