Drake Ayala earned the nickname “No-Brake Drake” for his pedal-to-the-metal“ wrestling style fueled by a deep gas tank. He is a two-time NCAA finalist and three-time national finalist, embarking on his final college season with Iowa.
See photos from Iowa Wrestling Media Day in Iowa City.
Video of the Tom Brands press conference during Iowa Hawkeyes Men’s Wrestling Media Day Wednesday, October 29, 2025.
The Hawkeyes open the season at home against Bellarmine and hit the road for rivalry duals against Iowa State and Oklahoma State.
The Big Ten Conference has released the conferencve dual schedule. University of Iowa hosts Wisconsin, Penn State, Minnesota and Michigan in duals for the 2025-26 men’s wrestling season.
The Big Ten Conference released conference dual opponents Monday. The Hawkeyes will host rival Penn State, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin in conference duals. They will travel to Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State and Purdue.
Nelson Brands is an accomplished wrestler, winning three state titles and All-American honors in high school and college. He also trained under Hall of Fame coaches. Brands will bring those experiences to his new role as Iowa City Regina boys’ head wrestling coach.
Iowa’s Kennedy Blades has had a monumental year, earning an Olympic silver medal in Paris, claiming an NCWWC national title and USA Wrestling’s Women’s College Wrestler of the Year honors and the U.S. Open title for a shot at the 2025 U.S. World Team. She trains with the Iowa’s women’s program and the men of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club.
Stephen Buchanan came to Iowa to become a champion. Iowa needed him to accomplish that goal. Both reaped the rewards when he captured the 197-pound NCAA title. Iowa produces five All-Americans, Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson pulls off major upset, Penn State wins again and more in the NCAA Wrestling Weekend That Was.
University of Iowa moved five into the quarterfinals and finished tied for fourth in the team race after Day 1 of the NCAA Wrestling Championships Thursday at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. UNI has all 10 alive with Cael Happel and Parker Keckeisen in the quarterfinals. The Panthers are in seventh place.
University of Iowa, Iowa State, University of Northern Iowa and a handful of others with state ties will compete at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia from Thursday through Saturday. Here are five storylines to follow at the national tournament.
University of Iowa’s Drake Ayala was the runner-up at 125-pounds at last year’s national tournament. He will try to improve that finish as the No. 2 seed at 133 at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, beginning Thursday.
All three state NCAA Division I wrestling programs received at least one at-large berths to the national tournament March 20-22 in Philadelphia. The three schools qualified 27 of 30 starters combined.
For the second straight year, second-ranked Iowa did not crown a champion at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships on Sunday at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Hawkeye trio of Drake Ayala, Michael Caliendo and Stephen Buchanan all earned runner-up finishes in their first conference finals and Iowa toted home a third-place finish.
Top-seeded Stephen Buchanan, No. 1 Drake Ayala and No. 2 Michael Caliendo each advanced to the finals, helping Iowa to third place with 98 points after the opening day of the conference tournament. The Hawkeyes also secured eight automatic berths to the NCAA Championships on March 20-22 in Philadelphia, Pa.
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