EAST LANSING, Mich. — Iowa’s Big Ten Championships trip isn’t going the way it had hoped.

Just over a month ago, Spencer Lee knocked off former national champion and then-top-ranked lightweight Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State, 3-2.

In the semifinals of the Big Ten Championships, Tomasello evened the score.

The match seemed like the first. Strong defense from both parties stopped any chances of takedowns. Tomasello chose neutral in the second period and elected to give Lee an escape point in the third to make the score to 1-0 in favor of the Hawkeye. With 20 seconds left in the match, Tomasello finally got in on a shot and capitalized, scoring a takedown to cement his victory.

Brandon Sorensen gave the Hawks some hope after he sealed his spot in the Big Ten finals by topping Ryan Deakin of Northwestern with a 7-2 decision. A pair of takedowns in the third sealed his win over the Wildcat.

Sorensen will meet Penn State’s Zain Retherford in Sunday’s finals. Iowa’s 149-pounder is 0-5 against Retherford in his career, and this could be their last meeting unless they meet in the finals at nationals.

“I know what’s ahead of me,” he said. “I’m going to go out and let it fly — leave it all on the mat,”

Iowa fans quieted quickly after Sorensen’s win, as the top-seeded Michael Kemerer lost to Micah Jordan of Ohio State. Trailing 1-0, the Buckeye stopped Kemerer in his tracks with a third-period fall.

Iowa’s other semifinalist, Sam Stoll was pinned by Michigan’s top-ranked Adam Coon. Even so, Stoll secured a spot in the National Championship bracket.

The real successes lie in what were originally losses. Iowa’s Vince Turk, Alex Marinelli, Joey Gunther, and Cash Wilcke each worked through Session 2’s wrestle-backs in pursuit of third-place finishes.

Turk, Iowa’s 141-pounder, worked his way through two wrestle-back wins March 3, earning his ticket to Cleveland. Gunther had two wins on the backside and also sealed his trip.

Marinelli, who was upset in the second round by Michigan’s Logan Massa as the second seed, bounced back to win two wrestle-backs. Marinelli earned victories over Ohio State’s Te’Shan Campbell and Minnesota’s Nick Wanzek.

“When you face a loss, it’s tough to move forward without success,” Marinelli said. “But Tom [Brands] said this is where you find out what you’re made of. Either you get up and move on, or you get knocked out of the tournament.”

The job isn’t complete for Iowa. The March 4 finals matches may only hold one Hawkeye, but the backside is loaded with Black and Gold. Iowa won nine of 10 matches in the consolation bracket in Session 2, securing nine spots in Cleveland.

“It’s nothing to hang your hat on right now because the job’s not done,” Marinelli said.

Session 3 will start at 11 a.m. (CST), when the seventh- and ninth-place matches will take place. Session 4 will start at 2 p.m. (CST) with the finals, third-, and fifth-place matches.

“We got another day,” Brands said. “When this is all said and done, we’ll have nine going to Cleveland, but we have to get ready for tomorrow’s matches.”