Iowa’s wrestling coach, Tom Brands, sympathized with Michael Caliendo after his loss to Mitchell Mesenbrink at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in a bout that was overshadowed by a moment on the podium.
Mesenbrink and Caliendo locked horns with each other on Day 3 of the championships in the 165-pound final at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. The top-seeded Mesenbrik produced a dominant performance, claiming a 20-4 victory by technical fall. This improved his head-to-head record against Caliendo to 9-0 and marked his second consecutive championship.
After the bout, the two players met at the podium. Mesenbrink offered a handshake to Caliendo, who refused to reciprocate, sparking outrage on social media.
While speaking to the press, Brands revealed that his wrestler was not in a good space mentally after the loss:
“I’ve got a guy that is upstairs right now and he has to come down and get on the awards stand after that performance, and he’s not doing well,” said Brands. “I’m not doing well with him.”
He added:
“You evaluate; you make adjustments. You execute those adjustments. You have to be really smart and really diligent… Go get what you want. It’s not that simple but maybe it is that simple. It’s too early to talk about that in my mind. We are in an adjustment period, because we are evaluating starting right now, and when I say right now, I mean you have to give me a minute with Caliendo, because you’ve got a guy hurting right now. You’ve got a Hawkeye that is hurting and I am hurting with him.”
Iowa coach discusses Michael Caliendo’s loss to Mitchell Mesenbrink
After Michael Caliendo secured a runner-up finish in the 165-pound final at the NCAA Wrestling Championships, Tom Brands was asked about his wrestler’s bout.
“I don’t know how to talk about that. You know, you got to got to move on,” said Tom Brands.
Iowa finished in fourth place at the NCAA Championships with 92.5 points. Reflecting on his team’s performance, Brands added:
“I don’t think that our guys ever quit. we dealt with a lot and you’re going to deal with a lot and you have to persevere and you have to grind through it sometimes and sometimes it’s a little smoother.”
Further talking about Michael Calendo’s career, he said:
“I believe that the best is yet to come for him in his wrestling. He will pursue international accolades. So, it’s too early to get all rah about that, but definitely head in that direction.”
The first position was claimed by Penn State, which scored 181.5 points to secure its fifth straight title at the NCAA Championships. The second and third places went to Oklahoma State and Nebraska, respectively.
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