No. 2 Iowa vs. No. 11 Minnesota wrestling preview, predictions

No. 2 Iowa (12-1, 5-1) takes on No. 11 Minnesota (11-2, 4-2) Friday in Big Ten wrestling action. We broke down the matchups, previewed the dual and predicted the outcome.

Iowa lost its first dual of the season last week against No. 1 Penn State, a wild one in State College. The Hawkeyes head to Minneapolis this time for another tough matchup. However, the Hawkeyes have the advantage over the Gophers on paper.

After gazing at the projected matchups, Iowa should take this one. But, the Gophers are sure to make it interesting down the stretch.

Each projected matchup across the 10 weight classes features a ranked matchup.

*All rankings are via InterMat*

Iowa vs. Minnesota matchups, predictions

125: No. 1 Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. No. 6 Patrick McKee (Minn.), Lee by tech fall, Iowa leads 5-0

133: No. 17 Brody Teske (Iowa) vs. No. 15 Aaron Nagao (Minn.), Nagao by decision, Iowa leads 5-3

141: No. 2 Real Woods (Iowa) vs. No. 15 Jake Bergeland (Minn.), Woods by decision, Iowa leads 8-3

149: No. 6 Max Murin (Iowa) vs. No. 15 Michael Blockhus (Minn.), Murin by decision, Iowa leads 11-3

157: No. 15 Cobe Siebrecht (Iowa) vs. No. 17 Brayton Lee (Minn.), Lee by decision, Iowa leads 11-6

165: No. 7 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) vs. No. 28 Andrew Sparks (Minn.), Kennedy by major decision, Iowa leads 15-6

174: No. 16 Nelson Brands (Iowa) vs. No. 11 Bailee O’Reilly (Minn.), O’Reilly by decision, Iowa leads 15-9

184: No. 12 Abe Assad (Iowa) vs. No. 10 Isaiah Salazar (Minn.), Salazar by decision, Iowa leads 15-12

197: No. 7 Jacob Warner (Iowa) vs. No. 28 Michial Foy (Minn.), Warner by decision, Iowa leads 18-12

285: No. 3 Anthony Cassioppi (Iowa) vs. No. 32 Garrett Joles (Minn.), Cassioppi by major decision, Iowa wins 22-12

Iowa defeats Minnesota 22-12

Lee gives Iowa the biggest advantage with a predicted tech fall in the first bout. It should not take too long for Lee to work over McKee, despite the latter being quite the wrestler himself.

We predicted a Nagao win but Iowa came back and won the next two, after we thought about it. From there, Minnesota has to battle back from an 11-3 deficit.

It’ll be quite difficult in the middle but a little back and forth never hurt anyone. This is where the dual should get exciting.

However, Warner and Cassioppi will close it out in the final two bouts. That’s where Iowa really shines.

Overall, we should see quite the dual and perhaps the Gophers could pull off a massive upset.

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Minnesota hosts Iowa Friday at 9:00 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.