The #3 Iowa Hawkeyes will be kick off the Big Ten season with a dual meet at #6 Nebraska on Friday at 6:30 PM. This is always one of my favorite dual meets of the year and we should have another competitive and intense Iowa-Nebraska dual meet.
Iowa has only one wrestler listed at every weight for the first time all season.
We will get things off to a fast start at 125 with #5 Drake Ayala vs. #7 Caleb Smith. Should this be the opening match it could set the tone for the entire dual meet.
At 133 #7 Brody Teske will face #30 Jacob Van Dee. Big match at 141 with #1 Real Woods vs. #7 Brock Hardy. At 149 #12 Caleb Rathjen will meet #1 Ridge Lovett. This will be the biggest test to date in Rathjen’s career.
The biggest match of the dual meet for rankings will be at 157 where it will be #2 Jared Franek vs. #3 Peyton Robb. #7 Michael Caliendo will face #19 Antrell Taylor at 165.
At 174 we will see Patrick Kennedy against #30 Bubba Wilson. It will be Aiden Riggins vs. Elise Brown Ton at 184 where both wrestlers are unranked. This could be a pivotal match in the dual meet.
If the dual meet is not decided at 184 then it may be at 197 with #16 Zach Glazier vs. #11 Silas Allred. At Hwt we again have two unranked wrestlers when Brad Hill faces Harley Andrews.
On paper this looks to be a real close dual meet. We have a great blend of highly ranked opponents going at it and two weights where neither wrestler is ranked.
If I had to choose, I would say the dual meet will be decided by the outcome at 184 and Hwt. I like Iowa to win both of those matches.
I am most looking forward to 149 and 197. After this dual meet we will know more of what we have at those weights.
I look for both teams to be on top of their game and put on a show.
Iowa-Nebraska, Brands-Manning, Big Ten opener, national TV, end of a bad weather week in the heart of winter. I am looking forward to it.
This should be another entertaining Iowa-Nebraska dual meet.
Let’s get ‘em in the middle.
The Iowa-Nebraska dual meet will be live on BTN at 6:30 PM Friday, January 12.
Steven Grace and Mark Ironside will call the meet on AM 800 KXIC, iheart.com and YouTube.
#3 IOWA HAWKEYES (5-0)
Wt. Rank^ Name Yr. Hometown/High School Record
125 3/5/9/7 Drake Ayala So. Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge 13-1
133 12/7/9/11 Brody Teske Sr. Duncombe, Iowa/Fort Dodge 8-2
141 1/1/1/1 Real Woods R-Sr. Albuquerque, New Mexico/Montini Catholic (Ill.) 9-0
149 18/12/14/– Caleb Rathjen So. Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny 10-1
157 2/2/2/3 Jared Franek Grad. Harwood, North Dakota/West Fargo 14-0
165 8/7/7/7 Michael Caliendo So. Geneva, Illinois/Batavia 13-1
174 14/–/–/10 Patrick Kennedy Jr. Kasson-Mantorville, Minnesota/Kasson-Mantorville 5-2
184 Aiden Riggins R-Fr. Janesville, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock 9-6
197 –/16/25/17 Zach Glazier Sr. Albert Lea, Minnesota/Albert Lea 13-0
285 Bradley Hill R-Fr. Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf 12-4
^ WIN/Intermat/Flo/AWN
#6 NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS (5-0)
Wt. Rank^ Name Yr. Hometown/High School Record
125 5/7/5/2 Caleb Smith Grad. High Point, North Carolina/SW Guilford 14-2
133 –/30/32/– Jacob Van Dee R-Fr. Union City, Pennsylvania/Cathedral Prep 11-5
141 9/7/8/7 Brock Hardy So. Brigham City, Utah/Box Elder 10-4
149 1/1/1/1 Ridge Lovett R-Jr. Post Falls, Idaho/Post Falls 14-0
157 3/3/3/3 Peyton Robb Sr. Owatonna, Minnesota/Owatonna 14-1
165 –/19/16/16 Antrell Taylor R-Fr. Millard, Nebraska/Millard South 11-2
174 18/30/19/– Bubba Wilson Jr. Manhattan, Kansas/Manhattan 9-4
184 Elise Brown Ton So. Allen, Texas/Allen 17-6
197 11/11/13/14 Silas Allred So. Anderson, Indiana/Shenadoah 13-3
285 Harley Andrews R-Fr. Tuttle, Oklahoma/Tuttle 8-9
^ WIN/Intermat/Flo/AWN
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
