Gabe Arnold on Iowa-Penn State dual: 'We're going to get it done this year'

Iowa 184 pounder Gabe Arnold is quite confident in his Hawkeyes, and himself, to take down No. 1 Penn State next week.

Penn State is 9-0 this season and hasn’t lost a dual meet since January of 2020. They’re coming off a 35-3 road win over No. 14 Rutgers and will return home Friday to face Iowa.

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Arnold himself has four-time NCAA Champion Carter Starocci on the docket individually and the young Hawkeye called his shot.

“I’m gonna end this off on this. We got Penn State next week,” Arnold said after Iowa’s win over Ohio State. “And we didn’t get the job done last year, and that kind of sucks, but we’re gonna get it done this year. So this time, we’ll be in your home dojo. And I promise, your head’s mine. Book it.”

Arnold, by assumption, called out Starocci by saying “your head’s mine,” unless he was referring to the entire Penn State squad. Either way, he took his shot.

If Arnold and Iowa are to have any chance, they’ll need 133 pounder Drake Ayala back in the lineup. He was apparently dinged up and did not go Saturday against the Buckeyes.

Ayala was an NCAA finalist at 125 pounds last season and would certainly need a win over Penn State’s Braeden Davis next Friday to give Iowa a shot.

“I’m not going to speak for Drake,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said. “I can tell you that Drake Ayala is one tough son of a gun and when he’s ready, he will be in that lineup. I think he’ll be in the lineup. That’s going way outside my comfort zone for you. So I’m speaking for him a little bit … But here’s the thing, I’m just going to leave it at that. I’m private. I mean, our team is better with him in the lineup, and today, the right call was to have him not go in the lineup. 

“And when we talked, he had concerns that, and I’m getting private here, that he, you know, he knew that’s the best team we’ve seen all year. And so, you know, he knew that our team was stronger and … you got to roll the team out. You got to perform. And if we lose this dual meet because you’re not in the lineup, that means that other personnel didn’t get the job done.”

WrestleStat currently projects Penn State to beat Iowa 27-3 with Ayala as the only win for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa and Penn State squad off in State College Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.