Iowa Fans React To Embarrassing Dual vs. Penn State

Not often does the Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling program get embarrassed like this.

Carver-Hawkeye Arena hosted a crucial duel vs. Penn State, a team that came to Iowa City and absolutely dominated.

The Nittany Lions took care of business with a 32-3 win that left Hawkeyes fans with plenty to complain about.

Sure, Penn State is No. 1 while Iowa is No. 4, but that doesn't excuse how one-sided this duel turned out to be. It's not the first time Iowa got embarrassed this season, and fans are hungry for changes to be made.

Iowa Fans React To 32-2 Loss

pic.twitter.com/hYRvtX4Rhf
— The Penn State Troll 🦁🧌 (@ThePSUTroll) January 17, 2026

"$31 million wrestling facility
. Wrestlers that don’t shoot, don’t ride, don’t score on the edge of the mat, don’t score at the end of the period - and get called for stalling. Folks, it’s time to change leadership," the top comment read.

Someone responded, "Another humbling by the Nittany Lions. Brands brothers need to step down. Iowa is a shell of itself & will never come close to challenging Penn State or winning a B10/NCAA title again at the current rate."

Yes, hard to live up to Gable's teams, but Tom Brands has reached his ceiling. The last few years,vs PSU, Iowa is weaker, slower, LESS DISCIPLINED. Too many times we're behind in 3rd period, scrambling. 32-3, embarrassing. As a lifelong fan and alum, I'm ready for a change..
— Daniel Duffy (@DanielDuff50014) January 17, 2026

That led to this comment, "Need a younger mind to run the program. Brands coaching philosophy is outdated and he won’t change. Look at how much better Oklahoma state got with Taylor. So many Iowa guys stay the same or get worse year to year. Most portal guys aside from Buchanan flop."

"Yes, hard to live up to Gable's teams, but Tom Brands has reached his ceiling. The last few years,vs PSU, Iowa is weaker, slower, LESS DISCIPLINED. Too many times we're behind in 3rd period, scrambling. 32-3, embarrassing. As a lifelong fan and alum, I'm ready for a change.." one fan added.

I can't wait for the press conference where Beth says "after careful consideration, we've made the difficult decision to move on from Tom and Terry brands"
— Mason (@Masonjr36) January 17, 2026

"Worst loss in program history at home?" Someone asked. That led to a separate response, "I refuse to put more time into Iowa wrestling than it takes to type this. The Brands aren’t the answer and it’s time for conversations to be had. This program is regressing."

One fan chimed in, "Keuter going to go down as the most disappointing athlete in Iowa Hawkeye history. 2 sport all star to terrible at 1 sport." Another responded, "The Brands Brothers are the Mike Tomlin’s of wrestling: tough persona, alot of criticism at other programs that they can’t back up, living off the past vs recent success. And like Tomlin leaving Pittsburgh, Brands leaving Iowa would be mutually beneficial."

10 matches, 2 take downs…
— Jeremy Johnson (@jrjhawkeye) January 17, 2026

"Is two takedowns and 7 stall calls in a whole match a good thing? Asking for my good buddy," someone sarcastically asked. Someone else called out Iowa's performance, "Every youth wrestler should be banned from watching Iowa wrestle."

Iowa is now 8-3 (1-1) as they'll look to regroup before heading to Nebraska on January 23. Thankfully for the sake of this program, they don't have any other ranked opponents left to face.

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