The Granddaddy Matchup of Them All
One of the best matchups in college wrestling continues this Friday night. Two powerhouse programs meet again in a battle that never disappoints.
No. 2 Penn State is coming off of a dominant 37-6 victory over No. 11 Rutgers while No. 3 Iowa looks to bounce back from its 24-11 loss to No. 1 Oklahoma State.
The Lions bring nine ranked wrestlers to their starting lineup. Suriano, Retherford, Nolf, Nickal and Nevills all have undefeated season records. Joseph and Morelli only have one loss each.
Iowa has eight ranked wrestlers. Lightweight Thomas Gilman and 157 Michael Kemerer are both undefeated. 133 Corey Clark, 149 Brandon Sorensen and 184 Sammy Brooks all have one loss each.
When compared to Penn State, the Hawkeyes may be slightly lacking in records and rankings, but they make up for it in experience. The majority of Iowa’s lineup is juniors and seniors, five seniors to be exact. While Penn State has a younger lineup, including four sophomores and two freshmen.
In order for Iowa to win, it needs at least one bonus-point win, an upset and to minimize the Lions’ usual bonus-points. If the Lions keep up those bonus-point wins like they have so far this season, they shouldn’t have a problem.
Iowa leads the all-time series matchup 26-9-2, which includes last year’s 18-12 Hawkeye victory at the Bryce Jordan Center.
This year the matchup returns to Iowa City this Friday night and will air on the Big Ten Network at 9 p.m. You might want to record this one.
#2 Penn State (7-0) vs. #3 Iowa (7-1)
Individual Match-ups:
125: PSU #3 Nick Suriano (11-0) vs. IOWA #1 Thomas Gilman (17-0)
133: PSU George Carpenter (1-7) vs. IOWA #3 Cory Clark (9-1)
141: PSU #12 Jimmy Gulibon (7-6) vs. IOWA #18 Topher Carton (17-3)
149: PSU #1 Zain Retherford (12-0) vs. IOWA #3 Brandon Sorensen (17-1)
157: PSU #1 Jason Nolf (12-0) vs. IOWA #2 Michael Kemerer (18-1)
165: PSU #4 Vincenzo Joseph (10-1) vs. IOWA Joey Gunther (13-3) OR Skyler St. John (5-3)
174: PSU #14 Geno Morelli (10-1) OR Shakur Rasheed (5-1) vs. IOWA #13 Alex Meyer (14-4)
184: PSU #2 Bo Nickal (11-0) vs. IOWA #5 Sammy Brooks (16-1)
197: PSU #10 Matt McCutcheon (9-2) vs. IOWA Cash Wilcke (11-5)
285: PSU #5 Nick Nevills (11-0) vs. IOWA #8 Sam Stoll (7-2)
No. 2 Penn State is coming off of a dominant 37-6 victory over No. 11 Rutgers while No. 3 Iowa looks to bounce back from its 24-11 loss to No. 1 Oklahoma State.
The Lions bring nine ranked wrestlers to their starting lineup. Suriano, Retherford, Nolf, Nickal and Nevills all have undefeated season records. Joseph and Morelli only have one loss each.
Iowa has eight ranked wrestlers. Lightweight Thomas Gilman and 157 Michael Kemerer are both undefeated. 133 Corey Clark, 149 Brandon Sorensen and 184 Sammy Brooks all have one loss each.
When compared to Penn State, the Hawkeyes may be slightly lacking in records and rankings, but they make up for it in experience. The majority of Iowa’s lineup is juniors and seniors, five seniors to be exact. While Penn State has a younger lineup, including four sophomores and two freshmen.
In order for Iowa to win, it needs at least one bonus-point win, an upset and to minimize the Lions’ usual bonus-points. If the Lions keep up those bonus-point wins like they have so far this season, they shouldn’t have a problem.
Iowa leads the all-time series matchup 26-9-2, which includes last year’s 18-12 Hawkeye victory at the Bryce Jordan Center.
This year the matchup returns to Iowa City this Friday night and will air on the Big Ten Network at 9 p.m. You might want to record this one.
#2 Penn State (7-0) vs. #3 Iowa (7-1)
Individual Match-ups:
125: PSU #3 Nick Suriano (11-0) vs. IOWA #1 Thomas Gilman (17-0)
133: PSU George Carpenter (1-7) vs. IOWA #3 Cory Clark (9-1)
141: PSU #12 Jimmy Gulibon (7-6) vs. IOWA #18 Topher Carton (17-3)
149: PSU #1 Zain Retherford (12-0) vs. IOWA #3 Brandon Sorensen (17-1)
157: PSU #1 Jason Nolf (12-0) vs. IOWA #2 Michael Kemerer (18-1)
165: PSU #4 Vincenzo Joseph (10-1) vs. IOWA Joey Gunther (13-3) OR Skyler St. John (5-3)
174: PSU #14 Geno Morelli (10-1) OR Shakur Rasheed (5-1) vs. IOWA #13 Alex Meyer (14-4)
184: PSU #2 Bo Nickal (11-0) vs. IOWA #5 Sammy Brooks (16-1)
197: PSU #10 Matt McCutcheon (9-2) vs. IOWA Cash Wilcke (11-5)
285: PSU #5 Nick Nevills (11-0) vs. IOWA #8 Sam Stoll (7-2)
