The Iowa Hawkeyes, led by Tom Brand, had won nine straight games.
However, going into their last match of January, Cael Sanderson’s Penn State wrestlers had been playing at a higher level.
Two teams with a 9-0 record. Friday night’s State College matchup pits No. 1 against No. 2.
Can Iowa snap the Nittany Lions’ winning streak of 65 games?
These are the anticipated lineups based on InterMat rankings.
Iowa vs. Penn State
125: No. 25 Joey Cruz, Iowa (11-6), vs. No. 7 Luke Lilledahl, PSU (10-1).
133: Drake Ayala, Iowa (11-1) vs. Braedan Davis, PSU (7-2) at number seven.
141: Ryder Block, Iowa (2-4) vs. No. 3 Beau Bartlett, PSU (12-0).
149: No. 2 Kyle Parco, Iowa (13-0) vs. No. 4 Shayne Van Ness, PSU (11-1).
157: No. 1 Jacori Teemer, Iowa (3-1) vs. No. 3 Tyler Kasak, PSU (11-0).
165: PSU’s Mitchell Mesenbrink, ranked first (13-0), takes on Iowa’s Mikey Caliendo, ranked second (13-0).
174: No. 6 Patrick Kennedy, Iowa (8-1) vs. No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU (11-1).
184: No. 5 Gabe Arnold, Iowa (11-1) vs. No. 1 Carter Starocci, PSU (12-0).
197: No. 1 Stephen Buchanan, Iowa (13-0), vs. No. 4 Josh Barr, PSU (10-0).
285: No. 11 Ben Kueter, Iowa (10-2) vs. No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet, PSU (12-0).