Who To Expect In Iowa's 2019-20 Season Debut Against Chattanooga
Who To Expect In Iowa's 2019-20 Season Debut Against Chattanooga
A weight-by-weight rundown of who to expect for Iowa in the Hawkeyes' 2019-20 season debut against UT-Chattanooga live on Flo this Sunday.
Iowa is making a push for their first team title in a decade, and that push begins this Sunday as the Hawkeyes make their season debut live on FloWrestling.
Watch UT-Chattanooga at Iowa LIVE on Flo
Sunday Nov. 17 | 3:00 PM Eastern
The Black & Gold will host Chattanooga at 3 PM eastern in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, and they have a ranked guy at every weight. But will the Mocs see all their ranked guys? That's what we're here to figure out.
The Hawks have not yet released their match notes for the dual, which will contain the expected starters. So we are doing a bit of projecting for the nation's second-ranked team.
Who To Expect For Iowa This Weekend
125: Based on him not being currently registered, and his answer about freestyle from Iowa's media day, I'd say there's about a one-percent chance we see Spencer Lee wrestle at the Bill Farrell. Which means there's a 99 percent chance we see him here, and probably as the first match of the night. On the extremely off chance Spencer makes his return to freestyle this weekend, redshirt freshman Aaron Cashman will be ready to go.
133: Your guess is as good as mine. Tom Brands said we'd see Gavin Teasdale on the mat on November 17, and he wrestled against a 133-pounder in Paul Glynn at Iowa's preseason intrasquad matches. But then there is returning All-American and fan favorite Austin DeSanto. I'm going 50/50 we see either one, but also think if we see Teasdale, it will be at 133, not 141.
141: The current projected starter is #9 Max Murin, who was in the Round of 12 last year. But the Teasdale pull leaves DeSanto as a real option here. They're favored either way, so I'm going 75/25 likelihood in favor of Murin over DeSanto. If we do see the All-American go up, that also points to Jaydin Eierman being a 149 next year.
149: No question here: It'll be returning All-American and seventh-ranked Pat Lugo, in his final season of eligibility. Lugo was under 30-percent bonus last year, so starting off with a major (or better) could give the Hawks fans confidence in Lugo to extend leads for them this year in duals.
157: The breakout star of last season for Iowa was Kaleb Young, who like half their lineup is from Pennsylvania. He majored Zach Axmear 15-5 in his preseason intrasquad match.
165: There's some competition now for the nickname "The Bull" as Rutgers freshman 133 Sammy Alvarez also claims it. That will no doubt draw the ire of Hawkeye fans, who will surely claim their two-time AA Alex Marinelli is THE Bull.
174: It has been 21 long months since Michael Kemerer last took the mat for a home dual. Since then, he's graduated, had surgery, gone up two weights, and applied for a medical redshirt. Kemdawg has placed third and fourth at NCAAs, and has lost just once in Iowa City.
They originally had him scheduled to wrestle Jeremiah Moody last week, but that didn't end up happening. If not him, it will be either Moody or Nelson Brands, another intrasquad match that was scheduled but didn't occur.
184: We're not sure if he's a fat cat or a hungry wolf, but either way Cash Wilcke will be the man. One of only two seniors on this team, #12 Wilcke will be expected to be a rock in the lineup for duals. He also has the toughest matchup of any Hawkeye on the day, when he faces #17 Matt Waddell, a transfer from Oklahoma.
197: Now in his third year on campus, the expectations for #7 Jacob Warner will only start climbing. There's no Junior worlds that cut into his preseason this year either, which will only fan the flames of those who believe he can make a jump this season and be in the NCAA finals. Warner was 4-0 last year in duals at Carver.
285: The much anticipated CHA debut of Anthony Cassioppi, a blue-chipper from Illinois who loves putting people on their back. He recently said he wanted to break the team record for pins, and will keep the Carver faithful in their seats until the very end of home matches to see if he can seal every dual with a fall.
"I want the fall. That is the goal every match. I know Ed Banach holds the (school) record and that is what I am looking at. I think I can do it."