No. 1 Penn State Duels No. 2 Iowa in College Wrestling's Main Event
Over the past eight seasons, Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson is 61-1 in Big Ten matches. The only loss was to Iowa in 2020. Conversely, Iowa coach Tom Brands is 35-1 in the Big Ten since 2018. The only loss was to Penn State last season.
This is college wrestling's main event of the 2022-23 regular season, the equivalent of a College Football Playoff championship game in November. Penn State and Iowa, the Big Ten's most dominant dual-meet teams of the past decade, renew their rivalry Friday night in State College, elevating college wrestling to the national stage.
No. 1 Penn State hosts No. 2 Iowa at 8:30 p.m. ET at the Bryce Jordan Center before what could be the largest crowd ever for an indoor college wrestling match. Penn State expects a sellout crowd of potentially 16,000 fans at its second Bryce Jordan Center match of the season. Big Ten Network will televise.
The match between unbeatens marks Iowa's first trip to State College since 2018 and promises the Big Ten's most intriguing marquee of the season. Penn State (10-0) and Iowa (12-0) could bring 19 ranked wrestlers, seven unbeatens, four No. 1s and four bouts between top-10 opponents to the party.
Meanwhile, Iowa seeks to end some streaks, just as Penn State did last season at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Penn State has won 38 consecutive dual meets dating to its January 2020 loss at Iowa. And since their 2015 loss to No. 1 Iowa at the Bryce Jordan Center, the Lions have won 50 consecutive home matches at either the BJC or Rec Hall.
Meanwhile, Iowa has won 15 consecutive duals since its 2022 home loss to Penn State. One year ago Saturday, Penn State defeated Iowa 19-13, ending the Hawkeyes' 28-match Big Ten win streak. It was the most-watched wrestling match in BTN history.
Friday's match will be the fourth between Penn State and Iowa when ranked 1-2 in the NWCA Coaches Poll. The No. 1 team has won the previous three meetings: Iowa in 1986 and 2020 and Penn State in 2022.
One more thing: A win would mark Sanderson's 100th career Big Ten victory.
The dual features some potentially great matchups. Here are five to watch.
141: No. 4 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Real Woods
What makes Penn State's roster so special? Bartlett is 14-0, and his closest bout was a 3-1, sudden-victory decision over teammate David Evans at the Black Open. Woods (9-0) is 4-0 against ranked opponents and has six bonus-point victories.
149: No. 13 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) vs. No. 7 Max Murin
Murin, a two-time Pennsylvania state champ at Central Cambria, returns needing a key result for the Hawkeyes. He's 13-3 with 10 bonus-point victories but has lost to three of the four ranked wrestlers he has faced. Like Murin, Van Ness (11-2) has lost to No. 2 Austin Gomez of Wisconsin and No. 6 Paniro Johnson of Iowa State this season. But Van Ness has wins over four other ranked wrestlers, two by fall.
165: No. 5 Alex Facundo (Penn State) vs. No. 9 Patrick Kennedy
Facundo, 11-1 as a redshirt freshman, shot from 17 to 5 in InterMat Wrestling's rankings after beating a pair of ranked wrestlers last week. That included an overtime win vs. then-No. 5 Cameron Amine of Michigan. Kennedy (12-2) is ninth according to WIN Magazine and averages 12.4 points per match. Kennedy defeated Facundo 5-2 at the 2019 Who's No. 1 high school showcase.
197: No. 4 Max Dean (Penn State) vs. No. 7 Jacob Warner
Dean and Warner will wrestle a rematch of their 2022 NCAA title bout, which Dean won 3-2. Dean (12-2) is 2-0 in his career against Warner, who is 11-2 this season and represents an important swing bout for the Hawkeyes. Since consecutive losses in December, Dean has won seven straight, getting bonus points in four.
285: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Tony Cassioppi
Kerkvliet, then ranked No. 1, lost his first bout of the season in overtime to Michigan's Mason Parris last week. On Friday he faces a frequent nemesis in Cassioppi, who is 3-0 in their previous official bouts. Cassioppi (16-0) defeated Kerkvliet twice last season, including a 6-4 overtime decision in the Big Ten tournament. But Kerkvliet (8-1) scored two takedowns to defeat Cassioppi 8-5 at the NWCA All-Star Class exhibition in December.
Noteworthy
- Spencer Lee, Iowa's top-ranked three-time national champ at 125, brings a 48-bout win streak to Penn State. He's the only wrestler from either team who competed in the 2018 Penn State-Iowa match at the Bryce Jordan Center.
- Former Penn State wrestler Brody Teske (133) returns for the first time since transferring to Northern Iowa in 2020 and then to Iowa this season. He'll likely wrestle two-time NCAA champ Roman Bravo-Young, whom he joined in Penn State's No. 1 2018 recruiting class.
- Penn State's top-ranked Carter Starocci (174) has scored 59 takedowns without allowing one this season.
- Attendance for Penn State-Iowa at the BJC in 2018 was 15,998, the largest crowd ever for an indoor college wrestling match. Could the building wedge in two more to host college wrestling's first indoor match with an attendance of 16,000?
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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.