National Wrestling Coaches Association dual rankings: Iowa remains at No. 4, hosts No. 9 Minnesota Friday

IOWA CITY — University of Iowa prepares for its third straight top-10 dual.

The Hawkeyes welcome Minnesota to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday.

Iowa remains fourth in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association NCAA Division I dual rankings released Tuesday. Iowa State stayed in third, while University of Northern Iowa held the 13th spot.

Iowa (9-3, 2-1 Big Ten) is coming off a 22-14 victory over No. 6 Nebraska and face the ninth-ranked Golden Gophers, starting at 7 p.m.

“We keep going in the Big Ten dual season,” Iowa Coach Tom Brands said. “We’ve got Minnesota coming to town. Fourth Friday night in a row. … Like I said, we’ve got to keep a good thing going.”

Iowa rebounded from a loss to No. 1 Penn State by winning six bouts against the Cornhuskers, including two with bonus points. The Hawkeyes claimed five wins over ranked opponents with four versus top-10 foes.

“Overall, we did a good job,” said Iowa 174-pounder Patrick Kennedy, who beat No. 6 Christopher Minto 2-1 in tiebreaker-1. “We had a good week of workouts. Yeah, a setback happened but you look forward. You take what happened and build. Tom said that it’s easier to move forward with success but you still have to move forward. We’re getting right back on track.”

Kennedy, an All-American who placed fourth last season, is a three-time national qualifier and a four-time Minnesota state champion for former Hawkeye Jamie Heidt at Kasson-Mantorville High School. He used to be a Golden Gopher fan before making the transition to the Hawkeyes in middle school.

“It’s a great rivalry,” Kennedy said. “Going against your home state is important for me, so you’ve got to make sure you go out there ready to go because they want to take it to you. They’re trying to prove something as well.”

Iowa is in the middle of a tough schedule. The Hawkeyes face four top-10 teams in their final six regular-season duals. The goal is to continue to improve each week with the postseason in less than six weeks.

“Keep emphasizing that we have guys in the room to do the work,” Brands said. “We do have the guys in the room to do the work and have the work continue and then go out and do the work. Keep proving it.”

Penn State received 15 of 16 first-place votes, while No. 2 Ohio State had the other. The entire top 15 remained in the same spots from last week. The only changes were Rutgers climbing one rung to No. 16, while Wisconsin moved down one spot to 17th, West Virginia swapped places with Missouri, going from 19th to 18th, and Indiana bumped up to 24th, forcing Stanford down one to No. 25.

The Cyclones are 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big 12. UNI is 9-4 and 3-0. Both make an Oklahoma swing this weekend. Iowa State faces No. 21 Oklahoma (7-3) in Norman, Okla., on Friday and No. 5 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla., on Sunday. The Panthers wrestle the Cowboys (10-1) Friday and the Sooners on Saturday.

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