Franklin Regional grad Michael Kemerer has impressive return to Iowa wrestling

Iowa redshirt senior Michael Kemerer sat out last season while recovering from knee and shoulder surgery.

Surgery forced the Franklin Regional graduate and Murrysville native to miss a chance at wrestling in the NCAA Division I championships at PPG Paints Arena.

Kemerer, a two-time All-American, also made a jump in weight class. When he last competed in 2018, he wrestled at 157 pounds.

Iowa opened the season against Tennessee-Chattanooga on Sunday, and Kemerer competed at 174 pounds.

It was quite a start, recording a 20-0 technical fall win against Hunter Fortner.

“I wanted to get the fall bad,” Kemerer said in a release. “Credit goes to my opponent for fighting off his back. It would have been nice to go out with the pin.”

High school teammate and top-ranked Spencer Lee, a two-time NCAA championship at 125 pounds, defeated Fabian Gutierrez, 16-5.

Pletcher on top

Ohio State senior and Latrobe graduate Luke Pletcher is ranked No. 1 by InterMat Rankings after defeating then-No. 1 Dom Demas of Oklahoma at the Michigan State Open.

Pletcher is a three-time NCAA Division I qualifier and a two-time All-American, finishing fourth in 2018 and ‘19. He was a four-time PIAA finalist and three-time PIAA champion.

When Ohio State defeated Pitt on Friday, Pletcher posted a 23-9 decision against the Panthers’ Cole Matthews.

Phillippi ranked fourth

Pitt redshirt sophomore and Derry grad Micky Phillippi is off to a 2-0 start at 133 pounds.

He is ranked fourth and defeated No. 14 Quinn Kinner of Ohio State, 4-2.

Phillippi just missed the medal round at the NCAA championships earlier this year.