The Penn State-Iowa Wrestling Match Crushed Its Big Ten Network Record

The match between the nation's top-ranked programs drew a record 388,000 viewers on BTN.

Penn State and Iowa should do this every year. The nation's top-ranked wrestling teams once again broke their own Big Ten Network viewership record last Friday, as 388,176 viewers tuned into the prime-time match of the season.

No. 1 Penn State's 23-14 win over No. 2 Iowa was the-most watched wrestling match in BTN history, overtaking last year's 1-2 battle in Iowa City for the top spot.

Penn State-Iowa also was the most-watched regular-season wrestling match on any network in the past eight years, BTN said in a news release. And the three most-watched wrestling matches in BTN history are Penn State vs. Iowa. According to the network:

• 2023 Iowa at Penn State: 388,176
• 2022 Penn State at Iowa: 362,917
• 2020 Penn State at Iowa: 347,760

Penn State and Iowa tied the attendance for an indoor college wrestling match, as 15,998 fans packed a sold-out Bryce Jordan Center last Friday night in State College. Penn State and Iowa previously had set that record at the BJC in 2018.

Penn State won six of the 10 bouts against Iowa to stretch its dual-meet win streak to 39 consecutive matches. The Lions (11-0) got key wins from defending national champs Roman Bravo-Young (133 pounds) and Max Dean (197) to deliver coach Cael Sanderson's 100th career Big Ten victory.

Penn State returns to BTN on Friday night at No. 5 Ohio State. The broadcast begins at 7 p.m.

For a second straight year, @Hawks_Wrestling and @pennstateWREST enter BTN's record books.

No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 2 Iowa delivered the most-watched regular season @NCAAWrestling dual on any network in 8 years.

Details: https://t.co/sWGbFMreXA pic.twitter.com/uDIu1YGPEo

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) January 31, 2023

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