Iowa men’s wrestling’s 133-pounder Brody Teske made his return to the mat on Friday in the No. 2 Hawkeyes’ 34-6 victory over the No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

Teske, who has only wrestled in three of the Hawkeyes’ 11 dual meets this season, downed Nebraska’s Kyle Burwick, 5-2.

Teske defeated Cal Baptist’s Hunter Leake, 6-4, in his Iowa debut on Nov. 13 and Purdue’s Dustin Norris, 16-4, on Jan. 8.

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“Tough rides, a reversal, Brody Teske made him pay,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said after Friday’s dual meet. 

Teske, a Northern Iowa transfer, hasn’t been transparent about his absence from the starting lineup. But Teske revealed more about his health after Friday’s matchup.

“I’ll just say this about my health, I spent some time over in the children’s hospital,” Teske said. 

Spending time in the hospital gave Teske a new perspective on life, which he said helped him earn a victory over Burwick.

“I got to see a different perspective [in the hospital], and I’m full of gratitude,” Teske said after the dual. “So, when I got into one of the harder scrambles during this match tonight, I thought, ‘If there was a little kid from the hospital that could see into Carver right now, are you going to inspire him? Or are you going to lay down and let this kid beat you?’”

Teske was trailing Burwick, 2-0, but mustered a two-point reversal and takedown in the second and third period, respectively, to seal his 36th career victory. 

The 2021 Big 12 champion and two-time NCAA qualifier at 125 pounds said his health concerns haven’t affected his stamina much, but he has had to switch up his approach on the mat. 

Teske, however, is taking this adversity as a path to becoming the best version of himself. 

“With my health being the way it was, unfortunately, I haven’t been able to train the way I wanted to and had to mix things up and do a lot of different things,” Teske said. “But I’m learning how to work around it and be my best self. Tonight, I was my best self at that moment in time, and tomorrow I’ll wake up and work towards a better version.” 

Teske wasn’t completely satisfied with his performance against the Cornhuskers and said his end goal is to be competing for an NCAA title in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in March. 

But right now, he is just grateful for the support he has received from the coaches and medical staff and for the opportunity to throw on the Black and Gold singlet and do what he loves.

“Obviously there’s a lot of room for improvement on the mat,” Teske said. “But finally getting all the ducks in a row and being able to just go out, shake hands, and wrestle in front of a sold-out crowd, that’s what I live for.”