No. 1 Penn State Wrestling at No. 3 Iowa: preview, key matches, and prediction
By Chris Snyder
No. 1 Penn State Wrestling travels to Iowa City this Friday to grapple the No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes in a prime time dual meet
Penn State Wrestling is fresh off a tour of the lovely state of Michigan last weekend where they obliterated the Wolverines and Spartans by a combined score of 57-15.
And next up in the crosshairs of the No. 1 team in the country is a road tilt against the No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes this Friday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Penn State Wrestling and Iowa have not faced each other in a dual meet since January 31st of 2020, where the Hawkeyes prevailed 19-17. The dual meet between these two titans of the sport was canceled last season due to Covid-19 issues in the Iowa program.
The only thing that’s really happened between now and the last Nittany Lions/Hawkeye matchup is the fact Iowa hoisted the NCAA Championship trophy last season. I highly doubt this small item will be in the back of head coach Cael Sanderson’s mind, nor will it even enter into the minds of any of the Penn State wrestlers.
Nope.
Because this year’s team is on a mission, and all they care about is what they can do now and how it will impact their future. The past is in the past.
With that, let’s take a look at the projected lineup for both squads, spotlight several intriguing matches, and throw out a prediction that is sure to be wrong.
Check out this one from last week. At least I got the winner right!
All rankings are as of the latest InterMat rankings.
Everything you need to know about No. 1 Penn State Wrestling at No. 3 Iowa
Here’s a look at the Nittany Lions lineup heading into Friday:
No. 1 Penn State (13-0)
125 – No. 7 Drew Hildebrandt (4-1)
133 – No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (10-0)
141 – No. 1 Nick Lee (10-0)
149 – No. 19 Beau Bartlett (10-3)
157 – Terrell Barraclough (6-6) or Tony Negron (1-5)
165 – No. 11 Brady Berge (3-0) or Creighton Edsell (7-3)
174 – No. 1 Carter Starocci (13-0)
184 – No. 1 Aaron Brooks (11-0)
197 – No. 2 Max Dean (12-1)
285 – No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet (11-0)
As mentioned in the Michigan State recap, Roman Bravo-Young sat out the afternoon dual meet but he is full steam ahead for this Friday’s dual. So no need to worry there.
Not much has changed regarding the Nittany Lions’ individual rankings however Brady Berge has crept up five slots to No. 11, thanks in large part to his perfect 3-0 record on the season and his impressive victory last Friday over Cameron Amine.
Greg Kerkvliet also nudges up a spot to No. 3 in the latest rankings stemming from his defeat of Mason Parris.
At this point in the season, Penn State Wrestling’s roster appears to be locked and loaded. Except for the 157 spot, which appears to be Terrell Barraclough’s to lose at this point. Both he and Negron have wrestled very hard but Barraclough seems to be really close to getting over the hump.
Hopefully, this Friday will be the night for him to break through.
No. 3 Iowa (11-0)
125 – No. 11 Drake Ayala (13-4)
133 – No. 3 Austin DeSanto (12-0)
141 – No. 2 Jaydin Eierman (12-0)
149 – No. 10 Max Murin (6-2)
157 – No. 12 Kaleb Young (10-5)
165 – No. 5 Alex Marinelli (14-1)
174 – No. 2 Michael Kemerer (5-0)
184 – No. 17 Abe Assad (9-2)
197 – No. 4 Jacob Warner (11-1)
285 – No. 5 Tony Cassioppi (9-2)
The No. 3 Hawkeyes are returning to the mat for the first time since last Friday where they narrowly escaped the friendly confines of Carver-Hawkeye Arena with a 21-12 victory over Ohio State.
The main reason this dual meet was so close is the fact former No. 1 ranked Alex Marinelli lost to the freshman phenom and No. 4 ranked Carson Kharchla. I would say I’m surprised with the result, but given Marinelli’s track record it doesn’t look like he can go a season without dropping one or two head-scratching matches. But keep an eye out for Kharchla, he may end up making some noise at this year’s NCAA tournament.
And lastly, everyone knows Spencer Lee is out for the year as this was announced towards the end of 2021. Around this time it was also reported that Michael Kemerer would also not be able to wrestle this season. Well, this has since changed as Kemerer has suited up five times beginning with Iowa’s dual meet against Minnesota on January 7th.
Is Kemerer 100%? I guess Carter Starocci will find out on Friday …