No. 2 Iowa Falls Shorts in Tough Battle Against No. 1 Penn State

The Nittany Lions secured two upset wins while the Hawkeyes struggled offensively and faced several stall warnings.

Iowa’s Drake Ayala wrestles Illinois’ Lucas Byrd in a 133-pound match on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On January 31, 2020, No. 2 Iowa wrestling defeated Penn State 19-17, and since then, No. 1 Penn State has not lost a dual. The Hawkeyes dropped their first dual of the season to the Nittany Lions 8 to 30. Several of the matchups will be seen again during the Big 10 and NCAA Wrestling championships in March. The Hawkeyes will need to work on their offense to keep up with the speed and strength of Penn State's wrestling team as the countdown to the championships begins.

At 125 pounds, No. 26 Joey Cruz started the Hawkeyes off for the night against No. 7 Luke Lilledahl (PSU). The match began with immediate hand fighting, with Lilledahl moving quickly to find openings against Cruz. Lilledahl got Cruz on his back early for a three-point takedown, followed by an injury time-out as Lilledahl held his hand in pain. However, the injury did not slow him down, and Lilledahl won by a technical fall, 23-6.

No. 3 Drake Ayala (133) secured the first win of the night for Iowa against Kurt McHenry (PSU). Ayala quickly performed a takedown, while McHenry managed two escapes but received a caution and a stall warning. Ayala then gained momentum and scored multiple takedowns in a row, resulting in a 19-4 technical fall victory.

Drake Ayala responds for @Hawks_Wrestling 😤

He gets the tech fall and puts Iowa on the board 👏#B1GWrestling on @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/C2s4AyCOyS

— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) February 1, 2025

At 141 pounds, No. 3 Beau Bartlett (PSU) defeated Cullan Schriever 7-3. The match was low-scoring because Bartlett had to be seen by team physicians multiple times for blood timeouts.

In a top-five match-up, No. 2 Kyle Parco (149) faced No. 4 Shayne Van Ness (PSU). Parco got a quick escape, but Van Ness picked him up and returned him to the mat for a three-point takedown. Parco was looking for areas to attack, but Van Ness was quick to jump out of any attack made. Parco had a two-point reversal early in the second period, but it was not enough as Van Ness got him on his back for a four-point nearfall. Van Ness defeated Parco 17-6 after a double leg takedown at the end of the third period.

At 157 pounds in another top-five match, No. 1 Jacori Teemer was on the mat for the second time since November in a match against No. 3 Tyler Kasak. Teemer pushed Kasak's head down multiple times to find a spot to attack. Kasak scored the first points with a takedown and held Teemer down for most of the second period. Kasak got an escape and held onto his lead for a 4-2 upset and his 20th straight win.

The Hawkeyes dropped the next three bouts as they struggled to find attacks to lead at any point.

• 165 pounds | No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) over No. 2 Michael Caliendo, by technical fall, 19-4
• 174 pounds | No. 2 Levi Haines (PSU) over No. 6 Patrick Kennedy, 10-3 decision
• 184 pounds | No. 1 Carter Starocci (PSU) over Angelo Ferrari, 3-1

At 197 pounds, No. 1 Stephen Buchanan remains undefeated after defeating No. 4 Josh Barr (PSU) 5-1. Both wrestlers showcased strong offensive techniques, but Buchanan effectively used his strength to dominate the match, keeping Barr on the mat for most of the bout.

No. 1-ranked Stephen Buchanan improves to 14-0 on the season 💥 @Hawks_Wrestling #B1GWrestling on @BigTenNetwork 📺 pic.twitter.com/hktNIFD5d1

— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) February 1, 2025

At 285 pounds, reigning NCAA champion No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) defeated No. 11 Ben Kueter in a 12-2 major decision.

Up next

The Hawkeyes will travel to College Park, Maryland, on Sunday, Feb. 2, at 1 p.m. to compete against No. 25 Maryland. This is the seventh meeting between the two teams, and Iowa currently leads the series 6-0. The dual will be streamed on the Big 10 + Network.