Big Ten Wrestling Power Rankings: Penn State or Iowa No. 1?

BETHLEHEM, PA - DECEMBER 6: (L-R) Head coach Cael Sanderson of the Penn State Nittany Lions during a match against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh University on December 6, 2019 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

9 of 14

wrestles Travis Piotrowski of the Illinois Fighting Illini (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

Rank: 12
Record: 5-2
Top 20 Wins: 2
Ranked Wrestlers: 6

133 No. 14 Lucas Byrd
141 No. 14 Dylan Duncan
149 No. 10 Michael Carr
165 No. 8 Danny Braunagel
184 No. 14 Zach Braunagel
Hwt No. 10 Luke Luffman

The highlight for the Fighting Illini has to be its three match stretch in the middle of January in which they took down then No. 8 ranked Ohio State (18-15) and Wisconsin (21-9) in a tri meet and then followed it up with a home win against then No. 13 ranked Purdue (19-17).

Much like the Ohio State, Illinois has beaten the teams they were supposed to beat and lost to the teams they were supposed to lose to. The two losses came at the hands of Iowa (6-36) and Minnesota (13-25).

Next up for the Fighting Illini is a dual meet this Sunday (2/21) against No. 8 Nebraska at home in the spacious and empty State Farm Center.

Home/Penn State Nittany Lions