The No. 2 Iowa men’s wrestling team will host Stanford in its home-opener at Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 1 p.m. on Saturday — after an optimistic start against No. 23 Oregon State last weekend.
The Hawkeyes beat the Beavers with ease, 30-7, on Nov. 2, highlighted by 197-pounder and second-ranked Stephen Buchanan proving why he’s a top-ranked wrestler this season. The Oklahoma transfer rallied back from a late-match deficit to beat No. 4 Trey Munoz with a takedown and riding time.
“We work on it every day,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands. “All things considered, first day, first event of the year, hey, good job. Keep improving … Just get yourself as close to bulletproof as possible.”
At 125, Oregon State’s Max Renteria beat Iowa’s Joey Cruz, 6-4, potentially fueling a battle between the latter and Kale Petersen should Petersen stay at 125 and gun for the spot when healthy.
In brighter news, No. 7 Drake Ayala smashed Damion Elliott in a 26-10 technical fall at 133 pounds. The junior proved he hasn’t lost a step in his competitive edge despite the jump up a weight class.
“My mentally was just to keep scoring,” Ayala said. “Even though I get taken down once here and there, that’s fine. But I keep scoring. That’s when good things happen.”
“It’s still wrestling, right?” he added about the jump to 133. “I can’t even really tell the difference in the weight class. I can tell in my workouts and my practices I’m having a lot more fun, and I’m focusing on the right things.”
At 157, the Beavers’ Ethan Stiles bested the Hawkeyes’ Caleb Rathjen, Iowa clearly awaiting the debut of Arizona State transfer Jacori Teemer in the coming days.
But at the higher weights, the Hawkeyes were all business and unbeaten. Michael Caliendo dominated at 165, and Nelson Brands dug out a hard-fought win at 174 — with potential for a national ranking here soon.
The local Iowa redshirt freshman duo of Gabe Arnold and Ben Kueter dominated too.
Arnold earned a technical fall over TJ McDonnell, 20-5, and he’s going to be a very bright spot on this team moving forward. The same goes for 285, No. 11 Ben Kueter looking in great shape with a 10-4 win over Brett Mower.
Stanford
The Cardinal, while unranked nationally, have a handful of top-20 ranked wrestlers who excelled in a 29-12 win over Utah Valley and again over CSU Bakersfield on Friday.
“There’s nothing to take lightly,” Ayala said. “They’re a talented team … That’s the next best thing, big thing, so we’ve got to be ready to go.”
At 149, No. 12 Jaden Abas man-handled Utah Valley’s Tanner Frothinger, 18-3, in just 5:58 — a tough but exciting challenge for Iowa’s Kyle Parco this weekend.
Although No. 17 Nick Stemmet fell to the infamous No. 1 AJ Ferrari of CSU Bakersfield, a sleeper wrestler on this Stanford roster is Grigor Cholakyan at 157 — a thrilling matchup for Teemer in what will be his season debut.
“I know that they have capable guys,” Brands said. “It’s another event where you’re going to get the best from your opponent, so you’ve got to get ready to go.”
Indeed, Cholakyan is scary, beating Utah Valley’s Ryker Fullmer by 16-7 and pinning CSU Bakersfield’s Devyn Flores-Che — in just 21 seconds. Cholakyan mixes quick reactions with his athleticism for some serious potential in the college wrestling landscape.
Up next
The Hawkeyes next travel to Louisville, Kentucky, for a dual with Bellarmine at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15th.