Wrestling Notebook: Kemerer Receives Big Ten Weekly Honor
Iowa senior Michael Kemerer was named Big Ten wrestler of the week, the conference office announced Tuesday.
Kemerer climbed to the top of the 174-pound national rankings following two wins over the weekend — an 11-6 decision against then-top-ranked Mark Hall of Penn State on Friday, and a 13-3 major decision against No. 23 Layne Malczewski of Michigan State on Sunday.
Kemerer’s win against Hall helped top-ranked Iowa defeat No. 2 Penn State, 19-17.
The Big Ten honor is the third of Kemerer’s career, and the third for Iowa this season. Austin DeSanto earned the award Dec. 3 and Alex Marinelli was recognized Jan. 3.
High ratings
Iowa's dual with Penn State last Friday became the most-watched wrestling telecast in BTN history, as well as the day’s highest-rated college sporting event across all networks.
The dual averaged 342,955 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, which passed the Ohio State vs. Penn State meet in 2018 (309,265 viewers) by 11 percent.
Through 12 broadcasts, BTN’s average audience for wrestling telecasts this season is 116,043 viewers, an increase of 67 percent from the 2018-19 season.