6:18 pm CT
125 pounds – Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl over Iowa’s Joey Cruz, 22-6 technical fall
Lilledahl got the first takedown of the match, getting to the upper thigh of Cruz on a reattack and brought him down for a 3-0 lead. Cruz escaped in 21 seconds to make it 3-1. From there, the speed of Lilledahl continued to dominate the match as he got another takedown in the second to make it 6-2 entering the third. In the final frame, Lilledahl cruised to dominant technical fall with five more takedowns on Cruz to win 22-6.
What absolutely could not happen for the Hawkeyes was bonus points at this spot, and a Lilledahl technical fall gives them a big advantage going forward.
Penn State 5, Iowa 0
5:30 pm CT
History of Gabe Arnold vs. Carter Starocci trash talk
The animosity between these two began when Arnold was a senior at Iowa City High, making one tweet directed at Starocci.
After calling Starocci overrated, the Penn State star responded that season by indicating he was ready for the challenge if Arnold was in the starting lineup in the 2023-24 season.
“If he can kiss enough butt and get into the starting lineup, I’ll take care of business there,” Starocci said. “And, it’ll be in his home dojo too, so he can get whooped in front of his mom and dad.
After the two did not matchup at the Penn State-Iowa dual in Arnold’s freshman season, the two compete at the 184-pound weight class in 2024-25. After Iowa defeated Ohio State, Arnold called his shot ahead of the potential matchup.
“We’re going to get it done this year,” Arnold said after the Ohio State dual. “This time, we’ll be in your home dojo and I promise… your (Carter Starocci) head is mine. Book it.”
The following week when asked about the trash talk, Starocci once again scoffed at Arnold’s remarks, saying he was more concerned with Angelo Ferrari than Arnold for Friday’s dual.
“I think the other guy (Angelo Ferrari) is a better wrestler,” Starocci said.
No matter what happens at 184 pounds on Friday night, expect some fireworks.
5:30 pm CT
Predicting Iowa wrestling vs. Penn State
It’s going to be a tough night for the Hawkeyes in every bout they have, but weights like 133 pounds, 149, 157 or 197 are all places where Iowa could certainly earn wins. A full breakdown of the dual and the spots Iowa can find some luck can be found on hawkcentral.com.
Prediction: Penn State 23, Iowa 9
4:50 pm CT
Angelo Ferrari to start at 184 according to Iowa probables
According to Iowa’s probables, Ferrari will be the starter. The true freshman is 9-0 across three competitions. After Iowa’s Gabe Arnold and Penn State’s Carter Starocci exchanged jabs over the last week, it looks as if we will not see Arnold have that moment.
Ferrari will be an interesting matchup for the star power of Starocci, as the freshman has displayed some great defensive skills already in short time with Iowa. We’ll see if that can translate or not into success, but either he or Arnold would have had a tough road vs. the four-time NCAA champion.
4:00 pm CT
What Iowa had to say ahead of dual vs. Penn State
Listen to Iowa wrestling’s Jacori Teemer and Stephen Buchanan ahead of the dual vs. Penn State. Click here or visit hawkcentral.com for additional context on how Iowa is approaching the dual vs. Penn State.
3:30 pm CT
Probable lineups between Iowa wrestling and Penn State
Iowa wrestlers listed first, rankings from Intermat.
- 125 – No. 26 Joey Cruz vs. No. 7 Luke Lilledahl OR Kurt McHenry
- 133 – No. 3 Drake Ayala vs. No. 7 Braeden Davis OR Kyison Garcia
- 141 – Ryder Block OR Cullan Schriever vs. No. 3 Beau Bartlett
- 149 – No. 2 Kyle Parco vs. No. 4 Shayne Van Ness
- 157 – No. 1 Jacori Teemer OR Miguel Estrada vs. No. 3 Tyler Kasak
- 165 – No. 2 Michael Caliendo vs. No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink
- 174 – No. 6 Patrick Kennedy vs. No. 2 Levi Haines
- 184 – Angelo Ferrari vs. No. 1 Carter Starocci
- 197 – No. 1 Stephen Buchanan vs. No. 4 Josh Barr
- 285 – No. 11 Ben Kueter vs. No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet
3:01 pm CT
How to watch Iowa wrestling vs. Penn State
- TV Channel: Big Ten Network
- Time: 6 p.m. CT
4:30 pm CT January 29, 2025
Key matchups between Iowa wrestling and Penn State
There are several high-profile matchups, many of which we could see again at the Big Ten and NCAA Championships in March.
The key question Hawkeye fans are asking, is there a path to victory?
Click herefor what that unlikely path looks like, and preview some of the duals’ biggest matchups.
