Wrestling Preview: Wisconsin at Iowa

This will just be a quickie and no, I haven’t lost my mind: the No. 22 Wisconsin Badgers (9-5, 3-4 B1G) have a realistic chance to beat the No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes (10-2, 5-2 B1G) when they meet at 1 PM on Sunday, Feb 18.

The dual meet will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network, and on X.

Regardless of that earth-shattering possibility (winning at Iowa), there will be a few humongous individual matchups, in order of huge-ness:

125: No. 3 Eric Barnett (21-4) vs No. 5 Drake Ayala (18-3). Both are likely All-Americans and in the conversation for national champion.

165: No. 5 Dean Hamiti (22-1) vs No. 7 Mikey Caliendo (18-2). Another likely All-American matchup. DJ just plays with the guys ranked below 10 or so. Will he play one of the aces up his sleeve that head coach Chris Bono has hinted at in order to win this one?

174: No. 12 Max Maylor (15-4) vs No. 7 Patrick Kennedy (10-4). Max prevailing here would be a statement win, putting him squarely in the AA conversation.

149: No. 19 Joe Zargo (17-5) vs No. 8 Caleb Rathjen (14-3). After a very nice-looking ranked win vs No. 16 on Friday, I think Joey has a real chance here, too.

184: No. 16 Shane Liegel (18-7) vs No. 56 Aiden Riggens (10-11). Opponent’s been up against really tough competition; despite his record, he’s no fish (i.e. someone who flops around). Shane’s Cinderella story should continue.

133: No. 54 Nico Rivera (12-8) vs No. 20 Cullan Schriever (8-3). Nico’s been close, this is a winnable match, and he needs a couple more wins over NCAA qualifiers to get in himself.

If Wisconsin wins all these matchups (not terribly likely, especially on Senior Day at Iowa, but very much within the realm of reality when looking at them match-by-match), the Badgers will win a dual meet vs Iowa for the first time in 12 years.