NCAA Wrestling Power Rankings: Can anyone stop Penn State Wrestling?

No. 2

Iowa

Intermat Tournament Ranking: 2 (73.5)
2023 Dual Meet Record: 15-1
Conference: Big Ten

Ranked Wrestlers: 10
125 No. 1 Spencer Lee
133 No. 18 Brody Teske
141 No. 2 Real Woods
149 No. 6 Max Murin
157 No. 14 Cobe Siebrecht
165 No. 7 Patrick Kennedy
174 No. 12 Nelson Brands
184 No. 10 Abe Assad
197 No. 12 Jacob Warner
285 No. 3 Tony Cassioppi

Is this year’s Iowa team good? Sure, they are.

They beat every single opponent not named “Penn State” and piled up ranked wins against No. 21 Penn, No. 7 Iowa State, No. 11 Northwestern, No. 11 Nebraska, No. 16 Wisconsin, No. 12 Minnesota, No. 9 Michigan, and No. 6 Oklahoma State.

Along with saying the Hawkeyes are “good” is the simple fact that Spencer Lee will win the title this year to claim the fourth of his career. So, you can give all of the tournament points, as well as a plethora of bonus points, at 125 to Iowa.

And Real Woods and Tony Cassioppi are battled tested, and they have proven they can win big matches against elite talent when it matters. But and this is a big “But”, there are big questions with the rest of the Hawkeye lineup.

Jacob Warner has not looked anywhere near like himself this season and for a guy who made the NCAA finals last year at 197, it has to be a bit concerning. Additionally, guys like Brody Teske, Max Murin, Cobe Siebrecht, Patrick Kennedy, Nelson Brands, and Abe Assad, are good wrestlers but none of them have ever felt the pressure of winning matches to finish in the All-American tier (top eight).

I’m not saying that none of them will, I’m just saying that between a mixture of underperformances for some guys and inexperience for others, how Iowa finishes this season might be coin toss. I would not be surprised if they finish comfortably above the teams I’ve already listed, and it would also not surprise me if they finish below Nebraska or Missouri.

And now onto the most shocking part of this article …