Fans packed a rowdy Carver-Hawkeye Arena to watch The No.3 Iowa Hawkeyes take on the No.7 Nebraska Cornhuskers in a Big Ten men’s wrestling dual in Iowa City on Friday, Feb. 26, 2025. The Hawkeyes rallied back from a deficit to win 19-16.
Following the Hawkeye’s road trip featuring two strong Big Ten matchups, the Hawks were welcomed back with another test. While their 34-9 win over No.25 Maryland made it seem that they were back in their groove, the Hawkeyes fell behind against the Cornhuskers.
Nebraska’s No.8 Caleb Smith opened the night up with a win over Iowa’s No.26 Joey Cruz, and after Iowa’s No.3 Drake Ayala evened the score with a win over Nebraska’s No.15 Jacob Van Dee, Nebraska would not fall behind a single time through the first eight matches.
With the score being 16-9 heading into the final two matches, Iowa looked to their No.1 ranked 197-pound Stephen Buchanan for an answer. Buchanan delivered, pinning Nebraska No.20 Camden McDaniel and bringing Iowa’s deficit to just one. Kueter coped out the night for the Hawkeyes, securing the comeback victory with a 9-0 victory over Nebraska No.21 Harley Andrews.
With the loss, the Cornhuskers fall to 9-3 and will hope to bounce back in their next dual at home against Indiana on Sunday, Feb. 16. With the record now sitting at 11-1, the Hawkeyes will look forward to their next dual against Minnesota on the road on Friday, Feb. 14.
