‘Toughness and grit’: Led by Jacob Warner, Iowa takes 2nd at NCAA Wrestling Championships
TULSA, Okla. — A couple years ago, Jacob Warner was instructed to write down one word describing how he wanted to be remembered. It didn’t take him long to come up with an answer.
“My word was tough,” Warner, the Iowa wrestling team’s All-American 197-pounder, said Saturday afternoon. It is a trait he has prided himself on showcasing throughout his college career, and one he especially needed here this week at the BOK Center.
Warner finished fifth at 197 pounds at the 2023 NCAA Championships, capping his sensational college career as a four-time All-American. He is one of six podium-finishers for the Hawkeyes, who locked up a second-place team finish with 82.5 points before Saturday night’s finals.
Those six All-Americans:
Real Woods, a finalist at 141 pounds
Tony Cassioppi, fourth at 285
Nelson Brands, fifth at 174
Warner, fifth at 197
Max Murin, sixth at 149
Spencer Lee, sixth at 125
Only Penn State scored more points than Iowa, locking up the team crown in Saturday morning’s medal rounds. Under coach Cael Sanderson, the Nittany Lions have now won 10 NCAA team titles since 2011. Penn State had amassed 127.5 team points entering Saturday night’s finals, where they had five wrestlers competing for national titles.
Iowa’s runner-up finish is the 14th NCAA team trophy (top-four) in 17 seasons under coach Tom Brands. He said earlier in the week his wrestlers would need to win tough matches to compete for a high finish this week, and for the most part they met that expectation, producing a 31-18 record across this three-day tournament, with one more to go Saturday night.
What was supposed to be the highlight of the week, Spencer Lee’s pursuit of a fourth NCAA title, became the unfortunate memory of the entire tournament. Lee’s bid for history was spoiled in the semifinals when Purdue’s Matt Ramos pinned him in the third period. Lee, who has battled knee issues for years, then medically forfeited from the tournament to finish sixth at 125 pounds.
In response to what Brands called a “tragic” result, the Hawkeyes rallied with a near-perfect performance Friday night, solidifying their second-place finish. Warner led the charge, winning four matches on Friday for a top-six finish, then winning once more on Saturday, 7-3 over Rider’s Ethan Laird, to take fifth in the country.
“He’s a guy that wears his emotions on his sleeve,” Brands said. “He has a lot of pride, whether it’s fifth or whatever. Winning that match was huge for him and to him. Good for him.”
Warner’s grittiness has been his defining quality throughout his Iowa career, which spanned six years thanks to COVID-19. He was never a bonus-point machine, like Lee and others, but he was steady and consistent — and, perhaps most impressive, always reliable in March, where he won 39 times on his way to 98 career wins.
“I know I’m not a fan favorite,” Warner said with a wry smile. “I’ve known that for a long time and I don’t really give a s---. I go out there and win tough matches in March. That’s what great wrestlers do.”
Along the way, the 24-year-old established himself as the best 197-pounder to wear Iowa’s all-black singlet under Brands, and one of the best in program history.
Warner is Iowa’s second four-time All-American who wrestled in the 190/197-pound weight class his entire career, joining Lee Fullhart, who was a four-time All-American from 1996-99. Warner is also one of just five Iowa wrestlers to make the NCAA finals at 190/197 pounds in the last 33 years.
The others:
Ryan Fulsaas, who took second in 2004;
Fullhart, who twice made the finals and won a title in 1997;
Joel Sharratt, a three-time finalist from 1993-95 and a 1994 champ;
and Brooks Simpson, the NCAA runner-up in 1990 — the year Tom and Terry Brands won their first NCAA titles.
Pretty elite company.
Warner capped his career with a turbulent sixth season. He injured his knee in early January, in a 3-1 loss to Illinois’ Zac Braunagel. He took eight losses this year, the most he’s ever taken in a single college season. Seven of them were by two points or less. Doubt crept in, but he pushed forward, earning a spot on the podium again.
“I was hurting Thursday night, I’m not going to lie,” Warner said, referencing his Round 2 loss. “I came here to win a national title. I fully believed I could’ve won a national title. It just didn’t happen.”
Warner’s teammates, in ways big and small, mimicked his effort — especially those who came through the wrestlebacks with him to earn All-American honors.
Nelson Brands finished fifth at 174 pounds. Just six months earlier, he was in a motorcycle accident that broke his collarbone. After two plates and nine screws to his his collarbone and Tommy John surgery to fix his elbow, he finished the year 15-8 overall, which included a 9-4 mark in March to become a first-time All-American.
“Don’t want to toot my own whistle or anything, but motorcycles hurt when you hit the ground,” Brands said, smiling. “The best part about overcoming hardships and injuries and adversity is I get to feel a little better about a fifth-place finish even if I don’t feel very good about it. I want to be at the top of that stand.”
Max Murin took sixth at 149 pounds, but only after reaching the bloodround for the fourth time in his career. After falling short the first three times, Murin broke through with a 3-2 win over Michigan’s Chance Lamer, capping his career as an All-American.
Murin and Warner are both sixth-year seniors, so they changed their training to help preserve their bodies for the most important time of the year. They often swam for workouts. Murin picked up the nickname Nemo because he swims with one arm.
“The swim coach and team would laugh at us,” Warner said. “I’m not saying I’m any good either, but you watch Max swim and you’re like, ‘This dude is going to drown.’”
Added Murin: “My style is hard on my body. I’ve talked to Terry and we’ve emphasized health the whole year. Just staying healthy and staying feeling good. That definitely helped me a lot and I feel like I wrestled the best I ever have this year.”
And yet … Murin hopes Iowa fans remember him for the same traits that defined Warner’s career: “Toughness and hard work,” he said. “That’s what I hope they remember.”
“I was totally burnt out last year,” Murin continued. “Just fully exhausted, mentally broken down. I wasn’t going to come back for my sixth year, but my teammates and coaches showed me a lot of love. They had my back when I didn’t have my own.
“Now I’m an All-American.”
So, too, is Jacob Warner. Again. And he did it the only way he could have, the only way he knows how — the hard way, the gritty way, the tough way, winning close but winning often, especially in March when it matters most.
“Feels like I went out on a really good note,” Warner said. “Just toughness and grit. I went out there and put my heart and soul on the mat. If I lose, I lose, but I gave it my best effort.
“Luckily — not luckily, because I put a lot of time and effort into this — it was enough to get on the podium and be satisfied. Feels like I went out on a really good note.”
Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.
2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships
Team Scores (prior to Saturday night's finals)
Penn State, 127.5 — clinched the team championship
Iowa, 82.5 — locked into second place
Ohio State, 70.5
Cornell, 68.5
Missouri, 60.5
Arizona State, 55
Michigan, 54.5
Nebraska, 54
Virginia Tech, 49
NC State, 48
Iowa State, 47
North Carolina, 38
South Dakota State, 37
Princeton, 33.5
Minnesota, 30.5
Northern Iowa, 29
Iowa All-Americans
Spencer Lee, 6th at 125lbs
Real Woods, finals at 141lbs
Max Murin, 6th at 149lbs
Nelson Brands, 5th at 174lbs
Jacob Warner, 5th at 197lbs
Tony Cassioppi, 4th at 285lbs
Iowa State All-Americans
David Carr, finals at 165lbs
Marcus Coleman, 5th at 184lbs
Northern Iowa All-Americans
Parker Keckeisen, finals at 184lbs
Iowa Natives who became All-Americans
South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan, from Alburnett, finals at 197lbs
Minnesota's Michael Blockhus, from NHTV/Crestwood, 8th at 149lbs
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Jacob Warner's toughness leads Iowa to 2nd place at NCAA Wrestling
