The No. 2 Hawkeye men’s wrestling squad made the short trip south to St. Charles, Missouri, to compete in the Journeymen Wrestling “Uncivil War” on Friday evening— defeating Princeton in the first dual of the night, 39-3.
Joey Cruz, Cullan Schriever, and true freshman Miguel Estrada all earned appearances on the mat for the Hawkeyes in place of the usual starters in their weight classes. The trio went 2-1 on the night.
And the Hawkeyes ended up going 9-1 on the night against Princeton — leading to a 5-0 start for Iowa on the 2024-2025 season.
Iowa 3, Princeton 0 – 125 lbs
Cruz took an early 3-0 lead in the first period against No. 30 Ethan Rivera after a crafty takedown. Rivera followed up quickly with an escape to bring the contest to a 3-1 in favor of Cruz. A back-and-forth second period with no scoring action between Cruz and Rivera kept the score at 3-1 in favor of Cruz.
With a narrow two-point lead entering the third period, both wrestlers came out firing on all cylinders. With less than 30 seconds left in the third period, Cruz recorded another shifty takedown to extend the lead to 6-1. Rivera was unable to capitalize with time dwindling — giving Iowa an early three-point team lead.
Iowa 7, Princeton 0 – 133 lbs
No. 6 Drake Ayala appeared against Daniel Jones in a battle for the 133-pound weight class. It only took Ayala a minute to get situated and record an early three-point takeown. An escape in the second period extended Ayala’s lead to 4-0.
Ayala dominated in the third period — out-scoring his opponent 8-1 to lead to a 12-1 major decision win.
Iowa 7, Princeton 3 – 141 lbs
With Schriever — starting in place of Ryder Block’s inconsistency — and Eligh Rivera getting a feel for each other’s style of play, an overwhelming amount of hand fighting occurred in the first period, leading to no points scored.
Schriever and Rivera both recorded a point each as, with under a minute left in the third, Schriever let his guard down and let Rivera record a takedown. Rivera took home a 4-2 win by decision to give Princeton its first team points of the night.
Iowa 12, Princeton 3- 149 lbs
No. 4 Kyle Parco came out extremely aggressively against Chrisopher Marino, recording three takedowns and a near fall in the first period. Two escapes by Martino brough the score to 13-2 favoring Iowa.
Parco’s poise and veteran experience led to his dominance in the second period, producing a 17-2 tech fall.
Iowa 17, Princeton 3 – 157 lbs
Estrada appeared in place of injured teammate and No. 1 Jacori Teemer at the 157-pound bout — and dominated. Estrada took the opportunity with open arms and simply out-worked opponent Cody Tavosa, 12-3, in the first period.
Estrada continued to perform with prowess and dominated through the second period, leading to a 21-6 tech fall win.
Iowa 22, Princeton 3 – 165 lbs
No. 2 Michael Caliendo kept the momentum rolling for the Hawkeyes, scoring 16 points to Hudson Hightower’s three. Caliendo’s dominance proved to fans there was never a question on who was dictating control on the mat.
Proving why he is the No. 2 wrestler in the country, Caliendo defeated Hightower, 19-3, and added five points to Iowa’s team total.
Iowa 27, Princeton 3 – 174 lbs
No. 22 Nelson Brands faced-off against Xavier Giles on the mat. Three first-period takedowns kept the Hawkeyes in the driver’s seat with a 9-2 lead.
A takedown by Brands and an escape by Giles brought the score to 12-3. Brands was in control the entire match and was eager to record a tech fall for Iowa as the clock winded down. With seconds left, Brands’ persistent takedowns produced a 20-4 defeat.
Iowa 31, Princeton 3 – 184 lbs
No. 8 Gabe Arnold and No. 27 Mikey Squires matched up for an intense battle at the 184-pound bout. A takedown by Arnold brought the score to 3-0 in favor of Iowa very early on.
Arnold continued to control the mat and put Squires through the gauntlet. Squires was only able to break free for one escape point in the second. Arnold soon followed up with another takedown of his own to take the lead to 8-1.
A barrage of points in the third period by Arnold solidified the win from the talented redshirt freshman — winning, 19-6.
Iowa 36, Princeton 3 – 197 lbs
No. 2 Stephen Buchanan and No. 18 Luke Stout took the mat for one of the more competitive matches of the night between Iowa and Princeton. The first period was quiet in terms of scoring as the first points of the match came with less than 30 seconds left in the first period off a takedown from Buchanan.
Buchanan stayed persistent throughout the match by refraining from anything too flashy. Buchanan Stout down and scored when openings arose. A takedown with less than seven seconds in the third period solidified an 18-6 tech fall win for Buchanan.
Iowa 39, Princeton 3 – 285 lbs
Coming in the last match of the first duel, Iowa’s No. 13 redshirt freshman Ben Kueter squared off against No. 33 Sebastian Garibaldi.
The first takedown of the match came from Kueter in the second period. Shortly after the takedown, Garibaldi recorded an escape to bring the score of 4-1 in favor of Kueter. A takedown by Kueter and an escape by Garibaldi brough the contest to 7-2 with a minute remaining in the third period.
Kueter was able to hold off Garibaldi for a confidence-boosting 8-2 win by decision. Kueter’s win came after falling to Iowa State’s No. 4 Yonger Batista during the Cy-Hawk dual a couple of weeks ago.