The No. 4 Nebraska wrestling (5-0, 0-0 Big Ten) will take on the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday night at the Devaney Center in a Top Five Matchup. The dual begins at 6:30pm and will be televised nationally on BTN, with Tim Johnson and Shane Sparks on the call.
Iowa (5-0, 0-0 Big Ten) enters Friday’s dual with a recent strong performance at the Soldier Salute and a pair of dual victories over Penn and Columbia. The Hawkeyes’ projected lineup features six wrestlers ranked inside the Top 15 of their weight class: No. 5 Drake Ayala (125), No. 7 Brody Teske (133), No. 1 Real Woods (141), No. 12 Caleb Rathjen (149), No. 2 Jared Franek (157) and No. 7 Michael Caliendo (165).
Competition will be fierce as four of the 10 bouts potentially feature Top 15 matchups. Nine Huskers enter the weekend ranked in the Top 30, led by No. 1 Ridge Lovett (149), No. 3 Peyton Robb (157) and Lenny Pinto (184), and No. 7 Caleb Smith (125) and Brock Hardy (141). This group boasts a collective 63-9 record and has scored 77 dual points for the Big Red this season.
History: Nebraska and Iowa meet for the 35th time in series history. The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series 26-7-1 and have won the last 14 matchups between the teams. The Big Red last defeated Iowa on Jan. 14, 2006, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, 24-13.
Last Time Out: The Huskers collected two dual wins over Wyoming and UNI on Saturday at the Devaney Center in front of 2,503 fans.
Up Next: Nebraska will face Minnesota on the road, Friday, Jan. 19, at 9 p.m. CT on BTN, before returning home to host Purdue on Sunday, Jan. 21, at 1 p.m. CT on B1G+.
Nebraska’s Projected Lineup:125 – No. 7 Caleb Smith (14-2)133 – Kyle Burwick (3-2) or No. 30 Jacob Van Dee (11-5)141 – No. 7 Brock Hardy (10-4)149 – No. 1 Ridge Lovett (14-0)157 – No. 3 Peyton Robb (14-1)165 – No. 19 Antrell Taylor (11-1)174 – No. 30 Bubba Wilson (9-4) or Elise Brown Ton (17-6)184 – No. 3 Lenny Pinto (11-2)197 – No. 11 Silas Allred (13-3)HWT – Harley Andrews (8-9) or Nash Hutmacher (1-0)
Iowa’s Projected Lineup:125 – No. 5 Drake Ayala (13-1)133 – No. 7 Brody Teske (8-2)141 – No. 1 Real Woods (9-0)149 – No. 12 Caleb Rathjen (10-1)157 – No. 2 Jared Franek (14-0)165 – No. 7 Michael Caliendo (13-1)174 – Patrick Kennedy (5-2)184 – Aiden Riggins (9-6)197 – No. 16 Zach Glazier (13-0)HWT – Bradley Hill (12-4)
