Iowa Wrestling crowns one National Champion and two runners-up in the 2025 NCAA Championships

Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling aimed to bounce back in the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships after a poor showing in the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes were hoping to crown three champions after Saturday's championship session.

The Hawkeyes entered Saturday in fourth place behind Penn State, Nebraska, and Oklahoma State. Iowa did not improve its position in the standings, and only crowned one champion after the final round ended.

Drake Ayala, 133 pounds

Iowa junior wrestler Drake Ayala competed in the championship match in the 133-pound weight class. No. 2 Ayala was in a rematch against No.1 Lucas Byrd from Illinois. Byrd upset Ayala in the 133-pound champion match of the Big Ten Tournament.

This match was tight throughout. The first period ended in a scoreless draw. Byrd started the scoring in the second period with an escape. Byrd took a slim 1-0 lead going into the third period.

Ayala started in the down position and got a quick escape to tie the score at 1-1. No other points were registered, and overtime was needed. Ayala started in the down position again to start the first overtime period.

Ayala scored a quick escape and led 2-1. Ayala went out of bounds late in the period and was hit with a stalling penalty. That gave Byrd a point and tied the score at 2-2. No more points were scored and a second overtime was needed.

Byrd chose a neutral position to start the second overtime. Ayala could not score a takedown, and Byrd edged him in riding time. Byrd had six seconds to Ayala's zero and beat Ayala for the Championship.

Micahel Caliendo, 165 pounds

Iowa junior wrestler Michael Caliendo competed in the championship match in the 165-pound weight class. No. 3 Caliendo battled No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink from Penn State. Caliendo was 0-5 against Mesenbrink going into the match.

After a brief injury timeout to start the match, Mesenbrink scored an escape and secured a 1-0 lead after the first period. Caliendo would score a quick escape point in the second period to even the score 1-1, but that is as close as the match would get.

Mesenbrink pushed his lead to 4-2 to end the second period. He stayed on the attack in the third period, and overwhelmed Caliendo to win the match 8-2. Caliendo finished as the runner-up and has lost all six career matches against Mesenbrink

Stephen Buchanan, 197 pounds

Iowa senior wrestler Stephen Buchanan competed in the championship match in the 197-pound weight class. Buchanan had a solid season for the Hawkeyes after transferring from Oklahoma.

No. 2 Buchanan was the favorite before the championship match against No. 4 Josh Barr from Penn State. No points were scored in the first period, resulting in a scoreless draw.

Barr gained a 2-0 advantage over Buchanan after Buchanan was hit with a locked-hands penalty. Buchanan scored a late takedown in the second period to tie the score at 2-2. Buchanan then scored an escape to take a 3-2 lead.

Buchanan took the lead late into the third period and scored an escape with under 30 seconds remaining to take a 4-2 lead. Buchanan had over a minute and a half of riding time, and added another point to his total.

Buchanan took a 5-2 lead and won the National Championship!

Stephen Buchanan was the only champion Iowa crowned after the weekend. The Hawkeyes finished in fourth place as a team in a disappointing end to the 2025 season by Iowa Wrestling's standards.