There’s no sugarcoating Iowa wrestling’s loss to No. 1 Penn State on Friday. The No. 2 Hawkeyes got walloped in a 30-8 loss on the road, dropping eight of 10 bouts.
Coach Tom Brands didn’t mince his words about his team’s performance in State College, Pa.
“We got taken down first, we got taken down last in a lot of bouts and we were not competitive,” Brands said. “We got to stop the carnage and then you got to be the guy that’s going to come on.”
Brands called the dual a measuring-stick opportunity for the program earlier in the week. Ultimately, it was a reality-check moment for the Hawkeyes, as Penn State’s gap over the rest of the college wrestling world seemed to grow even larger with the victory.
The dual provided a glimpse into some positives, negatives and narratives to explore for the Hawkeyes.
Here are three takeaways from the Hawkeyes’ loss on Friday night:
After breaking NCAA points record last season, Penn State poised for more
The 2023-24 Penn State team scored 172.5 team points at the NCAA Championships, the most ever. That record surpassed Dan Gable’s 1997 Iowa team, which posted 170 points.
The introduction of the three-point takedown last season made bonus-point victories easier to come by at the NCAA meet. Still, Penn State’s 2024 performance was clearly one of the best of all-time, with four national champions and eight All-Americans.
The Nittany Lions showed Friday that they intend to exceed that NCAA points total in March.
Even without sophomore 133-pounder Braeden Davis, who is ranked No. 7 and was as high as No. 1 last year at 125, the Nittany Lions poured it on. Each of Penn State’s wrestlers ranks as an NCAA All-American by Intermat, and that’s not likely to change for No. 4 Josh Barr after his loss to No. 1 Stephen Buchanan for Iowa at 197.
It wasn’t a surprise that Beau Bartlett (141), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174), Carter Starocci (184) and Greg Kerkvliet (285) put on a show. Those guys have either won titles or have been close.
More surprising was the dominant effort from Penn State freshman Luke Lilledahl (125) over a red-hot Joey Cruz, a dynamic showing from Shayne Van Ness (149) in a win over Kyle Parco, and a gritty win from Tyler Kasak (157) over Jacori Teemer that showed that Cael Sanderson’s team is perhaps the most complete top-to-bottom that the sport has ever seen.
184-pound freshman Angelo Ferrari hangs tough with Carter Starocci, but Gabe Arnold is the guy going forward
In a little bit a of twist, Gabe Arnold did not get the nod vs. Carter Starocci after a week of trash talk. Instead, it was true freshman Angelo Ferrari taking the mat for Iowa.
While Ferrari lost (as one might expect vs. a four-time NCAA champion), he hung tough in the 3-1 decision. Starocci did not record a takedown, as he had a point for riding time, another stemming from two stall warnings on Ferrari and one for an escape.
Ferrari flashed some legit defensive talent vs. Starocci, with great flexibility and fast movement vs. Starocci’s attacks and overall smart wrestling when Starocci was the aggressor. Buchanan said in December that Ferrari is one of the toughest guys in the room to score on, and this was a showcase of that. He also had opportunities to score, but the size advantage Starocci had meant that he was never really threatened.
That match may have opened the thought to using Ferrari this season at 184, but Brands named his starter after the dual.
“We got to load-manage Gabe Arnold, that’s a term in the NBA people don’t like,” Brands said in an interview with Flowrestling. “Gabe Arnold, we need to make sure that he’s feeling pretty doggone good down the stretch. He’s going to be our guy at 84 (184).”
Brands said at the Soldier Salute that neither Ferrari nor Arnold had been head and shoulders above the other, so the decision to do so makes sense.
With Arnold, there’s enough evidence in the past two seasons to suggest he can be an All-American. Given that, and the depth at 174 between Patrick Kennedy and Nelson Brands (who hasn’t wrestled since the start of December due to injury), redshirting Ferrari seems like wise strategy given that Ferrari could preserve a year of eligibility while the rest could not.
Brands explained that Iowa coaches will use the five dates Ferrari is able to wrestle without burning a redshirt, and that in those five dates, they don’t want those opponents to be “cupcakes” for the true freshman. Regardless, he gave Iowa fans lots to be excited about in the future with Friday’s performance, while Arnold provides top-five potential at NCAAs.
Iowa’s best shot at a national title is Stephen Buchanan
Friday was a reality check for Parco, Teemer and Caliendo, a trio of wrestlers ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in their weight classes.
The one guy who did come through in a big way was Buchanan with the win by decision over No. 4 Josh Barr. It’s the seventh ranked win of the season in his 14-0 ledger, which includes 11 bonus-point victories. In probably his toughest bout yet this season, he controlled almost all seven minutes of action, and gassed Barr late for a takedown to lock up the match.
“We were on him (Barr), I don’t think that guy came close,” Brands said.
There’s no discussion after Friday, Buchanan is Iowa’s best and most consistent wrestler to this point. He is the lone regular starter for Iowa still undefeated despite a tough schedule. He hasn’t showcased an obvious weakness so far.
133-pounder Drake Ayala has a case in his own right, and Parco and Teemer are capable of flipping the script, but the consistency of Buchanan is hard to deny to this point.
Final results: Iowa vs. Penn State
- 125: Luke Lilledahl (PSU) over Joey Cruz (IOWA) (TF 22-6 6:43)
- 133: Drake Ayala (IOWA) over Kurt McHenry (PSU) (TF 19-4 3:42)
- 141: Beau Bartlett (PSU) over Cullan Schriever (IOWA) (Dec 7-3)
- 149: Shayne Van Ness (PSU) over Kyle Parco (IOWA) (MD 17-6)
- 157: Tyler Kasak (PSU) over Jacori Teemer (IOWA) (Dec 5-2)
- 165: Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) over Mike Caliendo (IOWA) (TF 19-4 6:24)
- 174: Levi Haines (PSU) over Patrick Kennedy (IOWA) (Dec 10-3)
- 184: Carter Starocci (PSU) over Angelo Ferrari (IOWA) (Dec 3-1)
- 197: Stephen Buchanan (IOWA) over Josh Barr (PSU) (Dec 5-1)
- 285: Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) over Ben Kueter (IOWA) (MD 12-1)
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
