The Brands twins were sophomores in 1990 when they punched through to the NCAA finals  — Terry at 126 pounds and Tom at 134 — and went on to win national titles the following day. 

It was the start of something for Iowa wrestling. The previous year, the Hawkeyes had been absent from the NCAA finals for the first time since 1974, and they haven’t been left off the big stage at the national tournament since. 

• Watch more High School and College Wrestling on FloWrestling
• 2024 NCAA Wrestling Qualifiers By School
• 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championship Brackets, Schedule, Rankings

But for the Brands-coached Iowa squad to keep that string alive next week in Kansas City, the Hawkeyes will need to outperform their seeds somewhere. 

The brackets for the 2024 NCAA Championships came out Wednesday evening and, for the third time since 1975, Iowa doesn’t have a wrestler seeded first or second. In both of the previous instances, the Hawkeyes had a wrestler rise above the seeds to reach the finals. 

In 2005, fourth-seeded freshman Mark Perry knocked off returning national champ Troy Letters in the 165-pound NCAA semifinals. 

In 2015, Cory Clark, one of three #3 seeds for the Hawkeyes that year, made his first of three trips to the finals. 

Iowa has a pair of #3 seeds this year — Drake Ayala at 125 and returning national finalist Real Woods at 141. 

The Hawkeyes have seven other national qualifiers — #15 Brody Teske at 133, #13 Caleb Rathjen at 149, #10 Jared Franek at 157, #6 Michael Caliendo at 165, #12 Patrick Kennedy at 174, #7 Zach Glazier at 197 and #25 Bradley Hill at 285. 

Based on tournament seeds, Iowa is projected to finish ninth in the team race. The Hawkeyes have finished outside the top five just three times since 1974. They were sixth in 1989, eighth in 2003 and eighth again in 2007. 

It’s not hard to see a path to a team trophy for the Hawkeyes. At 49.5 projected placement and advancement points based on seeds, Iowa is 9.5 points behind Nebraska, which checks in at #3. 

Complete NCAA Championship brackets are available here.

Here’s a look at how the Hawkeyes can extend their string of finalists to 34 straight years and compete for a team trophy. 

125 pounds — #3 seed Drake Ayala 

It’s a fool’s errand to try to project a bracket path for Iowa’s third-seeded 125-pounder. This weight class has been mass chaos all season with 10 different wrestlers occupying the #1 spot in the national rankings at one point, including Ayala. 

The sophomore enters the tournament with a 23-4 record that includes wins over two wrestlers who spent time in the #1 spot. Ayala defeated returning national finalist Matt Ramos of Purdue in the third-place bout at the Big Ten Championships and also scored a regular-season win against #1 seed Braeden Davis of Penn State. 

Ayala opens the tournament against the guy he faced in his first bout of the season — #30 seed Elijah Griffin of California Baptist. Griffin scored the first takedown of their match in November and it was one-point match with a minute to go in the second period before Ayala poured it on to score an 18-8 major decision. 

An opening-round win would set Ayala up for a Thursday night bout with the winner between #14 seed Nico Provo of Stanford and #19 seed Jett Strickenberger of West Virginia. Provo had a stint on top of the national rankings in December after winning the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. 

From the second round on, it’s anybody’s guess how this bracket might look. But it’s worth noting a couple things here. There’s a potential quarterfinal meeting for Ayala against #6 seed Troy Spratley of Oklahoma State. Ayala put Spratley on his back for an 8-1 overtime win in their Feb. 25 meeting. Additionally, Michigan’s Michael DeAugustino, who handed Ayala two of his four defeats this season, is also on the bottom side of the bracket as the #18 seed. They can’t meet on the front side until the semifinals. 

133 pounds — #15 seed Brody Teske 

It’s been a wild ride for Teske in his final season with the Hawkeyes. The four-time NCAA qualifier started the season ranked inside the top 10, appeared to solidify his spot in the Iowa lineup by winning the Soldier Salute, appeared to lose his spot in the lineup after suffering a defeat a couple weeks later, entered the Big Ten Championships as the #14 seed after regaining his lineup spot after the deadline to submit pre-seeds, knocked off #3 seed Nic Bouzakis with a dramatic comeback in the opening round of the conference tournament, nearly reached the Big Ten finals and ultimately earned an NCAA spot with a fifth-place finish at Big Tens.

Teske opens the NCAA Championships with a first-round bout against South Dakota State’s Derrick Cardinal. If the Iowa senior gets past Cardinal, he could run into undefeated Lehigh freshman Ryan Crookham, the #2 seed in the second round. 

There’s potential here for Teske to reach the podium, but it could likely require a win somewhere along the line against one of the top five seeds. 

141 pounds — #3 seed Real Woods

This time a year ago Woods was undefeated, seeded #1 and on his way to a 57-percent bonus-point rate on the season. He’s 18-3 this season with a 38-percent bonus rate. Though the offensive production has been down a notch, Woods has still posted wins against five of the top 10 seeds this season. 

The key for Woods will be rediscovering the early-match offense and top-position scoring that became hallmarks of his 2023 success. He certainly won’t have an easy path through the bracket. 

Woods opens the tournament against South Dakota State two-time All-American Clay Carlson, arguably the toughest #30 seed in the tournament. Carlson defeated Woods 11-4 in the 2021 NCAA Championships when Woods wrestled for Stanford. They were in the same bracket in December at the Soldier Salute but did not square off. Woods won the tournament, while Carlson took a pair of losses. 

If he can get past Carlson, Woods would have a second-round bout against Lehigh’s Malyke Hines or Arizona State’s Jesse Vasquez. 

There’s potential for another rematch in the quarterfinals with either #6 seed Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina or #11 Josh Koderhandt of Navy. Woods defeated Koderhandt 9-4 in the Soldier Salute semifinals before he notched an 8-4 win in the finals against the North Carolina All-American. 

If Woods can get back to the semifinals, there’s a strong chance Penn State’s Beau Bartlett could be waiting on the other side. Woods won their first bout last year, but Bartlett shut down the Hawkeye’s offense in their February dual meeting and notched a 7-2 victory. 

149 pounds — #13 seed Caleb Rathjen 

Rathjen made his case for Iowa’s starting job by winning the Soldier Salute, where he beat teammate and returning NCAA qualifier Victor Voinovich and followed it up by beating Penn State’s Tyler Kasak in February. He’s coming off a fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. 

The Iowa sophomore will make his tournament debut against Big 12 runner-up Jordan Williams, the #20 seed from Oklahoma State. It’s a rematch of a 2021 Fargo Junior freestyle title bout that Williams won 3-3 on a last-second exposure. They didn’t wrestle in February when the Hawkeyes traveled to Stillwater, where Williams posted a win against Voinovich. 

An opening-round win could set Rathjen up with a second-round bout against #4 seed Caleb Henson, a returning All-American from Virginia Tech. 

157 pounds — #10 seed Jared Franek 

Franek qualified for the NCAA Championships four times at North Dakota State, won multiple matches at the national tournament in each of his three appearances and earned All-America honors last year at 157, where he placed fourth. He’s 23-5 this season for the Hawkeyes with all five losses coming against returning All-Americans (two against #1 Levi Haines and one each against Michael Blockhus of Minnesota, Will Lewan of Michigan and Peyton Robb of Nebraska). 

It’s not a bad spot in the bracket for Franek, but he opens the tournament with a tough #23 seed in Purdue’s Joey Blaze. Franek scored 2-1 and 5-2 wins against the Boilermaker in two previous bouts this season. 

A victory there would set Franek up for a second-round bout against a MAC champion, either #7 seed Peyten Kellar of Ohio or 2023 conference champ Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan, the #26 seed. 

If Franek can navigate his way to the quarterfinals, he might run into Jacori Teemer, the #2 seed from Arizona State. Teemer won all three of their previous meetings when Franek was at North Dakota State, but the bouts were all close — 7-6 at the 2019 Cliff Keen Invitational, 3-2 at the 2021 NCAA Championships and 5-3 at the 2022 NCAA Championships. 

165 pounds — #6 seed Michael Caliendo 

Like Franek, Caliendo is making his first national tournament appearance with the Hawkeyes after earning All-America honors last year for North Dakota State. 

The Illinois native has consistently held a top-10 spot this season in the talent-rich 165-pound class. He’s 22-4 on the season and coming off a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, where he notched a pair of wins against Michigan All-American Cam Amine but got teched by Penn State freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink, who’s looming on the bottom side of the bracket as a potential semifinal opponent for Caliendo. 

There’s plenty of work to do to get there, but it’s not a bad spot in the bracket for the Iowa sophomore. 

Caliendo opens the tournament against Minnesota’s Blaine Brenner, the #27 seed. Caliendo defeated Brenner twice this season, winning by technical fall at the Soldier Salute and 5-1 in the January dual meet. 

A win there could set Caliendo up with a second-round meeting with #11 seed Andrew Cerniglia of Navy or #22 seed Noah Mulvaney of Bucknell. 

If he can get to the quarterfinals, Caliendo might run into #3 seed Julian Ramirez of Cornell. Though Ramirez has had a strong season at 22-2, one of his losses came against Oklahoma State’s Izzak Olejnik, who Caliendo handled last month. 

174 pounds — #12 seed Patrick Kennedy 

An early-season knee issue slowed Kennedy at the beginning of the season and the 165-pound lineup spot to Caliendo at the Soldier Salute, but he’s settled in nicely at 174, where he notched a clutch win for the Hawkeyes in their dual win against Iowa State, posted a victory against #3 seed Edmond Ruth of Illinois and has made himself a podium threat here. 

He’s in a decent spot in the bracket to make a run as the #12 seed. Kennedy opens with fellow Minnesota native Tyler Eischens of North Carolina. A win there would set him up for a second-round bout with #5 seed Philip Conigliaro of Harvard or Northern Iowa’s Jared Simma, the #28 seed. Conigliaro is 24-3, but he lost twice to #26 seed Benny Baker of Cornell at the EIWA Championships. 

If he can get to the quarters, Kennedy might get another shot at #4 seed Shane Griffith of Michigan. Though Griffith won their first two meetings, Kennedy cut the margin from a major decision in the dual meet to a 4-3 defeat in the Big Ten semis. It remains to be seen what kind of physical shape Griffith will be in after suffering an apparent leg injury in the final seconds of that match that forced him to forfeit in the Big Ten finals. 

197 pounds — #7 seed Zach Glazier 

Glazier has been one of the best stories for the Hawkeyes this season. He’s 24-2 in his first year as a starter with both losses coming against three-time national champ Aaron Brooks of Penn State. 

Moreover, Glazier posted clutch wins that helped Iowa lock up dual wins against Iowa State, Penn and Nebraska, including a major decision against Husker Silas Allred, the returning Big Ten champ. 

Glazier’s tournament path begins with an opening-round match against Virginia Tech’s Andy Smith. A win there could set him up for a rematch with Allred in the second round, though the Nebraska sophomore has to contend with Ohio State’s Luke Geog first. 

If Glazier can navigate his way to the quarterfinals, North Carolina State’s second-seeded Trent Hidlay will likely be waiting. 

285 pounds — #25 seed Bradley Hill 

Hill has posted a 20-7 record this season, taking the starting job after three-time All-American Tony Cassioppi was lost for the season. He earned a qualifying spot after placing fifth at the Big Ten Championships. 

Hill’s tournament debut comes against North Carolina State’s #7 seed Owen Trephan, a two-time ACC champ. The winner there gets either #9 seed Nick Feldman of Ohio State or #24 Keaton Kluever with the loser getting dropped into the consolations against the loser between Feldman and Kluever. Hill lost by injury default against Feldman at the Big Ten Championships before he registered three wins in the consolations. 

This year's NCAA Championships will once again be broadcast on ESPN. FloWrestling will once again host a simultaneous second-screen watch party throughout the tournament. For access to FloWrestling's exclusive content including match highlights from the NCAA Championships, subscribe now.