Iowa's Tom Brands Details Stark Reality of Wrestling Rivalry With Penn State

"We've got beat up before, but not like that," the Hawkeyes' coach says after 32-3 loss to the Nittany Lions.

Penn State’s Rocco Welsh wrestles Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari in a 184-pound match at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Before taking his team to Iowa, Penn State coach Cael Sanderson praised the Hawkeyes' "history and tradition," which included a 28-14-2 record over the Nittany Lions. "We've got to be ready to roll," Sanderson said.

The top-ranked Nittany Lions clearly were, winning nine of 10 bouts to score their biggest win over Iowa in the series' history while handing the Hawkeyes their worst loss in 60 years. Penn State's 32-3 victory Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena left Tom Brands, in his 20th season as Iowa's head coach, confronting the rivalry's reality.

"That's unlike any dual that I've been in since I've been the coach here," Brands told reporters in Iowa City after the match. "We've got beat up before, but not like that."

What Penn State (8-0, 2-0 Big Ten) did to No. 4 Iowa in front of 12,530 fans at Carver-Hawkeye was humbling. According to the Des Moines Register, it was Iowa's worst loss since 1966, a 39-0 defeat vs. Oklahoma.

The Nittany Lions won every bout that featured two top-10 wrestlers. They scored bonus points in three matches, including a pin by Josh Barr at 197 pounds. Both unbeaten freshmen, Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke, beat ranked opponents, with Blaze scoring a 4-2 decision over two-time NCAA finalist Drake Ayala.

Penn State held a 15-2 advantage in takedowns, allowing just one outside its lone loss of the match, and scored two late rankings upsets that stood out to Brands.

At 184, fourth-ranked Rocco Welsh escaped in the tiebreaker for a 2-1 win over No. 1 Angelo Ferrari, whose only other career loss was to Penn State's five-time champion Carter Starocci last year.

And at heavyweight, Penn State's 13th-ranked Cole Mirasola, who weighed in at 226 pounds, scored a second-period takedown for a 5-3 decision over fifth-ranked Ben Kueter (237 pounds). Brands said Penn State's dominance wore down the roster.

"Angelo Ferrari and Ben Kueter, they watched some of their teammates go down, a lot of them," Brands said. "And sometimes that's hard. That's a lesson in itself."

3️⃣2️⃣ - 3️⃣ ‼️@pennstateWREST picks up their largest margin of victory in the all-time series between Penn State and Iowa 🤯 pic.twitter.com/G9haKzUfEK

— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) January 17, 2026

After the match, Brands said that "there is a gap between Iowa and Penn State," which seems to be growing. Penn State entered the match having won four straight matches over Iowa, the last two by a combined score of 59-14.

On Friday, the Hawkeyes won just one bout, with 11th-ranked Nasir Bailey defeating No. 7 Braeden Davis 3-2 at 141 pounds. Iowa became the latest statistic of Penn State's NCAA-record 79-match win streak, which includes eight blowouts this season.

The Nittany Lions have outscored their opponents by a combined 330-19 this season with four shutouts. Penn State wrestlers are a combined 74-6 in dual matches. After the match, Brands said that Penn State wrestlers "stalk" their opponents.

“They wrestle a style where, if you’re trying to stay on the perimeter of their stalk — that’s how I would describe it — you're going to keep taking it,” Brandsa said. "You have to give something back. You have to stop it now. It goes from the hard slaps to the head, all the way to dictating the pace, all the way to dicating how they're stalking.

"When you’re going forward, you can score points. But when you’re on the perimeter of that stalk, it’s hard. You’re going backward when you need to be penetrating. We don't want to get into a clinic here, but we've got to improve."

Added Brands, "Penn State comes with a style where they're hustling and they wrestle hard and they're wreslting to score points, and that's the gap. And when you're on the periphery of that stalk, you're going to have a hard time getting your offense off. And when you're on the other side of that pace, you're going to have a hard time getting your offense off."

Penn State, which is pursuing its fifth consecutive NCAA team title and 13th under Sanderson, returns to action Sunday at Northwestern. The match is scheduled for a 3 p.m. ET start and will stream on B1G+.

Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson talks to Nittany Lions wrestler PJ Duke during a match against Iowa’s Jordan Williams. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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