Franklin Regional’s Michael Kemerer returning for 7th NCAA season

Paul Schofield | Saturday, April 10, 2021 6:12 p.m.

Penn State’s Carter Starocci faces Iowa’s Michael Kemerer (right) in the 174-pound championship bout at the 2021 Big Ten Wrestling tournament.

Murrysville native Michael Kemerer isn’t ready to hang up his singlet just yet.

The Franklin Regional graduate and Iowa graduate student announced this week on Twitter that he’s returning for one more season.

The four-time All-American and 2021 NCAA runner-up lost in the NCAA Division I finals at 174 pounds to Penn State’s Carter Starocci last month.

Kemerer posted a video that includes with a photo of himself giving the Iowa crowd two thumbs up and the message, “Grandpa Mike is returning for one more year!”

Iowa wrestlers gave the 24-year-old that name before the season.

This will be his seventh season for the graduate student after the NCAA allowed for a free year of eligibility because of the coronavirus.

Kemerer won a Big Ten title in March and reached the NCAA finals. He posted an 11-1 record during a shortened season that did not count against competitors’ eligibility.

He is 86-8 all-time at Iowa.

The 2022 NCAA championships are to take place in Detroit.

Kemerer was a four-time WPIAL champion and a 2015 PIAA champion. He was also a four-time PIAA finalist.

He helped Franklin Regional to two WPIAL team titles and two PIAA titles.