Michael Kemerer will miss the rest of the season. The Iowa junior is currently ranked sixth at 174; he will apply for a medical redshirt to try to get a sixth year.

Below is the official release from the Hawkeyes' communications department.

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OWA CITY, Iowa -- University of Iowa junior Michael Kemerer is scheduled to have surgery this week and will miss the 2018-19 NCAA wrestling season. The announcement came Tuesday from head coach Tom Brands:

“We always do what’s best for our athletes and this is what is best for Kemerer. He is as good a wrestler as there is in the country, and that is a credit to him doing things the right way. I know he is driven to come back even stronger and we will do everything we can to help him along the way.”

“I’m disappointed I won’t be on the mat with my teammates this season, but I am 100 percent committed to my rehab and recovery so I can return to the mat in 2019,” Kemerer said. “I have complete faith in my teammates, coaches, and medical staff, and they have faith in me. I will continue to give them all the very best that I have, on and off the mat.”

Kemerer is a two-time All-American from Murrysville, Pennsylvania. He placed third as a redshirt freshman and fourth as a sophomore at the NCAA Championships. He has a career record of 60-6, competing at 157 pounds in 2017 and 2018. He was projected to be Iowa’s starting 174-pounder in 2019.

Kemerer has not competed this season. He will seek a medical hardship waiver at the end of the season.

Iowa hosts Iowa State on Saturday at 2 p.m. (CT) in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.