The Iowa men’s wrestling team will face its biggest challenge yet on Friday against No. 15 Michigan.
The dual meet in Ann Arbor is set for 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
The Hawkeyes are 10-0 on the season, coming off two wins against Illinois and Northwestern. The Wolverines are 5-3, losing their last match, 20-19, against No. 7 Ohio State.
Iowa leads the all-time series against Michigan 34-26-1 and has won 10 of the last 11 meetings. The Hawkeyes are 15-13 all-time in Ann Arbor.
After the matchup with Michigan, Iowa will return home to face top-ranked Penn State on Feb. 9. Iowa head coach Tom Brands said there is a gap between his squad and the Nittany Lions, who boast 10 starters ranked inside the top 15.
“We know that the level of completion is going to go up significantly starting Friday. That’s not a shot at anybody we’ve competed against,” Brands said at his weekly presser on Tuesday. “We have to be ready to go.”
Probable lineup
All rankings via InterMat.
125 POUNDS: No. 5 Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs. No. 12 Michael DeAugustino (Michigan)
Drake Ayala is 1-0 all-time against Michael DeAugustino. When DeAugustino was at Northwestern in 2022, Ayala defeated him 6-5.
Ayala rebounded from his loss to Purdue’s Matt Ramos with wins against Illinois and Northwestern. Ayala said Tuesday that his “offense is flowing right now, and [he] feels better than ever.”
133 POUNDS: No. 18 Cullan Schriever (Iowa) vs. No. 4 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan)
Schriever is slated to start his third straight dual meet, seeming to solidify his spot in a weight class that has seen many different faces this season.
141 POUNDS: No. 1 Real Woods (Iowa) vs. No. 19 Sergio Lemley (Michigan)
Real Woods got the weekend off and did not wrestle against Illinois or Northwestern. He was replaced by Brody Teske, who has also wrestled at 133 pounds this season.
149 POUNDS: No. 11 Caleb Rathjen (Iowa) vs. No. 6 Austin Gomez (Michigan)
157 POUNDS: No. 2 Jared Franek (Iowa) vs. No. 12 Will Lewan (Michigan)
Jared Franek is 1-0 all-time against Will Lewan, beating him 3-2 at the 2023 NCAA Championships while Franek was at North Dakota State.
165 POUNDS: No. 6 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) vs. No. 10 Cameron Amine or Beau Mantanona (Michigan)
Amine earned fourth place at the NCAA Championships last season, defeating Iowa’s Patrick Kennedy to advance to the quarterfinals.
174 POUNDS: No. 8 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) vs. No. 3 Shane Griffith (Michigan)
184 POUNDS: Aiden Riggins (Iowa) vs. No. 19 Jaden Bullock (Michigan)
Riggins earned his first dual meet victory of the season last Sunday against Northwestern’s No. 23 Troy Fisher.
197 POUNDS: No. 11 Zach Glazier (Iowa) vs. Bobby Striggow or Rylan Rogers (Michigan)
HEAVYWEIGHT: Ben Kueter or Bradley Hill (Iowa) vs. No. 6 Lucas Davison (Michigan)
Bradley Hill and Ben Kueter split last weekend’s dual meets. Hill pinned Illinois’ Peter Marinopolous in 5:41, and Kueter pinned Northwestern’s Jack Jessen in 44 seconds.
Kueter, a freshman who is also on the Iowa football team, can wrestle attached in three more dates of competition before burning his redshirt.
“I think we have two really good heavyweights,” Brands said. “Here’s the thing, they’re both going to wrestle. They’re both going to have to continue to develop to be better. We love Bradley Hill, and we love Ben Kueter.”
