WHO: #8 Iowa State (3-0)
WHEN: 2:00 PM CT (Sunday, November 26, 2023)
WHERE: Hilton Coliseum (Ames, IA)
TV: ESPN (Shawn Kenney, Jim Gibbons, Jordan Burroughs, Quint Kessenich)
RADIO: AM 800 KXIC (Steven Grace, Mark Ironside) | YouTube
MOBILE: espn.com/app
ONLINE: espn.com/watch
FOLLOW: @IowaAwesome | @Hawks_Wrestling | @IowaonBTN
For the first time in its 44-year history, ESPN is set to air a regular season wrestling dual. The recipient of that unique honor is the 87th Cy-Hawk dual on Sunday. These aren't the most elite iterations of these Iowa and Iowa State teams -- but they do look very evenly-matched and this could be one of the tightest and most dramatic Cy-Hawk duals since, well, last year, when the Hawkeyes edged the Cyclones, 18-15.
Iowa has dominated the series for the last two decades, winning the last 18 consecutive meetings. The last Iowa State win came in 2004; the last ISU win in Ames came in 1987. Iowa has won all 12 iterations since the Dan Gable Traveling Trophy was introduced in 2010 and Tom Brands has a personal record of 17-0 against Iowa State since becoming Iowa head coach.
This dual win is one that Kevin Dresser and the Cyclones want badly; they're going to put everything they have into winning this dual. Iowa will need to be ready to match that effort from the jump on Sunday afternoon.
PROBABLE LINEUPS
Match thoughts:
125: In a dual this tight, all the matches will be pivotal, but the toss-up matches (like this one) could be especially crucial. The importance of this one could be elevated even further if the dual starts at 125 too -- if Kysen Terukina wins and gets the Hilton crowd revved up, it could give ISU a lot of momentum for the remainder of the dual.
Drake Ayala needs to bounce back from a very disappointing loss to Oregon State's Brandon Kaylor last week, too. If he has podium aspirations this season, he needs to win matches like this.
133: Brody Teske was a very pleasant surprise with a dominant major decision win last week; Iowa will need that same version of Teske on the mat here. Evan Frost has shown an ability to put up a lot of points so far in his young career, so this should be an interesting match. 125 and 133 are weights where Iowa needs wins if it wants to win this dual, though.
141: Anthony Echemendia is 3-0 this season with three tech fall wins and he has the ability to score points in bunches. He's also only wrestled 25 total matches since the start of the 2020-21 season and the only time he's wrestled someone of Real Woods' caliber, he got pinned (by former Iowa 141er Jaydin Eierman in the 2020-21 season). Woods needs to control this match and if he can get his tilts going on the mat, bonus points are a definite possibility.
149: Casey Swiderski was a Round of 12 finisher in the NCAA Tournament at 141 lbs last season and he's looked strong up at 149 this season, going 6-0 with five bonus point wins, albeit against mainly overmatched opposition. Victor Voinovich went 2-2 at the NCAA Tournament last year and is 6-1 so far this season, but needed to dig deep to get by Oregon State's Nash Singleton in OT last week. This very much feels like a toss-up weight.
157: The showcase match of the dual is at 165, with two top-five wrestlers squaring off, but 157 isn't too far behind on the interest scale. Jared Franek is a returning All-American (4th place) and the #2-ranked wrestler at this weight and the definite favorite in the match -- but Cody Chittum was one of the top recruits in the nation and loaded with talent. (He was also set to be an Iowa wrestler until he switched to Iowa State earlier this year.) This is a must-have match for Iowa.
165: This is the only match of the dual featuring two wrestlers ranked in the Top 10 at their weight, as well as the only match featuring two returning All-Americans. David Carr has had a tremendous career to date -- 117-4 overall, three-time All-American, two-time NCAA finalist, 2021 NCAA champion. While he and Michael Caliendo, a North Dakota State transfer, were both in the Big 12 last season, their paths didn't cross during the regular season or at the Big 12 Tournament. A win for Caliendo here would be a big upset in Iowa's favor for the dual -- and also a big statement about where Caliendo stands in the 165 pecking order.
174: Gabe Arnold is not yet ranked by InterMat, though other services have him at #17 or #18 at this weight. Arnold made a big splash with his 4-2 win over Oregon State's Travis Wittlake last week, but M.J. Gaitan is no slouch either. He's 3-0 this season with two pins and a tech fall. He also hasn't faced anyone nearly as good as Arnold, either this year or last season while redshirting. If Arnold wrestles a smart, controlled match like he did against Wittlake, another win here seems very possible.
184: The schedule-maker was not particularly kind to Brennan Swafford -- after #3 Trey Munoz last week, he gets #6 Will Feldkamp, a returning All-American, this week. Damage limitation may be the name of the game for Swafford in this one; he gave up a tech fall to Munoz last week, so improving on that would be a start here.
197: Here's another toss-up weight. Julian Broderson is 2-0 after making a two-weight jump (he was 174 lbs last year), but Zach Glazier has looked very solid this year as well, going 6-0 with six bonus point wins. Four of those came over Division III opponents at the Luther Open, but his major decision win over Oregon State's Justin Rademacher was noteworthy for the fact that Glazier pushed the tempo and was looking to score for all seven minutes. He'll need to bring a similar mindset to this match.
285: Yonger Bastida, an All-American at 197 in 2022 and a Round of 16 finisher at last year's NCAA Tournament, has looked terrific up at 285, with a 3-0 record and three technical falls. He's a very active, point-scoring heavyweight who's also very dangerous on the mat. If this is the final match of the dual and the team score is at all close, he's going to be pushing to get as many points as possible here.
PREDICTION: I'm going Iowa 19, Iowa State 15, with Iowa wins at 125, 133, 141 (MD), 157, 174, and 197 and Iowa State wins at 149, 165, 184 (MD), and 197 (TF). But, again, this is a dual with a number of matches that look like toss-ups; there are several different ways this dual could shake out. Tune in at 2 PM CT on Sunday on ESPN to see exactly how things unfold.
