3x NCAA All-American Michael Kemerer (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)
Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released.
These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too.
Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled:
#50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)
#49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell)
#48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State)
#47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa)
#46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri)
#45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska)
#44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State)
#43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri)
#42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State)
#41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers)
#40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota)
#39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State)
#38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
#37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State)
#36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa)
#35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State)
#34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)
#33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell)
#32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton)
#31 - Max Dean (Penn State)
#30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri)
#29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska)
#28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh)
#27 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa)
#26 - Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh)
#25 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly)
#24 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
#23 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern)
#22 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers)
#21 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State)
#20 - Trent Hidlay (NC State)
#19 - Stevan Micic (Michigan)
#18 - Hayden Hidlay (NC State)
#17 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)
Next up is…
#16 Michael Kemerer (Iowa)
Weight:174 lbs
Year: Senior
Career Record: 86-8
Hometown: Murrysville, Pennsylvania
College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA Runner-Up, 2021 Big Ten Champ, 2021 NWCA First-Team All-American, 2018 NCAA 4th Place, 2017 NCAA 3rd Place
2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #2 at 174 lbs
The one that started the movement from Pennsylvania to Iowa on the current Hawkeye roster is their 174 lber, Michael Kemerer. One of the top recruits in the Class of 2015, Kemerer opened the door for a handful of other Pennsylvania natives (including Spencer Lee) to follow suit.
Kemerer came to Iowa City as a 149 lber and was allowed to redshirt in year one with the presence of Brandon Sorensen at the weight. He hit the ground running and turned in an excellent redshirt campaign, going 24-2 overall. Kemerer's only two losses on the year came to top-ten opponents (Lenny Richardson - Old Dominion and Jake Sueflohn - Nebraska) at the Midlands. He still was able to fight to a fifth-place finish.
A year later, Kemerer made his Iowa debut, up a weight class at 157 lbs. He proved to be as good as advertised, taking a 10-0 record into the Midlands. In Evanston, Kemerer posted wins over Tyler Berger (Nebraska), Hayden Hidlay (NC State), and Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State) on his way to a championship.
In two of his next three duals, Kemerer registered wins over past All-Americans with his wins over Brian Murphy (Michigan) and Joe Smith (Oklahoma State). After the Smith win, Kemerer's winning streak came to a screeching halt against fellow PA native Jason Nolf (Penn State), 9-4.
The Nolf loss proved to be Kemerer's only during the regular season. After another win over Murphy, Kemerer booked a rematch against Nolf in the Big Ten finals. Like their first meeting, it was all Nolf in an 8-1 win.
Just a pair of losses to the returning NCAA runner-up was good enough for the second seed at Kemerer's first national tournament. The two looked to be on a collision course as Kemerer wrecked his first two opponents 14-3 and 22-6. The Hawkeye freshman's run on the championship half of the bracket was rudely interrupted by #7 Dylan Palacio (Cornell), who stunned Kemerer and pinned him with a Peterson in the quarterfinals.
Refocused after the loss to Palacio, Kemerer majored three opponents to make the consolation finals opposite Joe Smith. The two needed extra time to sort a decision out; however, Kemerer took Smith down to his back for a 7-1 win in sudden victory, which gave him third place.
Kemerer's sophomore season started out similarly to his freshman year. He entered the Midlands unbeaten and left with a perfect record intact and his second title at the event. There was no Nolf rematch in the Hawkeyes dual with Penn State as the Nittany Lion national champion suffered a knee injury and missed the meet.
That meant Kemerer and his perfect 20-0 record would be the top-seed at the Big Ten Championships. A Big Ten title was not in the cards as Kemerer was stunned by Micah Jordan (Ohio State) in the semifinals and pinned in the third period. Nolf medically forfeited out in the semi, while Kemerer did not compete after the loss, so the pair famously shared the fifth-place step on the podium.
With undefeated freshman Hayden Hidlay receiving the top-seed at the 2018 NCAA Championships, it meant that Kemerer and Nolf would be on the same side of the bracket. Kemerer was seeded third and Nolf sixth. The two advanced to meet in the quarterfinals and Kemerer closed the gap, but still fell, 6-2.
Like the previous season, Kemerer needed to win in the bloodround, which he did against #2 Joey Lavalle (Missouri), to secure All-American honors. He followed that with victories against #4 Josh Shields (Arizona State) and #5 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan), for another appearance in the consolation finals. This time, Kemerer was forced to injury default out of his match with Tyler Berger.
Before the 2018-19 season, word out of Iowa was that Kemerer put on significant weight and planned to wrestle up two weights at 174 lbs. Unfortunately, that never came to fruition, as Kemerer suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason. Because of the season-ending injury, Kemerer was given an additional year of eligibility from the NCAA.
Kemerer returned for the 2019-20 season, but did not participate in all of Iowa's dates to help him be effective for the postseason. Even so, he ran through a challenging set of conference duals in January that saw him defeat Dylan Lydy (Purdue), Mike Labriola (Nebraska), Kaleb Romero (Ohio State), and Mark Hall (Penn State) in four consecutive bouts. His final dual in the 2019-20 season came against old rival Joe Smith, also up two weights, and it was all Kemerer in a 12-2 major decision.
For the second straight Big Ten Championship event, Kemerer entered as the unbeaten, top seed. After two bonus-point wins, Kemerer would face Hall in a rematch of their highly-anticipated dual. This time it was Hall who would emerge victorious in an 8-5 shootout.
There would be no rubber match between Kemerer and Hall as the 2020 NCAA Championships were canceled at the outset of the Covid pandemic. Kemerer was the second seed on a half of the bracket that featured #3 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh), #6 Romero, #7 Devin Skatzka (Minnesota), #10 Labriola, and #11 Neal Richards (VMI). Because of his seeding, Kemerer was named an NWCA First Team All-American.
Kemerer and the Hawkeyes didn't have the opportunity to compete very often in 2021, but he was able to see action in four duals. In three of those contests, Kemerer was able to put up bonus-point wins.
Once again, Kemerer went into the conference tournament as the top seed and favorite. This time he came away with that elusive Big Ten Championship after getting by Logan Massa (Michigan) in the semis and Carter Starocci (Penn State), 7-2 in the title match.
Kemerer's unbeaten mark and a Big Ten title was good enough for the top seed at the 2021 NCAA Championships. He wrestled like his seed would indicate in the first three rounds, outscoring his competition 52-12, with two techs and a major. In the semifinals, Kemerer was “held†to a regular decision, but was never seriously threatened by Bernie Truax (Cal Poly), as he cruised, 8-1.
All that was standing between Kemerer and a national title was Starocci. The Penn State freshman totally flipped the script in the NCAA finals and shut down the potent offense of Kemerer. Starocci then shocked Kemerer with a takedown in sudden victory to take the title, 3-1.
With the extra year of eligibility in 2021, Kemerer was eligible to return for this season. He comes into the year seeking to cap his career with a national title and to help lead the Hawkeyes to back-to-back team championships.
Strengths: Like many Hawkeyes, Kemerer is known for having a healthy gas tank. On his feet, he'll keep an opponent off balance with a series of feigns and half shots. Out of any current collegiate wrestler, Kemerer may be the best at building up and finishing after his head is buried on an offensive attack. Otherwise, he's solid with his High-C's to doubles. Defensively, he has heavy hips and is quick at finishing a go-behind. On the mat, Kemerer is actively looking to score from either a cradle, tilt, or bow.
2021-22 Outlook: Kemerer is on the shortlist of favorites at the 174 lb weight class. He has been an NCAA title contender since he stepped on a collegiate mat, so nothing should change now. It will be interesting to see how some of the new faces at the weight class (Hidlay and Mekhi Lewis - Virginia Tech) match up with Kemerer.
3x NCAA All-American Michael Kemerer (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
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