Friday night kicks off the first Big Ten duals of the season as No. 7 Ohio State takes on Illinois, No. 14 Rutgers wrestles No. 21 Indiana, No. 3 Iowa battles No. 6 Nebraska and No. 12 Michigan competes with Maryland. These are the first of many duals this weekend, and they’ll start of one of the most exciting periods of the college wrestling season.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Big Ten teams competing this weekend and what they’ll need to do to capture their first conference wins of 2024:
Questions about Iowa’s lineup lingerÂ
With 10 athletes in the top five of their respective weight classes, the Hawkeyes field a formidable team, but in order to stop the equally tough Cornhuskers, Iowa might have to get a little creative with its lineup, much like it did against Iowa State.
On paper, the Hawks are favored in five weights in this dual, all of which come in the first six of the 10 weights — and none of which will be easy. At 125 pounds, Iowa’s Drake Ayala is set to take on Nebraska’s No. 7 Caleb Smith, an athlete Ayala beat 5-2 at the Southern Scuffle in 2022 but someone who has since notched wins this year over No. 2 Matt Ramos, No. 15 Brandon Kalyor and No. 19 Troy Spratley. Iowa will need Ayala to secure another top-10 match to set the tone.
The 133-pound weight class favors the Hawks a little more and will likely feature an expected starter, as No. 7 Brody Teske will likely face off against No. 30 Jacob Van Dee. Teske, like Ayala, also has a head-to-head decision win over his Cornhusker foe, though that last match was close, 5-4, at the Solider Salute in December. Teske’s lineup spot hasn’t been given all year, as Iowa also has depth with Cullan Schriever at the weight, but Teske won a bracket with Schriever in it at the Salute, likely solidifying his spot for the short term.
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Real Woods, Iowa’s No. 1-ranked 141 pounder and the most consistent performer on the team thus far, will take the mat after Teske and compete in one of the biggest matches of the dual. His expected opponent is No. 7 Brock Hardy, and while Woods majored Hardy at the NCAA tournament, the previous two matches went Woods’ way by a narrower margin, 2-1 and 6-4.
Winning these first three bouts would allow Iowa to feel more comfortable heading into 149 pounds, the first weight where Iowa’s projected starter is new to the lineup and the first weight where Nebraska will have an advantage. Iowa listed No. 12 Caleb Rathjen as a starter this week after Rathjen’s win at the Soldier Salute. If Rathjen is indeed the athlete who takes the mat, he’ll be replacing Oklahoma State transfer Victor Voinovich after Voinovich started in Iowa’s first four duals. Rathjen could head-to-head with No. 1 Ridge Lovett of Nebraska now. Lovett is 14-0 on the year with 60+ percent bonus, and he’s notched wins over All-Americans Dylan D’Emilio and Caleb Henson. He’ll be ready to rock against Rathjen.
Following Lovett, Iowa will be favored at 157 and 165 pounds with North Dakota State All-American transfers Jared Franek and Mikey Calieno, but they’ll face a gritty No. 3 Peyton Robb and a tough No. 19 Antrell Taylor, respectively. It’s after 165 pounds, though, where things start to get really interesting.
Iowa has Patrick Kennedy, Aiden Riggins, Zach Glazier and Bradley Hill listed as probables at 174, 184, 197 and 285 pounds. These have, for the most part, been Iowa’s starters since the Cy-Hawk dual. But Iowa has options.
They could stick with this lineup, certainly. If they do that, they are not favored to win any of those four matchups, though Kennedy vs. Nebraska’s No. 30 Bubba Wilson could be a closer match than rankings suggest.
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They could also add in true freshman Gabe Arnold, either at 174 pounds in place of Kennedy or up at 184 pounds, a weight Arnold said on The Bader Show he would never wrestle again, but a weight at which he beat All-American Will Feldkamp at the Cy-Hawk dual to help secure the team win. Arnold isn’t ranked, given that he might ultimately end up redshirting this year, but he did win the 174-pound Soldier Salute bracket (that also had Kennedy in it) and beat All-American Travis Wittlake in the Oregon State vs. Iowa dual. Could Arnold beat Wilson? Possibly. Is he a better matchup against Wilson than Kennedy? Maybe. Will Arnold wrestle? Iowa’s probables suggest no. But we’ve seen the Hawks change things up before.
The last wrinkle comes at heavyweight, where Nebraska and Iowa both have choices. Last weekend against Wyoming, Nash Hutmacher, a current football player for Nebraska and four-time high school wrestling state champ, made his collegiate debut for the Huskers and pinned his opponent. Nebraska, however, opted to wrestle current starter Harley Andrews against Northern Iowa where Andrews took a major decision loss. Both athletes are listed as probables against Iowa.
The Hawks, however, list just one probable, Hill, yet they also have a football player they could debut at heavyweight in true freshman Ben Kueter. Kueter is not listed on the probables but did publicly commit to both wrestle and play football in college. He’s a wild card at the weight right now, given that he hasn’t competed in a college match, but a football player vs. football player heavyweight match would be an incredible finale, particularly if the dual depended on the outcome of that match, which it just might.
Michigan looks to reset against the Terps, SpartansÂ
The Michigan Wolverines have already had an eventful 2024. After picking up four transfers in the offseason, Michigan debuted another new face last week in All-American Austin Gomez at 149 pounds. Even with Gomez in the lineup, however, the Wolverines couldn’t hold off No. 15 South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits took five of 10 weights, with four of those wins coming at weights where Michigan did not field its ranked starter. The Wolverines may not need their full roster to hold off the Terps and the Spartans this week, but missing those big names for the Maize and Blue is concerning at this point in the season.
If everyone is healthy and ready to go on Friday night, Michigan will be favored in seven weights against Maryland, including 125 pounds, 149 pounds, 157 pounds, 165 pounds, 174 pounds, 184 pounds and 285 pounds. All but one of those weights feature an All-American, too — All-Americans who can put up serious team points with relentless offense.
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Maryland’s path to delivering Michigan its second-consecutive upset loss is two-fold. First, if Michigan All-American Michael DeAugustino is not ready to go at 125 pounds and the Wolverines send out backup Christian Tanefeu, Maryland’s starter will need a win. The margins will be small, though, given how close Tanefeu wrestled against No. 17 Tanner Jordan last week. Similarly, at 157 pounds, Michigan sat All-American Will Lewan last week and wrestled Zack Mattin instead. If the Wolverines put forward a similar lineup, Maryland could sneak a win at 157 pounds from No. 32 Michael North, though Mattin is a legitimate competitor who is 8-5 on the year and could give North a match. Beyond winning these toss-ups against Michigan’s potential backups, the Terps would likely need bonus points from No. 19 Braxton Brown at 133 pounds, No. 14 Kal Miller at 141 pounds and No. 5 Jaxon Smith at 197 pounds. All three of these athletes have looked tough this year, and they’ll have to come ready to battle when the Wolverines come to town.
Michigan will also wrestle Michigan State this weekend, a team, like the Terps, that sits just outside the top 25 with half a dozen ranked wrestlers. Michigan will be favored in all nine of the weights featuring a ranked athlete against their cross-town rival, with the best matchup, on paper, coming at 165 pounds, where No. 5 Cameron Amine could face No. 11 Caleb Fish. Amine has not wrestled since Cliff Keen on Dec. 1, while Fish has had 12 matches since then. Fish is 0-4 against Amine with one of those matches going into sudden victory, but he was also pinned by Michigan’s backup Beau Mantanona at Midlands, so neither of these competitors is an ideal matchup for Fish. Regardless of who takes the mat for Michigan for this bout, Fish will have a test ahead of himself.
Michigan, on paper, should roll through this weekend, pick up two wins and reset itself heading into next week where they will meet Penn State on Friday, Jan. 19. Though as the South Dakota State dual proved, wrestling is a team sport, and the health of a squad’s starters can have a serious impact on the result in these duals where all ten weights count.
Badgers prepare for 3 more non-conference bouts on this Big Ten opening weekendÂ
Wisconsin is one of the few Big Ten teams taking on multiple teams beyond the conference this weekend, as the Badgers wrestle Virginia, No. 16 Navy and No. 19 Oklahoma on Friday night and Saturday. Wisconsin will be favored over Virginia, but the Sooners and the Midshipmen have the edge in their duals.
Individually, Wisconsin will have six total ranked matches featuring four different athletes and will have the advantage, at least on paper, in all of them.
Here’s the full list:
- 149 pounds: No. 22 Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) vs. No. 30 Willie McDougald (Oklahoma)
- 165 pounds: No. 6 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) vs. No. 21 Andrew Cerniglia (Navy)
- 165 pounds: No. 6 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) vs. No. 29 Cael Carlson (Oklahoma)
- 174 pounds: No. 18 Max Maylor (Wisconsin) vs. No. 26 Danny Wask (Navy)
- 174 pounds: No. 18 Max Maylor (Wisconsin) vs. No. 29 Tate Picklo (Oklahoma)
- 174 pounds: No. 18 Max Maylor (Wisconsin) vs. No. 13 Justin McCoy (Virginia)
- 184 pounds: No. 16 Shane Liegel (Wisconsin) vs. No. 33 David Key (Navy)
Hamiti, Wisconsin’s lone All-American and the 2023 Big Ten champion, leads the way and could have a test in No. 21 Andrew Cerniglia, though Hamiti has looked tough all year and beaten higher-ranked opponents, including No. 9 Peyton Hall. He also already wrestled — and beat — No. 29 Cael Carlson, his likely opponent in the Oklahoma match, in the Michigan State Open. Hamiti is at a level where he could compete for a national title this year, and he’ll be looking to go 3-0 with bonus this weekend.
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Max Maylor, a sixth-year senior, is the only other Badger with at least two ranked matchups on the schedule, and he’ll actually have ranked opponents in all three of his matches. More wins against these top-33 athletes would solidify Maylor as a national qualifier-caliber wrestler and someone who could score points at NCAAs. Maylor is 6-2 on the year and has already beaten McCoy and well as as No. 19 Alex Cramer. He’s capable of being a key asset for the Badgers in the postseason.
No. 14 Rutgers vs. Purdue sets up premier matchup at 125 poundsÂ
The team duals across the conference will bring tons of excitement, but this weekend is also likely to shine a spotlight on some individuals, particularly those competing in the most chaotic weight class this year: 125 pounds. When Rutgers travels to West Lafayette, Indiana this weekend, fans could see a rematch between two top-15 125-pounders in Matt Ramos of Purdue and Dean Peterson of Rutgers, as Peterson looks to get back on track after a loss to Tyler Klinsky and Ramos looks to hold down his No. 2 spot in the country against a scrappy, hungry Scarlet Knight lightweight.
In their last meeting, Ramos pinned Peterson in the Big Ten tournament last year, but this season, Ramos has taken two more losses than Peterson, not including a loss he took to high school Marcus Blaze at the Clarion Open. Peterson, meanwhile, looked like he might push Ramos and enter the title contender conversation after his win over Eddie Ventresca and the previous undefeated record, but Klinsky stopped that momentum, sending Peterson down to No. 13 in the rankings. This match against Ramos could propel him back into the top 10, but Ramos has that unique funk that has given athletes across the country, including three-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee, problems.
Two days before wrestling Purdue, Rutgers will also wrestle Indiana in a bout where Moore will once again have one of the lone ranked matches, as he prepares to wrestle No. 23 Dan Fongaro. The Hooisers have five ranked athletes, but only two — Fongaro and No. 14 Graham Rooks — are listed as probables.
Rutgers is a sneaky deep team across the board that can give their opponents problems, particularly at the upper weights, and, without an overwhelming amount of ranked matches, expect Rutgers to put on a show against both Purdue and Indiana.
Penn State, Ohio State set to show off strengthÂ
While all of the previous duals mentioned have their fair share of dramatic storylines, none of them will field the same number of top-ranked athletes as Penn State’s dual against Indiana. The Nittany Lions boast four No.1-ranked athletes on their own roster, including No. 1 Levi Haines, No. 1 Carter Starocci, No. 1 Aaron Brooks and No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet. Against Indiana, none of those athletes will have ranked opponents, as the Hoosiers did not list No. 21 Brayton Lee or No. 9 DJ Washington as projected starters at 157 pounds and 174 pounds. Penn State’s No. 2 Beau Bartlett and No. 10 Mitchell Mesenbrink will have ranked opponents, however, in No. 23 Dan Fongaro and No. 23 Tyler Lillard. The Mesenbrink vs. Lillard match will be particularly interesting just as a way to gather more data points on Mesenbrink, though the Wisconsin product and Nittany Lion freshman seems to be on a tear after teching No. 13 Matthew Olguin last weekend.
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Penn State will be favored in eight matches overall in this match, with the only two exceptions being 125 pounds where neither team currently has a ranked wrestler, and 149 pounds, where Indiana’s No. 14 Graham Rooks will be expected to take on either Tyler Kasak or Davis Evans, both of whom would be sliding in for All-American Shayne Van Ness, who is out with injury. None of Penn State’s opponents has scored more than 10 points against the Nittany Lions, and, unless Indiana pulls off an upset with bonus, matching or exceeding that total will be tough. Look for Penn State to bonus its way through this dual led by NCAA finalists Haines and Kerkvliet and NCAA champs Brooks and Starocci.
While Penn State may be the unanimous No. 1 team in the country and rolling through everyone in its path, No. 7 Ohio State actually has more ranked wrestlers and will also be contending for a team trophy in March. All 10 starters for the Buckeyes hold down top-33 spots, led by No. 3 Jesse Mendez, No. 5 Dylan D’Emilio and No. 8 Carson Kharcla. Three ranked starters, including Kharchla, however, are not listed on the probables for Ohio State’s Friday night dual against Illinois, creating some interesting lineup shuffles that could result in true freshman taking the mat.
In Kharchla’s place, the Bucks are set to wrestle redshirt junior Bryce Hepner against Illinois freshman Chris Moore, and while Hepner isn’t ranked yet because Kharchla has had the starting spot, Hepner has wrestled tough all year, posting a 6-1 record with his only loss coming against Julian Ramirez. For Illinois to stay in this dual, the Illini will need a win here against a Buckeye who is underrated and sneaky.
One weight later, the Illini will roll out their biggest star, No. 3 Edmond Ruth. Undefeated with the exception of a loss to 165-pounder Keegan O’Toole, Ruth will be expected to wrestle Ohio State freshman Rocco Welsh, according to the probables, and while Welsh could be seen as a backup simply because he could redshirt this year and sit behind Kharchla, the rookie is 10-0 on the year with a ranked win over Jared Simma of Northern Iowa. Welsh is the real deal, and while he hasn’t faced anyone of Ruth’s caliber, he’s not someone the Illini leader should overlook.
Ohio State will also have a backup in at 184 pounds with Ryder Rogotzke, Dylan Connell, Seth Shumate and Gavin Bell all listed in place of Gavin Hoffman. Whoever is selected for the spot will take on Dylan Connell of Illinois.
The Fighting Illini come into this dual with the 8-1 Buckeyes on a two-match losing streak after dropping to Pittsburgh and Missouri, and they’ll have an uphill battle in Columbus as well, even with Ohio State fielding backups and non-ranked wrestlers in three of their 10 ranked weights.