Inside The Hawkeyes

Every Iowa Mens Wrestler Rated in Intermat's Top 25

The Iowa Hawkeyes have a wrestler ranked in every weight class this season.

Izabelle Cool

Iowa's Gabe Arnold wrestles Wisconsin's Shane Liegel in the 184-pound match on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.
Iowa's Gabe Arnold wrestles Wisconsin's Shane Liegel in the 184-pound match on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

No. 2 Iowa is 3-0 in the 2024-25 season. According to Intermat's Top 25 ranking system, one Iowa wrestler is ranked in every weight class.

Iowa men's wrestling placed fifth at the 2024 NCAA Championship with 67 points. This marked the first time since 2007 that Iowa finished behind Iowa State, which took fourth place. It was also the first time since 2016 that the Hawkeyes ended a season without an NCAA Champion or a team trophy.

Iowa placed fourth in the 2024 Big Ten Championship behind Penn State, Michigan and Nebraska. It was the first time since 2018 that Iowa did not produce a Big Ten Conference Champion. Iowa hopes to see its new and old wrestlers make a bigger impact this season and place on the NCAA and Big Ten Championships podiums.

This article will provide a comprehensive guide to the wrestlers and their achievements before and during their time so far with Iowa.

125 pounds

No. 31 Kale Petersen
Redshirt freshman Kale Petersen is ranked No. 31 for the Hawkeyes at 125 pounds. He is from Rockwell, Iowa, where he went to Greene County High School and was a three-time undefeated state champion at 132 pounds in 2023 (undefeated 42-0), 120 pounds in 2022 and 106 pounds in 2021. Petersen is the all-time leader in pins and technical falls at Greene County.

In his redshirt 2023-24 season, he had two major decisions, one technical fall and two pins. He had a 3-2 record when wrestling attached and a 6-4 overall record.

133 pounds

No. 9 Drake Ayala
Junior Ayala is wrestling in the 133-pound weight class, moving up from the 125-pound weight class where he wrestled last season. Ayala placed third at the Big Ten Championships and had a 27-5 record with seven wins against top-10-ranked opponents. He was the NCAA runner-up at 125 pounds after falling 7-2 to No. 8 Richard Figueroa from Arizona State.

141 pounds

No. 32 Ryder Block
Redshirt freshman Block had his first career technical fall against Bellarmine freshman David Mayora with an 18-4 win before the second period expired. He is a three-time undefeated state champion at Waverly-Shell Rock in Waverly, Iowa, and finished his high school career 159-1.

149 pounds

No. 4 Kyle Parco
Senior Parco is a 2024-25 season transfer from Arizona State. He was one of eight Sun Devils in team history to earn four-time All-American honors and finished in fifth place at the 2024 NCAA Championship. Last season, Parco won his third Pac-12 Championship title and went 25-4 on the season. With these statistics, Parco is expected to be a powerhouse for Iowa this season at 149 pounds.

157 pounds

No. 1 Jacori Teemer
Senior Teemer is also in his first season with Iowa after transferring from Arizona State. While with the Sun Devils, he won his fourth Pac-12 Conference title in 2024, making him one of seven wrestlers in conference history to win four conference titles. Teemer was the No. 1 recruit in the U.S. at 126 pounds and a five-time high school state and national champion.

He made his 2024-25 debut in the black and gold at the dual against No. 23 Oregon State on Nov. 2. Against Bellarmine, Teemer finished his mat against Gray Ortis (Bellarmine) with a pin in 24 seconds. Teemer shares sentiments similar to Parco's about why he joined the Hawkeyes this season.

165 pounds

No. 2 Michael Caliendo
Junior Caliendo began his collegiate career at North Dakota State, where he earned NCAA All-American honors and was ranked No. 7 at the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships and went 5-2. In his first season with the Hawkeyes, Caliendo placed fourth in the 2024 NCAA Championships and third in the Big Ten Championships. He ended the season with 17 bonus point victories, including seven major decisions, eight technical falls and two pins.

174 pounds

No. 10 Nelson Brands
Graduate Brands is the son of assistant coach Terry Brands and nephew of head coach Tom Brands. N. Brands is back for the 2024-25 season after being suspended in 2023-24 by the NCAA for sports wagering on Iowa's football team. He was granted an additional year of eligibility after his suspension was served.

He was an NCAA All-American and finished fifth at the 2023 NCAA Wrestling championships with a 15-8 overall season record. Brands is expected to return this year ready to make his way back up the rankings for Iowa.

184 pounds

No. 8 Gabe Arnold
Arnold is a redshirt freshman from Albany, Georgia, but he attended Iowa City High School. In his first year at Iowa, he wrestled 8-1 attached and 12-1 overall during his redshirt season. His highest-ranked win was to then No. 6 Iowa State senior Will Feldkamp. In high school, he had a 123-6 career record, was the 79-kilogram National Champion at the 2023 U.S. Open and finished seventh at the World Team Trials in freestyle and fifth in Greco as a sophomore.

197 pounds

No. 2 Stephen Buchanan
Senior Buchanan joined the Haweyes team unexpectedly in the postseason after going 29-3 in his first season with Oklahoma and earned his third All-American honor. In 2022 and 2024, he finished third at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. He finished third at the 2024 Big 12 Wrestling Championships and third at the 2024 NCAA Championships, becoming the Sooner's highest NCAA finisher since Cody Brewer.

At Wyoming, Buchanan was the fourth Cowboy in program history to win a Big 12 title and the first to do so at 197 pounds. Buchanan looks to have the same impact on Hawkeye wrestling and set new stats of his own in the program.

285 pounds

No. 12 Ben Kueter
Last season, redshirt freshman Kueter joined Iowa as a two-sport athlete, competing in football and wrestling. However, Kueter has decided to devote his time fully to wrestling this season. Kueter won five consecutive matches at the U20 Nationals, which earned him a spot on the United States team, although he lost in his final round. In high school, he was the No. 1 pound-for-pound recruit nationally by MatScouts. He was also the 32nd wrestler in Iowa state history to win four straight state titles.

Published
Izabelle Cool
IZABELLE COOL

Izabelle is a senior at the University of Missouri studying Sports Broadcast Journalism and Sociology. She's from Kansas City, Mo., and has covered wrestling since 2023. Previously, she covered wrestling, soccer, and tennis for the student newspaper The Maneater.

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