The Iowa men’s wrestling team won two road duals over the weekend against Illinois and Northwestern. The Hawkeyes beat the Fighting Illini on Friday in Champaign, Illinois, before taking down the Wildcats on Sunday in Evanston, Illinois.

Iowa is now 10-0 on the season.

Blowout in Champaign

Iowa beat Illinois 36-6 after winning eight of the 10 matches. The Hawkeyes earned bonus points in six of the eight wins and notched five early finishes from technical falls or pins. 

“I like bonus points,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands told Hawkeye Sports after the dual. “I like tech. falls, I like major decisions, and I like pins.”

The dual opened at 133 pounds with Cullan Schriever starting for the Hawkeyes. He set the pace for the dual, beating No. 30 Tony Madrigal 8-1 and securing bonus points for Iowa with a major decision. 

Brody Teske suited up for the Hawkeyes at 141 in place of No. 1 Real Woods. Teske held his own at the higher weight class and earned a 5-0 decision win to extend Iowa’s lead. 

Illinois earned its first points of the night at 149, with No. 8 Kannon Webster beating No. 11 Caleb Rathjen 4-1 in sudden victory. 

North Dakota State transfers Jared Franek and  Michael Caliendo both secured tech. falls for Iowa following Rathjen’s loss. At 157, No. 2 Franek beat Joe Roberts 21-5 in six minutes, while No. 6 Caliendo beat No. 24 Chris Moore 17-2 in 4:30 at 165 pounds. 

174 was the most anticipated matchup of the night, with Iowa’s No. 9 Patrick Kennedy up against Illinois’ No. 3 Edmond Ruth. Kennedy continued his hot form, beating Ruth 5-1 with a takedown in the third period, sealing the match for the Hawkeye. It was Kennedy’s fourth ranked win this season. 

Illinois got its second win of the night at 184, with No. 29 Dylan Connell beating Aiden Riggins 4-1 in sudden victory. 

At 197 pounds, No. 14 Zach Glazier beat Joey Braunagel 18-3 in 3:52 to secure the Hawkeyes’ third tech. fall. At heavyweight, No. 28 Bradley Hill pinned Peter Marinopolous in 5:41. 

“I felt like I wrestled my match,” Hill told Hawkeye Sports. “ Went out there confident and ready to wrestle. I got to my offense and felt good going out there.”

No. 5 Drake Ayala beat Justing Cardani 18-3 in 6:11 to put a bow on the night for the Hawkeyes.

Continued dominance

 The Hawkeyes flexed their muscles and shut out the Wildcats, 46-0. Iowa won six matches via tech. fall or pin. 

Iowa opened with three straight techs. falls, with Ayala beating Massey Odiotti 19-4 at 125, Schriever beating Patrick Adams 24-9 at 133, and Teske beating Kilby McClain 17-1 at 141.

Rathjen kept the dominance going with a pin at 149, beating Aiden Vanderbush in 3:46.

Franek closed out the first half by beating No. 19 Trevor Chumbley 4-1 in sudden victory. 

Caliendo tallied his seventh tech. fall of the season to beat No. 15 Macc Mayfield 21-5 in 4:59.

Kennedy earned an 11-3 major decision over David Ferrante, and Riggins earned his first dual win of the season with an upset 4-2 victory over No. 24 Troy Fisher. 

Glazier kept his hot streak going, beating Evan Bates 11-2 to keep his undefeated record alive.

Ben Kueter provided a fitting end to the dual at heavyweight. Kueter scored an early takedown and pinned his opponent, Jack Jessen, in 45 seconds. 

“I am pretty good in that position,” Kueter told Hawkeye Sports. “I have strong hips, I guess you could say, so I was comfortable where I was at. I knew that was what I wanted to do. Just like my coaches were saying, take my first scoring opportunity, and that is what I did, finished the match.”

Up next

The Iowa men’s wrestling team will stay on the road for a tough contest against No. 11 Michigan in Ann Arbor on Friday.