Big Ten Wrestling Power Rankings: Is it Penn State Wrestling and everyone else?

Penn State's Carter Starocci, right, wrestles Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis at 174 pounds in the finals during the sixth session of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Saturday, March 19, 2022, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.220319 Ncaa Session 6 Wr 056 Jpg
Penn State's Carter Starocci, right, wrestles Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis at 174 pounds in the finals during the sixth session of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Saturday, March 19, 2022, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.220319 Ncaa Session 6 Wr 056 Jpg
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Iowa’s Real Woods poses for a photo during Hawkeye wrestling media day, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.221027 Iowa Media Wr 011 Jpg
Iowa’s Real Woods poses for a photo during Hawkeye wrestling media day, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.221027 Iowa Media Wr 011 Jpg

Dual Rank: 2
Record: 0-0
Ranked Wrestlers: 9
125 No. 1 Spencer Lee
133 No. 13 Cullan Schriever
141 No. 2 Real Woods
149 No. 7 Max Murin
165 No. 14 Patrick Kennedy
174 No. 15 Nelson Brands
184 No. 10 Abe Assad
197 No. 2 Jacob Warner
285 No. 4 Tony Cassioppi

As I mentioned earlier, Michigan lost a hefty amount of talent from last year’s squad. But it’s hard to argue that Iowa didn’t lose the most of any team in the Big Ten from last season to this season.

How on earth can a team replace Austin DeSanto, Jaydin Eierman, Kaleb Young, Alex Marinelli, and Michael Kemerer and expect to be in the top half of their respective conference. Not to mention the conference is the Big Ten.

Well for one, it helps to have a three-time NCAA Champion and Dan Hodge Trophy winner back in the lineup. All signs point to Spencer Lee being

fully

relatively healthy and that’s going to be a massive boost for Tom Brands and his team.

It also helps to have guys like Cullan Schriever and Patrick Kennedy as super competitive backups to replace some of the Hawkeye legends. Oh, and yeah, it’s also slightly beneficial for the Hawkeyes to land one of the most coveted transfers in Real Woods. Who just so happens to be an immediate contender for the title at 141.

The wrestling machine in Iowa City continues to chug along and Iowa will be tough to beat no matter where they wrestle.

Speaking of that, the Hawkeyes have yet to hit the mat in any official capacity so far this year, but they will rectify that when they host California Baptist on November 13th.