Spencer Lee has been named as the Big Ten Co-Wrestler of the Week. Lee recorded two first period pins in Big Ten competition last week. On Friday he pinned Maximo Renteria of Illinois in 2:22.

On Sunday Lee fell behind early to #9 Matt Ramos of Purdue 8-1. Lee stormed back to tie the match 8-8 before scoring the fall in 2:54.

From HawkeyeSports.com:

In seven matches, Lee has wrestled seven minutes twice and he has been on the mat a total of 25:02. 

The win over Ramos was Lee’s first over a ranked opponent this season and it ran his winning streak to 45 dating back to the 2018-19 season.  Lee has 73 career bonus point victories amongst his 85 career wins.

Lee was previously recognized as the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week once during the 2017-18 season, twice (in consecutive weeks) during the 2020-21 campaign and once last season.

Lee shared the Big Ten Co-Wrestler of the Week with Zac Braunagel of Illinois.

Lee is the second Hawk to be named for this honor joining Cobe Siebrecht that was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week on November 30.

The next dual meet for Iowa will be at home in sold out legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena against #11 Northwestern on Friday, January 13 at 8 PM CST.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The Hawkeye Wrestling Club will have a Pre-Match Social before the Northwestern dual meet this Friday, January 13. The social will be at The Airliner starting at 6 PM. The Airliner is located at 22 S Clinton Street in downtown Iowa City. This is a great opportunity to meet HWC members and talk about everything that is Iowa Wrestling with fellow fans.

Iowa will face #11 Northwestern at 8 PM inside legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena before a sellout crowd.

Also a reminder that the 2023 Hawkeye Wrestling Club Arctic Plunge will be on Saturday, January 14th at the Brown Deer Golf Course in Coralville. This is the biggest fundraiser of the entire year for the HWC. Donations go directly to support the HWC.

The HWC has been a huge part of the success of Iowa Wrestling since it began in 1973.

2023 Hawkeye Wrestling Club Arctic Plunge

Saturday, January 14th

Brown Deer Golf Course at 1900 Country Club Drive in Coralville, Iowa

Doors Open at 3 PM

For more information on the 2023 HWC Arctic Plunge:

hawkeyewrestlingclub.com/events/2023-arctic-plunge/

To donate or become a jumper:

boom.hawkeyewrestlingclub.com/campaign/2023-hwc-arctic-plunge/c433148

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

InterMat released their rankings this morning. It is still Penn State-Iowa for 1-2 in both the Tournament and Dual rankings. It is now Penn State 109.5 and Iowa 78.5 and then Cornell #3 at 63 and Missouri #4 at 59.5. 

Iowa State is now #3 in the Dual Meet rankings followed by #4 Michigan.

Max Murin went from 5 to 4 at 149. Cobe Siebrecht went from 17 to 20 at 157. Patrick Kennedy jumped from 13 to 10 at 165 and at 197 Jacob Warner went from 6 to 8.

The remaining weights stayed the same in the rankings.

The next dual meet will be at home in sold out legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena against #11 Northwestern on Friday, January 13 at 8 PM CST.

January 10 InterMat Rankings

125 Spencer Lee – #1

133 Cullan Schriever – #17

141 Real Woods – #2

149 Max Murin – #4

157 Cobe Siebrecht – #20

165 Patrick Kennedy – #10

174 Nelson Brands – #16

184 Abe Assad – #8

197 Jacob Warner – #8

Hwt Tony Cassioppi – #3

Tournament

1. Penn State – 109.5
2. Iowa – 78.5
3. Cornell – 66
4. Missouri – 60

Dual Meet

1. Penn State
2. Iowa
3. Iowa State
4. Michigan

Full rankings: https://intermatwrestle.com/rankings/college

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The University of Iowa announced the Dean’s List for the 2022 Fall semester. To qualify a student must have a minimum 3.5 GPA on 12 semester hours or more of graded coursework.

The Iowa Wrestling team was well represented.

Dean’s List for the 2022 Fall Semester 

Kolby Franklin – Sports and Recreation Management

Joel Jesuroga – Open major

Gage Marty – Enterprise Leadership

Charles Matthews – Business

Aidan McCain – Mechanical Engineering

Drake Rhodes – Business

Jace Rhodes – Biology

Aiden Riggins – Business

Leif Schroeder – Social Studies History and Education

Cobe Siebrecht – Enterprise Leadership

Congratulations to the Iowa Wrestlers named to this prestigious list.

That is getting it done on the mat and in the classroom.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Willie Saylor of MatScouts released updated high school rankings. Not a lot of changes for our incoming Iowa Wrestling recruits.

Ben Kueter is still #1 at 215 and #1 in the P4P (pound for pound) rankings as the best recruit in the country. Kueter is undefeated in his high school career at City High (Iowa City) and is going for his fourth state title.

Gabe Arnold of City High (Iowa City) remained #3 at 182. Arnold won a second match this season with #5 Tate Naaktgeboren of Linn-Mar, 3-1. The first match in December was 8-3 Arnold. Real good chance we will see Arnold-Naaktgeboren at the MVC Conference Tournament finals (Jan 28 at Waterloo West) and State finals (Feb 18).

Ryder Block remained #3 at 138.

Kale Petersen is not ranked but he did have a big win on Saturday at the Rollin Dyer Invitational in Atlantic. In the 132 lbs. finals Petersen defeated Gable Porter of Underwood, 7-6. Porter is ranked #13 at 132 by MatScouts.

Nate Jesuroga was ranked #1 at 126 and #15 P4P. Jesuroga has yet to compete this season and is no longer in the rankings.

I always want to remind you that Cody Chittum, the overall #1 ranked wrestler in the country for the Class of 2022, is on the way. Chittum will start classes this fall and be a member of the Iowa Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2023.

The future looks great for Iowa Wrestling.

Class of 2023

Nate Jesuroga – Southeast Polk  126 lbs.

Not ranked.

Kale Petersen – Greene County  132 lbs.

Not ranked.

Ryder Block – Waverly-Shell Rock  138 lbs.

#3 at 138

Gabe Arnold – City High (Iowa City)  182 lbs.

#3 at 182

Ben Kueter – City High (Iowa City)  220 lbs.

#1 P4P

#1 at 215

Cody Chittum  149/157  #1 overall recruit in the Class of 2022 and will enroll with the Class of 2023 in August.

Class of 2024

Keyan Hernandez – Billings West (Montana)

Not ranked.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

It was a big weekend of competition for our incoming Iowa Wrestling recruits. The highlight has to be Kale Petersen winning the 132 lbs. title at the Rollin Dyer Invitational in Atlantic. Petersen defeated University of Virginia commit Gable Porter of Underwood 7-6 in the finals. Porter is ranked #13 in the country at 132 lbs. by MatScouts.

Ryder Block had a great showing at The Clash in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Block was 6-0 with five pins and a tech fall.

Gabe Arnold and Ben Kueter won titles at the Jack Mendenhall Invitational in Ames. Arnold had two tech falls and a decision. Kueter had three first period pins with a :32 pin in the finals.

Kueter competed at the Under Armour All American Game in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday. Kueter is one of the best high school linebackers in the country and signed a letter of intent for both Iowa Wrestling and Iowa Football.

Keyan Hernandez had his first loss of the season and of his high school career in the 120 lbs. finals of the Tom LeProwse Invitational in Bozeman, MT. Hernandez dropped a 6-3 decision to  Mason Gutenberger of Belgrade in the finals. 

I will be back next week to keep you up to date on our incoming Iowa Wrestling recruits.

Class of 2023

Nate Jesuroga – Southeast Polk  126 lbs.

Did not compete.

Kale Petersen – Greene County  132 lbs.

Sat, Jan 7 – at Rollin Dyer Invitational (Atlantic)

Champ. Round 1 – Kale Petersen (Greene County) 22-0 won by fall over Jadyn Cox (Atlantic) 2-18 (Fall 1:52)

Quarterfinal – Kale Petersen (Greene County) 22-0 won by fall over Owen Mayall (Humboldt) 10-9 (Fall 1:41)

Semifinal – Kale Petersen (Greene County) 22-0 won by major decision over Dalton Rowe (Bondurant-Farrar) 13-4 (MD 13-3)

1st Place Match – Kale Petersen (Greene County) 22-0 won by decision over Gable Porter (Underwood) 22-1 (Dec 7-6)

Ryder Block – Waverly-Shell Rock  138 lbs.

Fri and Sat Jan 6-7 – at The Clash (La Crosse, WI)

Ryder Block (Waverly – Shell Rock) over Isaac Yetzer (Faribault) Fall 1:19

Ryder Block (Waverly – Shell Rock) over Trevor Paulson (LaCrosse Aquinas) Fall 3:35

Ryder Block (Waverly – Shell Rock) over Mark Svoboda (Hastings) Fall 4:00

Ryder Block (Waverly – Shell Rock) over Darren Adams (Osage) Fall 1:53

Ryder Block (Waverly – Shell Rock) over Landon Andrews (Jackson County Central) TF 19-3

Ryder Block (Waverly – Shell Rock) over Zayne Novek (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Fall 1:42

Gabe Arnold – City High (Iowa City)  182 lbs.

Sat, Jan 7 – at Jack Mendenhall Invitational (Ames)

Champ. Round 1 – Gabe Arnold (Iowa City, City High) 19-0 received a bye () (Bye)

Quarterfinal – Gabe Arnold (Iowa City, City High) 19-0 won by tech fall over Kieran Polking (Carroll) 6-13 (TF-1.5 3:30 (26-11))

Semifinal – Gabe Arnold (Iowa City, City High) 19-0 won by tech fall over Xander Kenworthy (Ankeny) 15-3 (TF-1.5 5:02 (25-9))

1st Place Match – Gabe Arnold (Iowa City, City High) 20-0 won by decision over Brody Sampson (Ballard) 23-1 (Dec 14-7)

Ben Kueter – City High (Iowa City)  220 lbs.

Sat, Jan 7 – at Jack Mendenhall Invitational (Ames)

Champ. Round 1 – Ben Kueter (Iowa City, City High) 17-0 received a bye () (Bye)

Quarterfinal – Ben Kueter (Iowa City, City High) 17-0 won by fall over Bret Scheffler (Valley, West Des Moines) 11-10 (Fall 1:02)

Semifinal – Ben Kueter (Iowa City, City High) 17-0 won by fall over Henry Christensen (Ballard) 20-4 (Fall 2:00)

1st Place Match – Ben Kueter (Iowa City, City High) 18-0 won by fall over Will Hinrichs (Ankeny) 19-5 (Fall 0:32)

Class of 2024

Keyan Hernandez – Billings West (Montana)  120 lbs.

Fri and Sat Jan 6-7 – at Tom LeProwse Invitational (Bozeman, MT)

Champ. Round 1 – Keyan Hernandez (Billings West) 16-1 won by fall over Ben Tierney (Butte) 0-2 (Fall 0:50)

Champ. Round 2 – Keyan Hernandez (Billings West) 16-1 won by fall over Blake Eatman (Belgrade) 8-9 (Fall 1:08)

Quarterfinal – Keyan Hernandez (Billings West) 16-1 won by fall over Ty Peterson (Cody) 16-5 (Fall 4:30)

Semifinal – Keyan Hernandez (Billings West) 16-1 won by decision over Gavin Nedens (Huntley Project) 22-8 (Dec 5-0)

1st Place Match – Mason Gutenberger (Belgrade) 19-1 won by decision over Keyan Hernandez (Billings West) 16-1 (Dec 6-3)

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Iowa will hit the road for a Sunday, January 8 Big Ten dual meet with Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana at 1 PM CST. Purdue last competed on Jan 1-2 at the Southern Scuffle. The Hawks defeated #30 Illinois Friday night 25-19 to start the Big Ten season.

Matches with ranked wrestlers will be #1 Spencer Lee vs. #9 Matt Ramos at 125. Ramos recently won the Southern Scuffle title at 125 and won the 2022 U.S. Open at 57 kg. It will be #3 Kendall Coleman vs. #17 Cobe Siebrecht at 157. 

Parker Filius is ranked #15 at 141 for Purdue. #2 Real Woods did not compete against Illinois and Drew Bennett stepped in for the varsity spot. 

I believe there is a real good chance we will see the return of Brody Teske in the lineup at 133. Teske earned the top spot at 133 but has been out with an injury. Teske only competed in the opening dual of the season on November 13 against Cal Baptist when he won a 6-4 decision.

Purdue is coached by former Iowa Hawkeye Tony Ersland of Humboldt, Iowa. Ersland was a member of national title teams in the Dan Gable era of 1995-97.

The Iowa-Purdue meet will be shown live on BTN. As always you can listen online at iheartradio or on the radio at 800 AM KXIC as Mark Ironside and Steven Grace bring you all of the action.

#2 Iowa at Purdue

Sunday, January 8

1 PM CST

Live on BTN

#2 IOWA HAWKEYES (7-0) 

2022-23 Overall Wt. Rank^ Name Yr. Hometown/High School (Last School) Record 

125 1/1/1 Spencer Lee RS Sr. Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional 6-0 

133 12/–/– Brody Teske Jr. Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge (Penn State/UNI) 1-0 -or- –/17/– Cullan Schriever So. Mason City, Iowa/Mason City 7-4 

141 3/2/3 Real Woods Sr. Albuquerque, N.M./Montini Catholic (Ill.) (Stanford) 6-0 

149 9/5/9 Max Murin RS Sr. Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria 11-1 

157 17/17/15 Cobe Siebrecht Jr. Lisbon, Iowa/Lisbon 6-1 

165 12/13/15 Patrick Kennedy So. Kasson-Mantorville, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville 10-1 

174 18/16/15 Nelson Brands Sr. Iowa City, Iowa/West 2-2 

184 9/8/8 Abe Assad Jr. Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North 11-1 

197 6/6/8 Jacob Warner RS Sr. Tolono, Ill./Washington 9-2 

285 3/3/3 Tony Cassioppi Sr. Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah 12-0

PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (4-3) 

2022-23 Overall Wt. Rank^ Name Yr. Hometown/High School Record 

125 8/9/6 Matt Ramos RS So. Lockport, Ill./Lockport 17-2 

133 Dustin Norris RS Fr. Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle 8-8 

141 –/15/16 Parker Filius RS Sr. Havre, Mont./Havre 12-4 

149 Trey Kruse Jr. Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater 6-10 -or- Jaden Reynolds RS Fr. Avon, Ind./Avon 3-8 

157 4/3/4 Kendall Coleman RS Sr. South Holland, Ill./Mt. Carmel 19-2 

165 Stoney Buell RS Fr. Dundee, Mich./Dundee 7-8 -or- Cooper Noehre Jr. Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central 7-5 

174 Brody Baumann Fr. Evansville, Ind./Mater Dei 6-4 -or- Macartney Parkinson Jr. Evansville, Ind./Mater Dei 5-10 

184 Ben Vanadia RS Fr. Brecksville, Ohio/Brecksville-Broadview 9-8 

197 Hayden Filipovich RS Fr. Indianapolis, Ind./Lutheran High School of Indianapolis 5-12 

285 Tristan Ruhlman RS Fr. Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington South 11-7 -or- Hayden Copass RS Fr. Georgetown, Ill./Westville 3-3

(WIN/Intermat/AWN rankings) 

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Our recruits will be back in competition for the first big weekend of tournaments in the new year. Ryder Block will be competing at The Clash in La Crosse, Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday. This is always a tough dual meet tournament. This year thirty-two teams from eight states will be competing.

Keyan Hernandez will be at the Tom LeProwse Invitational in Bozeman, Montana on Friday and Saturday. Nate Jesuroga will be at the Cheesehead Invitational on Friday and Saturday in Kaukauna, Wisconsin.

On Saturday Kale Petersen will be at the Rollin Dyer Invitational in Atlantic. Gabe Arnold and Ben Kueter will be at the Jack Mendenhall Invitational in Ames.

I will post a blog with results.

Class of 2023

Nate Jesuroga – Southeast Polk  126 lbs.

Fri-Sat, Jan 6-7 – at Cheesehead Invitational (Kaukauna, WI)

Kale Petersen – Greene County  132 lbs.

Sat, Jan 7 – at Rollin Dyer Invitational (Atlantic)

Ryder Block – Waverly-Shell Rock  138 lbs.

Fri and Sat Jan 6-7 – at The Clash (La Crosse, WI)

Gabe Arnold – City High (Iowa City)  182 lbs.

Sat, Jan 7 – at Jack Mendenhall Invitational (Ames)

Ben Kueter – City High (Iowa City)  220 lbs.

Sat, Jan 7 – at Jack Mendenhall Invitational (Ames)

Class of 2024

Keyan Hernandez – Billings West (Montana)  120 lbs.

Fri and Sat Jan 6-7 – at Tom LeProwse Invitational (Bozeman, MT)

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The Iowa Hawkeyes will start off the new year at home in Big Ten competition against #30 Illinois on Friday, January 6 at 7 PM. As with all Big Ten dual meets there will be some top matches to look forward to. A sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena will be ready to go.

With the probable lineups that were released by the University of Iowa we may see the entire starting lineup for the first time this season. Spencer Lee is the only wrestler listed at 125. 

Illinois will be a rankings favorite in several matches.   Brody Teske and #17 Cullan Schriever are listed at 133 to face #10 Lucas Byrd. At 165 we will have #10 Danny Braunagel vs. #13 Patrick Kennedy and #10 Edmond Ruth vs. #16 Nelson Brands at 174.

Listed at 197 is #6 Jacob Warner vs. #13 Zac Braunagel and at 184  #8 Abe Assad vs. #29 Dylan Connell.

Every single match is important for seeding at Big Tens and the NCAA Championships.

The intensity always seems to go up once you hit the Big Ten portion of the schedule. I am looking for an entertaining dual meet.

The Iowa-Illinois dual meet will be streamed live on Big Ten+. KXIC AM 800 will cover the meet on the radio with Mark Ironside and Steven Grace.

The Hawks will be on the road at Purdue Sunday, January 8 at 1 PM CST. That dual will be live on BTN.

#30 Illinois at #2 Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Friday, January 6

7 PM CST

#2 IOWA HAWKEYES (7-0) 

2022-23 Overall Wt. Rank^ Name Yr. Hometown/High School (Last School) Record 

125 1/1/1 Spencer Lee RS Sr. Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional 5-0 

133 12/–/– Brody Teske Jr. Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge (Penn State/UNI) 1-0 -or- –/17/– Cullan Schriever So. Mason City, Iowa/Mason City 7-3 

141 3/2/3 Real Woods Sr. Albuquerque, N.M./Montini Catholic (Ill.) (Stanford) 6-0 

149 9/5/9 Max Murin RS Sr. Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria 10-1 

157 17/17/15 Cobe Siebrecht Jr. Lisbon, Iowa/Lisbon 6-0 

165 12/13/15 Patrick Kennedy So. Kasson-Mantorville, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville 9-1 

174 18/16/15 Nelson Brands Sr. Iowa City, Iowa/West 2-1 

184 9/8/8 Abe Assad Jr. Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North 10-1 

197 6/6/8 Jacob Warner RS Sr. Tolono, Ill./Washington 9-1 

285 3/3/3 Tony Cassioppi Sr. Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah 11-0

ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (2-2) 

2022-23 Overall Wt. Rank^ Name Yr. Hometown/High School (Last School) Record 

125 Maximo Renteria So. Clovis, Calif./Buchanan 3-3 

133 8/10/13 Lucas Byrd RS So. Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle 14-3 

141 Danny Pucino So. Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville 8-5 

149 Kevon Davenport RS So. Pontiac, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central 6-7 

157 Anthony Federico So. Belleville, Ill./Althoff Catholic 5-7 

165 16/11/11 Danny Braunagel RS Jr. Belleville, Ill./Althoff Catholic 15-3 

174 7/10/8 Edmond Ruth RS So. Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township 18-1 

184 –/29/– Dylan Connell RS Fr. Marengo, Ill./Marian Central Catholic 12-9 

197 15/13/10 Zac Braunagel RS Jr. Belleville, Ill./Althoff Catholic 13-3 

285 Matt Wroblewski RS Sr. Mt. Prospect, Ill./Prospect 10-7

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The first InterMat rankings of the year has been released. It is still Penn State-Iowa for 1-2 in both the Tournament and Dual rankings. It is now Penn State 108 and Iowa 79. Cornell and Missouri flipped spots in the Tournament rankings. It is now Cornell #3 at 63 and Missouri #4 at 59.5. 

The Dual Meet rankings remained the same for 1-4 with Penn State, Iowa, Arizona State, and Michigan.

Cullan Schriever is now ranked #17 at 133 replacing teammate Brody Teske. Max Murin went from 6 to 5 at 149. Cobe Siebrecht went from 19 to 17 at 157 and at 197 Jacob Warner went from 7 to 6.

The remaining weights stayed the same in the rankings.

The next dual meet will be at home in sold out legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena against #30 Illinois on Friday, January 6 at 7 PM for Fan Appreciation Day.

January 4 InterMat Rankings

125 Spencer Lee – #1

133 Cullan Schriever – #17

141 Real Woods – #2

149 Max Murin – #5

157 Cobe Siebrecht – #17

165 Patrick Kennedy – #13

174 Nelson Brands – #16

184 Abe Assad – #8

197 Jacob Warner – #6

Hwt Tony Cassioppi – #3

Tournament

1. Penn State – 103.5
2. Iowa – 76
3. Missouri- 66
4. Cornell – 63.5

Dual Meet

1. Penn State
2. Iowa
3. Arizona State
4. Michigan

Full rankings: https://intermatwrestle.com/rankings/college

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!