Iowa Wrestling Weekend Preview

For the first time ever, Iowa wrestling fans will get the opportunity to watch both the Hawkeye men’s and women’s programs compete at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on the very same weekend.

Friday night (at 7:00 p.m. on the Big Ten Network) the third-ranked Iowa men (7-0) will host unranked Purdue (5-4). Roughly 41 hours later it will be the top-ranked Iowa women (11-0) taking to the mat versus a pair of opponents – Life University (GA) and Missouri Valley College (MO) – beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon (action will also be streamed live on B1G+).

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗛𝗔 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆? Here's what you need to know ⬇️ #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/mNKzHo1IoA

— Iowa Women's Wrestling (@IowaW_Wrestling) January 16, 2024

Obviously, every match set to take place this weekend will be important – after all, the objective of this sport is still to get your hand raised each time out.

That said, barring unforeseen circumstances each of the two dates in question will largely be defined by their respective ‘headliners.’

For the women that headliner is an entire dual against fellow #1 Life University (NAIA). For the men it’s a singular match – a one versus two showdown at 125 pounds between newly-minted #1 Drake Ayala and Purdue’s second-ranked Matt Ramos.

Again, there are other storylines worth noting, but they all pale in comparison to the couple of premier matchups that I’ll dive into much more deeply here in a moment.

So, let’s quickly touch on a few of the (comparatively) less compelling plot points first.

‘Old’ school meets ‘new’ school for Hawkeye head coach.

The first of Sunday’s two duals for the Iowa women will feature Missouri Valley College as the opponent.

Not only does Missouri Valley happen to be one of the pioneer programs in women’s collegiate wrestling, but it is also the alma mater of Iowa head coach Clarissa Chun. So even though this dual isn’t likely to be even remotely competitive, it still figures to hold a special significance for the Hawkeye leader.

Boilermaker blowout on tap?

Aside from Matt Ramos, only two other Purdue wrestlers will enter Friday with a number next to their respective names (#32 Greyson Clark at 141 and #16 Joey Blaze at 157).

Iowa projects to be a heavy favorite at 8/10 weights, the only exceptions being the showdown at 125 as well as at 184, where vastly undersized redshirt freshman Aiden Riggins will still have a better-than-decent chance to notch a win of his own against an unranked opponent.

It’d be a shock if the team score in this one was in the balance post-intermission. Of course, that’s why they wrestle the matches.

Three to see

Following the action from this past Monday against Minnesota, I’ll have my eye on a trio of weights (beyond the obvious one) as the Hawkeye men retake the mat.

At 133 pounds head coach Tom Brands appears set to make yet another switch with junior Cullan Schriever (5-1) listed as the lone option for Iowa on the probable lineups. Both Schriever and senior Brody Teske have been given opportunities to seize the spot, and if fans weren’t sure if that had happened yet they got their answer when Brands kept both on the bench against the Gophers in favor of true freshman Kale Peterson.

As the Hawkeyes continue to search for a permanent solution at this weight with the postseason on the horizon it’ll be Schriever who gets the chance to make the next impression (good or bad) this Friday.

Meanwhile, #2 Jared Franek will be looking to reassert himself just days after taking an upset loss (his first of the season). His Purdue opponent – #16 Joey Blaze – is certainly credentialed enough to put up a good fight. Even so, I’d imagine both Iowa coaches and fans alike are keen to see the North Dakota State grad-transfer take this bout in a convincing manner.

And finally, will Hawkeye nation be treated to a follow-up performance from freshman heavyweight Ben Kueter?

His long-awaited debut against the Gophers made waves around the sport, even though he was less-than-thrilled with his performance in a 5-3 win.

Given his late start to full-time wrestling training I imagine that we could be in store for a noticeably improved Kueter each time he steps onto the mat.

Here’s hoping that theory gets put to the test on Friday.

Now let’s get to those ‘headliners.’

Champ vs. Champ

For those unfamiliar with the NCAA/NAIA distinction in women’s wrestling, it is a far cry from what you may have become accustomed to on the men’s side.

And its why Sunday’s dual pitting 2024 National Dual champions Iowa (NCAA) and Life University (NAIA) against one another should be a must-watch event for wrestling fans.

As opposed to men’s college wrestling where nearly all of the truly upper echelon collegiate talent attends Division I NCAA schools, that is not the case as it pertains to the women.

Up until 2020 there had never even been separate championship events held for NCAA and NAIA women’s programs. In fact, prior to the split between the two entities NAIA schools had won 11 of the 16 combined championships that were contested dating back to 2004.

Beginning four years ago, however, the sport of women’s wrestling had finally grown enough at the college level that it became feasible for each entity to hold a championship of their own.

Having since done so, these athletes and programs no longer vie for a single individual/team crown at season’s end. But don’t let that fool you into thinking that their now less frequent get-togethers aren’t often still damn competitive.

Several of the current top-tier NAIA wrestlers would be very much in championship contention versus NCAA competition (including at least one heavy favorite), and plenty of others would attain All-American status if both divisions were thrown into a single national tournament bracket like they were in the ‘old days.’

And now the absolute best of that bunch from a team dual perspective is coming to Iowa City this weekend.

Like I said, it is a must-watch event for wrestling fans.

Life University boasts a lineup that potentially won’t send a single athlete to the mat who ranks outside of the top seven in their weight class. Not only that, but three of its athletes tallied wins over current Iowa starters just three weeks ago in the finals of the Soldier Salute tournament held in Coralville.

Don’t get me wrong, the Hawkeyes also took it to the Running Eagles on a number of occasions during the tournament, particularly across both the lower and uppermost weight classes.

Because of that, Iowa enters this dual as a considerable favorite. That said, it’s also not out of the question that Life could reel off three-to-four consecutive wins from 130-155 pounds, leaving the uninitiated Hawkeye fan to wonder what’s going on with their top-ranked squad.

That run of wrestlers includes second-ranked 130-pounder Sarah Savidge (an awesome wrestling name) plus a trio of siblings in the McBryde sisters – all of whom wrestle an in-your-face, underhook-heavy style that lovers of this sport will undoubtedly appreciate.

And it is one of these sisters – Jamilah McBryde at 143 pounds – who highlights the (re)match of the entire weekend (including Ayala/Ramos).

Back in the Soldier Salute finals it was McBryde (#1 in NAIA) who defeated Iowa’s Reese Larramendy (#1 in NCAA) by fall with just two seconds remaining in their match – and the last-second pin was actually one of the least compelling parts of the action if you can believe it.

Up until that moment these two athletes had tallied 20 points apiece, scoring from all manner of positions in one of the craziest back-and-forth matches you’ll ever see. Then, trailing on criteria with short time remaining, Larramendy got in on a shot that appeared poised to give her the lead and the win, but McBryde was able to counter and send the Hawkeye to her back to seal the deal.

I’ll reiterate that this entire dual deserves your attention on Sunday. However, if for some reason you can only steal away 10 minutes from family obligations or other ‘pressing matters’ then make it for this match.

Based on the previous meeting between these two I cannot imagine that you’ll regret it.

Who’s number one?

We’ll close out the weekend preview on the men’s side with a match that sells itself.

One versus two.

What more than that do you need as a fan of any sport to get you up on the edge of your seat?

#1 Drake Ayala and #2 Matt Ramos are slated to meet at 125 pounds – a bout that will most likely kick off Friday’s action based on Iowa’s well-established history of beginning duals at the lightest weight.

Ayala (15-1) enters on a nine-match winning streak following his lone defeat of the season to Oregon State’s Brandon Kaylor. Meanwhile, Ramos (16-4) has already taken a few losses of his own this year, though at the chaotic weight class that is 125 it has hardly diminished his standing as a projected title contender come March.

A win for either of them tomorrow will be big because all wins are. However, it also provides a leg up in terms of seeding come Big Ten’s and (potentially) NCAA’s down the road.

From the Ayala perspective specifically, the match also presents yet another opportunity to continue the upward trajectory he has been on for most of this season.

Already in 2023-24, he has twice turned the tables on rival Patrick McKee, the two-time All-American for Minnesota who won each of their first four meetings – all of which took place in 2021-22. In addition to that positive reversal of fortunes, Ayala has also tallied wins over three top 10 foes to date, one to claim a Soldier Salute title over #7 Jore Volk (Wyoming) and the others at key inflection points in a pair of important road duals against Iowa State (#8 Kysen Terukina) and Nebraska (#7 Caleb Smith).

Of course, there’s also the subplot of Ramos’ history against Iowa. In last year’s NCAA semi-finals, it was Ramos who denied Hawkeye legend Spencer Lee’s bid for a historic fourth national title.

Now does that have anything to do with Drake Ayala? Absolutely not.

But you can bet that every Iowa fan in attendance and/or watching on television will have that in the back of their mind and be hoping that their latest exciting 125-pounder can ‘right a wrong’ of sorts with a win of his own against the Boilermaker.

Friday night can’t get here soon enough.