Drake Ayala has been a runner-up at the NCAA Championships the last two seasons.

The Iowa senior knows he has to be better to take that next step, something he learned at last week’s Big Ten Championships, where he finished third at 133 pounds.

“I think I learned a lot in the Big Ten tournament,” Ayala said on Monday. “I think I wrestled better than I did throughout the year in that tournament, too. So I’ve just got to keep it rolling and keep trending in the right direction. And I mean, I realize if I’m going to win a national title. I’ve got to be better than I was last week.”

Ayala is 13-8 this season, and is seeded sixth heading into the national tournament, which starts Thursday in Cleveland, Ohio. Ayala will open against 27th-seeded Marcel Lopez of SIUE.

This is the last tournament he will compete in at the college level, something he has been thinking about as he prepares.

“These three days in March are why you’re remembered,” Ayala said. “So I'm super excited. This is what I've been training for my whole life.

“I talked to the team about it the other day. It’s like I've trained here for five years for this. But I've also trained since I was four years old for this moment. So I'm super excited, and I'm grateful for the opportunity.”

There is a calm, Ayala said, that he feels at this tournament.

“It's kind of funny, I feel like every time I've been to the national tournament, it's just like all the nerves are wiped away,” Ayalan said. “I feel like I get a lot more nervous for stuff in the regular season. And honestly, I don't know why that is. It's just like these are the moments I'm made for. I'm just excited for it, and then the nerves, I guess, just aren't there.”

The familiarity with other competitors in his bracket helps, Ayala said.

“I’ve wrestled most of them by now, so I think I've got a good feel for them now, and I feel like I'm the most battle-tested guy there, just because I've seen all of them,” he said. “So I'm going to use that as knowledge, and then kind of just build from there. You know, not focus too much on what they do, but also just be aware.”

Last One For Caliendo

It will be the final national tournament for Michael Caliendo, who is seeded third at 165. Caliendo, a runner-up last season, is a three-time All-American.

Caliendo is savoring the final opportunity.

“We get to go out there and perform and try to accomplish our goals that we've been working on the whole season,” he said. “Our whole lives, we've been training for the moments like these. And so, yeah, that's what's exciting. We're all going out and trying to get a national championship, and this is the opportunity that we get.”

Caliendo is coming off a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, where he lost to Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink, 12-3.

“I’ve just got to be a little bit tougher,” Caliendo said. “As the match went on, I wrestled better, and I’ve just got to be ready for everything.”

Caliendo is 18-4 this season, 9-3 against ranked opponents, and his familiarity with the national tournament stage will help.

“It’s a long tournament, and you just kind of take it match by match,” he said. “You can't look too far ahead. Can't overlook anybody. I mean, everyone's coming out there to scrap. It just means you go one match at a time.”

Brands' Thoughts

Iowa will be taking nine qualifiers to the tournament.

“It is upon us,” coach Tom Brands said. “Zero hour is upon us.”

Seven of the nine qualifiers are ranked in the top 10, including 141-pounder Nasir Bailey, who is seeded seventh after finishing third at the Big Ten Championships.

Bailey has bounced back after a hand injury that sidelined him during the middle of the Big Ten season.

“I don't think it's a surprise to anybody in this program or anybody that's close to him, but it could be a surprise to maybe some of those that were watching from afar with what he dealt with,” Brands said of how Bailey wrestled in the conference tournament. “You know, when you're dealing with something like that in the middle of January, sometimes it seems like it's a long row to hoe. And he hoed it, and so, good for him.”

The lowest seed belongs to 27th seed Gabe Arnold at 197.

“He feels good. I think that's important for Gabe,” Brands said. “Steady wins the day. We’ve got to be at our best at 197, and we got to be at our best everywhere. All nine weight classes that we qualified, we’ve got to be at our best. And that's where we're at. It's pretty simple. It's pretty simple that way.”

Brands knows the challenges his team faces coming off a fourth-place finish in the Big Tens.

“There's going to be some things that test us,” he said. “There's going to be some places where you know you're going to be defined, and so step up and define yourself how you want to be defined, because you do have a choice.”