King of the hill — it’s what most people strive to be and few people actually are. In its history, Iowa’s wrestling program has been both the former and the latter.

Currently, the Hawkeyes are trying to climb their way back to the top of the hill. They tanked 2^nd in the nation on their debut in the National Wrestling Coaches Association preseason poll, which was released Oct. 29.

“We want to be number one,” two-time national champion Spencer Lee said. “I don’t really care about rankings. We don’t really care about rankings. All that matters at the end of the day is how you finish.”

Iowa is looking up at only one team in the polls: Penn State. This is nothing new. The Nittany Lions have won seven of the last eight NCAA titles.

“Just because the media or the pundits put us in a close second-ranked category with Penn State doesn’t mean that I put us there,” head coach Tom Brands said. “I know what I think of our guys, and I wouldn’t trade our team for any other team. I love our guys. We have the personnel.”

Brands is not the only one that believes he has the personnel to win a national championship. His team also has tremendous belief in its abilities. Two-time All-American Michael Kemerer thinks he and his fellow Hawkeyes have what it takes to extinguish the Nittany Lions.

“[The excitement for this season] is definitely a little elevated just because we know about the expectations and the hype,” Kemerer said. “We’re really excited because people have been talking about this year for a long time. You’re looking to knock off a team like [Penn State], so we’re really excited for that. We go into every year to win a national title.”

The expectations for Iowa in 2019-20 are certainly high. Hawkeye fans always have high expectations for their team given the pedigree of the program. Dethroning a high-powered super-team like Penn State and winning a national title along the way is no small task.

“That’s what fans are waiting for,” All-American Alex Marinelli said. “They’re sick of other people winning. We got a lot of great fans around here, and it’s important to them. It’s a culture; it’s different. Every single day, I can tell it eats at people. We want to be on top. We’re Iowa Wrestling. That’s who we are. [The fans] fuel us. If you’re from Iowa, you know how tough it is to wrestle.”

Throughout the season Iowa will have a multitude of opportunities to justify the expectations placed on it. The Hawkeyes have six of the nation’s top seven teams not named Iowa on their schedule. Penn State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Minnesota will all visit Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season.

“It’s awesome,” sophomore Jacob Warner said. “We probably have the best home schedule out of any sports team in the country. Alabama football doesn’t have as good a home schedule. I mean, UNC basketball doesn’t have as good a home schedule as us. We have the best home schedule, and there’s no other way to win a national title than beating all those teams at home. We’re going to have 15,000 fans every single dual meet, so it’ll be exciting.”

Iowa’s heroic quest to re-establish itself as the nation’s best wrestling program begins on Nov. 17. The Hawkeyes will host Tennessee at Chattanooga at Carver-Hawkeye Arena to start their 2019-20 campaign.