Previewing, predicting No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 2 Iowa wrestling dual meet

No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 Iowa square off Friday in the most anticipated wrestling meet of the collegiate season.

Both sides feature national champions and All-Americans in their respective lineups. While the Nittany Lions rolled through previous opponents, Iowa is the biggest challenge of the season.

If there is any team that could knock off Penn State, it might just be the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Let’s break down all 10 weight classes and offer predictions for each bout.

Penn State vs. Iowa wrestling matchups

125: Gary Steen (Penn State) vs. No. 1 Spencer Lee (Iowa)

133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) vs. No. 17 Brody Teske (Iowa)

141: No. 4 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Real Woods (Iowa)

149: No. 13 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) vs. No. 7 Max Murin (Iowa)

157: No. 9 Levi Haines (Penn State) vs. No. 15 Cobe Siebrecht (Iowa)

165: No. 5 Alex Facundo (Penn State) vs. No. 13 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa)

174: No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs. No. 16 Belson Brands (Iowa)

184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) vs. No. 12 Abe Assad (Iowa)

197: No. 4 Max Dean (Penn State) vs. No. 7 Jacob Warner (Iowa)

285: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)

Iowa needs to get off on the right foot and Lee, a three-time NCAA champion, could open things up with a bang. He’s on a tear at the moment and a pin is a very realistic possibility.

If the Hawkeyes start out with a fall, Bravo-Young needs a win at minimum. As far as bonus points are concerned, he’s capable.

However, there are recent close matches for Bravo-Young, so we’ll predict a decision there, but in favor of the Nittany Lion. Woods has the edge over Bartlett in this one, but the drop from 149 did wonders for the Penn State wrestler.

However, we’ll give it to Woods and a 9-3 lead for Iowa through three bouts. Van Ness is ripe for a top 10 win here and while Murin is an absolute dog on the mat, Van Ness can feed off the home crowd. We’ll call for the upset and it’s 9-6 after four bouts.

How about Haines taking over the 157 spot here? He’s been an absolute monster. No stopping the Penn State train in the middle weights. He gets the decision and it’s 9-9 at intermission. Just where the fans want it!

Here’s where Penn State can take over and run away with the dual. We’ll give Facundo a decision and Starocci a major decision for Penn State and the Nittany Lions will take a 16-9 lead into 184 pounds.

It doesn’t stop there, Brooks gets the decision and a 19-9 lead but we’ll predict a minor upset at 197, giving the decision to Warner over the defending national champion Dean in a rematch of last year’s NCAA final.

Leading 19-12 into the final bout, the dual is already decided but the heavyweight bout could very well be an NCAA semifinal or finals preview. Cassioppi owns this series, beating Kerkvliet three times before Friday. We’ll say it continues here with a decision.

Final score: Penn State wins 19-15

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Penn State and Iowa square off for the top spot in college wrestling Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET.