Iowa Wrestling: No. 2 Iowa vs No. 15 Penn - Preview, How to Watch Guide, & Match Thread

I have a stacked house here this weekend with lots of kids (easily close to a million), family friends, and lots of animals. I’m attempting to get everyone on the same page to watch the greatest sport in the history of sports, but I will probably fall short.

So, it’s up to you dear reader to cheer our Hawks on to victory while we take on our toughest test to date.

PENN (0-0)

The Quakers are making their dual season debut today, but they’re far from rusty because they’ve already powered through 2 early season tournaments at the Journeymen Classic and a 2nd place finish at the PRTC Keystone Classic, losing to #14 VT.

They have several guys appearing in the rankings including: #17 Ryan Miller (125), #10 Michael Colaiocco (133), #10 Doug Zapf (149), #12 Anthony Artalona (157), #23 Nick Icontrera (174), #27 Cole Urbas (197), and #24 Ben Goldin (285).

They also have a handful of prior NCAA qualifiers, led by Anthony Artalona who has reached the R12 on two occasions (albeit both times at 149lbs).

This a salty veteran lineup which sees 8 guys that have qualified for the dance. They’re coming into Carver-Hawkeye eager and ready to prove they belong.

IOWA (4-0)

Story of this year so far: The Big Guns Gun and the Backups Struggle.

I don’t see that trend course correcting until we get Spencer Lee, Real Woods, and Nelson Brands/ Brennan Swafford back into this lineup.

Considering we may have up to 4 starters out (Brody Teske) it doesn’t take a trained eye to see a path to victory for the Quakers this afternoon.

We need to be ready to go, especially at the lighter weights, which unfortunately is where Penn is strongest. Our smaller grapplers need to do their damndest to keep their matches close and in range of a decision to give the backend of our rotation a shot at the end.

Make no mistake, (assuming we start at 125) it’ll be a close battle through 174. That’s putting a lot of pressure on Assad, Warner, and Cassioppi to find bonus points against quality opponents and bring us back from the brink.

PROBABLE LINEUPS:

125: Aidan Harris vs #17 Ryan Miller

133: Cullan Schriever vs #10 Michael Colaiocco // Evan Mougalian

141: Drew Bennett vs Carmen Ferrante

149: #6 Max Murin vs #10 Doug Zapf

157: Cobe Siebrecht // Caleb Rathjen vs #12 Anthony Artalona

165: #13 Patrick Kennedy // Joe Kelly vs Lucas Revano // Adam Thomson

174: Drake Rhodes // Carlson Martinson vs #23 Nick Icontrera

184: #8 Abe Assad vs Maximus Hale // John Stout

197: #2 Jacob Warner vs #27 Cole Urbas

285: #4 Tony Cassioppi vs #24 Ben Goldin

KEY MATCH-UPS:

125: Aidan Harris vs #17 Ryan Miller

Every indication suggests that Spencer Lee is still riding the bench, so Harris needs to dig deep and wrestle his best match of the season to keep this to a decision. It’s entirely possible we see Charles Matthews get another start, though he didn’t perform much better last weekend against Army.

133: Cullan Schriever vs #10 Michael Colaiocco // Evan Mougalian

This is a HUGE match for Schriever (or even Teske if he’s back). The barometer on our two starters is wildly swinging back and forth, but a win over a top 10 opponent would make quite the statement for either guy.

141: Drew Bennett vs Carmen Ferrante

Bennett continually sits at a swing-weight for us and today is no different. Bennett has shown flashes of true grit and his willingness to dig deep and battle is commendable, but he’s also had a couple first period brain farts where he’s been counting the lights. We need him to stay off his back, find an early TD, and ride hard. He's got a deep tank, but he needs to wear Ferrante down by the 3rd to secure a solid win.

149: #6 Max Murin vs #10 Doug Zapf

This is Mad Max’s biggest test of the year and is a true measuring stick for the months to come. Zapf has been a steady climber and grinder throughout his career which now results in a deserved top 10 ranking following an upset win over VT’s #5 Caleb henson. I absolutely love what I’ve seen from Murin to start this season and that aggressiveness needs to continue here. A loss to Zapf may doom the dual, so I’m going to make the bold statement that, “As Max goes, we go.”

184 - 285: BONUS BONUS BONUS

We have to have bonus wins here. Warner and Cassioppi are coming off lackluster efforts that both saw them lose earlier in the week at the All-Star classic. Both looked dogged, and at times, downright passive as they dropped their lone matches against big rivals. These are the perfect bounce back matches they need to get back on track, but we must find the bonus land. I expect to hear Tom and Terry Brands going crazy on the sidelines urging them to push the pace as much as they can.

Broadcast Info

Opponent: Penn

Dual time: 2:00PM GT (Central) // Saturday, Nov. 26 2022

Location: Washington Avenue Armory // Albany, NY

TV/ Online: BTN+

Radio: iHeartRadio (AM800 KXIC)