Iowa men’s wrestling hosts Penn State on Jan. 16 in Big Ten Conference dual action

IOWA CITY — Iowa men’s wrestling Big Ten Conference dual schedule is set.

The Big Ten released the conference dual slate Monday. The Hawkeyes will have four home duals at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and hit the road for four, in addition to competing at the conference tournament March 7-8 at Penn State in State College, Pa.

The marquee home dual occurs on Jan. 16 against defending Big Ten and NCAA champion Penn State. Iowa leads the all-time series, 28-14-2, but the Nittany Lions won last year’s meeting, 30-8. The Hawkeyes last win over Penn State was a 19-17 victory on Jan. 31, 2020.

Iowa opens home conference duals with Wisconsin on Jan. 19. Minnesota comes to CHA on Jan. 30 with Michigan wrestling at Iowa on Feb. 13.

Other than the Wisconsin dual, which should be lopsided, the other three duals promise to be exciting. All three should be competitive or have attractive individual matchups.

The Hawkeyes travel to Nebraska on Jan. 23. They make an Eastern swing at Ohio State and Michigan State on Feb. 6 and Feb. 8. Iowa wrestles at Purdue in its Big Ten dual finale Feb. 15.

Duals at Nebraska and Ohio State will be challenging environments.

The Hawkeyes were 14-1 overall and 7-1 in Big Ten duals last season. They placed third at the 2025 Big Ten Championships and fourth at the NCAA tournament with five All-Americans in March.

Iowa Coach Tom Brands is beginning his 20th season as the Hawkeyes head coach. He is 291-28-1 overall and 140-15 in the Big Ten with the Hawkeyes.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com