Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa open competition at the NCAA Wrestling Tournament today in St. Louis. The Hawkeyes are favored to repeat as national champs and have eight wrestlers seeded 8th or higher at their respective weights.
Brent Metcalf, who claimed the 149-pound title last year, is Iowa’s only number-one seed. Phil Keddy is the number-two seed at 184. Iowa State qualified all 10 of their wrestlers to the tournament, led by Dave Zabriskie, the top-seed at heavyweight. Jake Varner is the number-two seed at 197.
The Cyclones are hoping to improve on their fifth place finish in the team standings last year. Northern Iowa has six wrestlers in St. Louis. The Panthers are led by Moza Fay, who’s seeded fourth at 165. First round matches start at 11:30 this morning.