Mainstream Adventures

The #11 UNI Panthers kickoff their dual meet season on Sunday November 24th at 1 pm in Cedar Falls Iowa, hosting #9 South Dakota State in what should be an fantastic dual. The dual features 13 ranked wrestlers and 6 ranked head to head bouts. The main attraction is a top 5 match at 184 lbs.

Don’t Miss: The 157 bout is a matchup of two former Iowa State Champions and both are nationally ranked. 184 is a top 5 matchup, anytime Keckeisen takes the mat its a must see attraction.

Keys To Victory:  The Panthers are favored in 5 of the 10 bouts, while SD State is favored in 3, while 2 of the bouts remain a toss up. With a dual this close, bonus points are going to be huge. The Panthers have an opportunity for bonus points at 141 and 184. The swing bouts are must win for both teams.

125 Trevor Anderson #21 vs  Jordan, Tanner #6 

133 Julian Farber vs Cardinal, Derrick

141 Cael Happel #6 vs Gross, Caleb 

149 Colin Realbuto #13 vs Martin, Alek #20

157 Ryder Downey #6 vs Siebrecht, Cobe #18

165 Jack Thomsen vs Gaynor, Connor

174 Jared Simma #17 vs DeVos, Cade #4

184 Parker Keckeisen #1 vs Berge, Bennett #5

197 Wyatt Voelker #17 vs Glazier, Zach #12

285 Lance Runyon vs Rasmussen, Luke

Conclusion: I see UNI winning 6 of the 10 bouts, and winning the dual 20-13. South Dakota State picks up wins at 125,174, 197, and heavyweight.

A lot of talent at 74, arguably the most active out of all the others, about half of the top 10 currently listed ,5 of them have moved up or down to wrestle here. Several returning All-Americans, things will be interesting this year.

#1. Levi Haines- Hard to admit even as Iowa matmen, but give credit to where it is due. He already shut Keegan O’Toole out at the World Team Trials this year and yes it was freestyle and yes he’s moving up in weight. But he’s filled out and looks like a big 74, almost unrecognizable compared to this past season at 57. The main reason is shear momentum, he looked so confident against O’Toole and is highly expected to stay undefeated. 48-2 overall at a 96% win rate. Preseason rank of #2 with Flo and #2 with wrestlestat.

#2. Keegan O’Toole- Has to be number two and while he may have had a an off day at the World Team Trials, a rematch could look a whole lot different in folk. Keegan has seemed to struggle a lot with freestyle anyways. sWe can’t count him out, to his credit he’s a professional scrambler and exemplified great success against David Carr when he was still around, will it bring a different dynamic to a rematch? Of course it will, the real question is, will it be enough to beat Haines monstrous offense. 93-4 overall at 95 percent win rate. #1 with Flo and wrestlestat.

#3. Dean Hamiti- Even though he he lost in the blood round this past year at 65, he gave Mesenbrink some serious trouble this past march at Big Tens and at one point was up 6-1. He’s capable of scoring against the top 2, has a hell of a gas tank and has some offensive skill. Hopefully the transfer to the Dave Taylor show at Oklahoma State has taught him more to add to that offensive skill set. 81-14 overall at am 85 percent win rate. #5 with Flo and #3 with wrestlestat.

#4 Lenny Pinto- The Nebraska junior is back and is down a weight class, back at his more natural weight class of 174. He is a prefect 2-0 on the year and is currently ranked 6th by Flowrestling. In high school he was a Pennsylvania state champion and 2019 Fargo National Champion. He has quality wins over DJ Parker, Ryder Rogotzke, and Jaden Bullock.

#5 Nelson Brands- there is a case for someone up and coming at this spot, but with our bias and some rightful facts Brands belongs here. Beating out Dustin Plott twice and Isaiah Salazar once makes him 3-0 against like opponents with Bennett Berge but being at 74 changes things. Can he wrestle the same way with the weight cut. With last year off due to allegations, many believe he’s not ready to compete. After a 2-1 start this year, shaking off the bugs is to be expected. 43-20 record overall with a 68 percent win rate. Preseason rank of #5 with Flo and #10 with wrestlestat.

#6. Carson Kharchla-Carson is in his final season at Ohio State and is a returning all-american after placing 7th in 2022. He was a2x Ohio state champion, as well as an Ironman and Fargo champion with a 101-4 career record. So far in college he has a 68-15 record and has impressive wins over Cam Amine, Alex Marinelli, Alex Facundo, and Michael Caliendo.

#7. Cade Devos- Finished 5th last year at nationals with South Dakota State, very important to note they have developed him into something special. He didn’t have the flashy high school record that everyone else on this list has had and honestly fell into a slump after his dynamic freshman season. Last year turning things around going 26-3, we could expect to see something big out of him in his final year of eligibility. 107-36 overall with a 74 percent win rate. #4 with Flo and #4 with Wrestlestat.

#8. Simon Ruiz- Almost a dark horse contender coming off a 14-1 redshirt freshman year with Cornell, he could almost be higher on list solely based on riding Rocco Welsh into overtime just barely losing to him. A victory against seasoned Lennox Wolak displays that he can compete at the All American level. Is not ranked with either Flo or Wrestlestat.

#8. Lennox Wolak- Placed 6th last year at nationals, losing first to Rocco Welsh by SV then losing to Mekhi Lewis. Taking him to a 5th place match against Cade Devos whom he beat in the Semi-finals but fell short to at nationals, which gives him a perfect spot on our list. Already off to a good start this year at 2-0 pinning both Ethan Riddle and Clayton Whiting at the Mountaineer Invitational. 60-33 overall entering his final year of eligibility at a 64 percent win rate. #7 with Flo and #5  with Wrestlestat.

With a whole lot of transfers and weight shifting we will see if some of these guys wrestle better here, we believe it truly is a two man race and will be challenging for anyone outside of Haines and O’Toole to come and take this storied rematch away.

The dual meet of the year is upon us, and this year’s Cy Hawk meeting is taking place in a sold out Carver Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City! Broadcast live on Big 10+. This is the biggest dual of the season thus far, and it features two outstanding teams with state bragging rights on the line. The dual meet features two top 10 ranked teams with 15 of the 20 starters ranked nationally. The 2nd ranked Hawkeyes host the 6th ranked Cyclones Saturday November 23rd at 6PM.

History: The Hawkeyes have dominated the series winning 69 of 87 meetings between the two teams. The Iowa Hawkeyes have also won 19 straight. The years meeting between the two rivals appears to be a good one as both teams have looked solid so far! 6 of the 10 bouts will be head to head ranked matches, while the dual could feature 3 top 10 matchups. The Hawkeyes are a perfect 3-0 on the season while the Cyclones are 1-1.

Don’t Miss: Ayala vs Frost at 133 will be a fantastic match. Drake has a high offense attack style, while Frost is a fantastic counter wrestler.  Parco vs Echemendia is another outstanding contest.

Keys To Victory: The Hawkeyes are favored in 8 of the 10 bouts. So they just need to win the matches they are favored to win. Iowa State needs to pull a few upsets and score bonus points along the way. Many questions remain for the Iowa State line up. For instance; will we see Yonger Bastida or MJ Gaitan? So without any further ado let’s take a look at each match and I will do my best to give you a winner and team score.

125 #31 Kale Peterson VS Adrian Meza

133 Drake Ayala #7 VS Evan Frost #5

141 Ryder Block VS Zach Redding

149 Kyle Parco #4 VS Anthony Echemendia #7

157 Jacori Teemer #1  VS Paniro Johnson #11

165 Michael Caliendo #2 VS Connor Euton or MJ Gaitan #9

174 Nelson Brands #9 VS Aiden Riggins

184 Gabe Arnold #6  VS Evan Bockman #16

197 Steven Buchanan #1 VS Christian Carroll #20

285 Ben Kueter #11 VS Daniel Herrera

Conclusion:  I see the Hawkeyes gaining victories at 125, 165, 174, 184, 197, and Heavyweight. 133, 149, and 157, are tossups in my opinion, and I favor the Cyclones at 141. It will be interesting to see how Paniro Johnson looks. He hasn’t wrestled a college match in over a year. If he is in shape, he is as tough as they come. Christian Carroll at 197 is very underrated. Last summer he scored impressive wins over Tony Cassioppi, Trey Munoz, and Jacob Warner. While Iowa appears to be heavily favored I expect Iowa State to show up and wrestle tough, Daniel Herrera has been very impressive thus far and I expect he will present Kueter with a few problems. Bockman and Arnold could be another fight to the finish. The 125 bout could also be closely contested. This will be a fun dual to watch, with so many tough battles. My prediction is a 22-9 victory for the Hawkeyes!

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Each year we are seeing more and more young talent join the college ranks ready to compete with the nations best wrestlers. In this article we will take a look at some of those freshman.

125 Lilledahl, Luke of Penn State

Luke is already a 2x age group world champion, that alone makes him worthy of this list. He’s also won just about every major high school folkstyle tournament you can think of, including: Super 32, Journeymen, Ironman, National Preps, and more.  With the nickname Lightning Luke, I suggest you don’t blink when this kid takes the mat.

133 Tyler Knox of Stanford

A 3x Massachusetts state champion. During his Junior year he was a perfect 47-0 with 45 first period pins. That is just incredible. He was also a 2x NHSCA champion, as well as a Beast of the East Champion. He is currently ranked 19th in the preseason rankings. He recently scored a huge upset over former NCAA finalist Drake Ayala.

141 Ryder Block of Iowa

One of the best wrestlers to come out of Iowa in a long time. He is a 3x state champion, and only lost one match his entire high school career and that was in the state finals his sophomore year against Drake Ayala. He had beaten Drake just  a few weeks prior. Finished his HS career with a 159-1 record. He was also a 2x Fargo National Champion.

149 Kannon Webster of Illinois

This is one kid i’m very excited to see wrestle this year Kannon is a fantastic wrestler and is a serious threat to win a NCAA title this season. He was 20-1 during his redshirt season. In high school he was a 3x Illinois state champion and a 2023 Fargo National Champion.

184 Ferrari, Angelo of Iowa 

Ranked as the No. 1 pound for pound wrestler in the country in 2024 by both FloWrestling and Mat Scouts. He was a 1x Texas state champion and a 2x Oklahoma State Champion in high school. As well as a 3x Ironman Tournament Champion. The sky’s the limit for this Ferrari.

174 Zack Ryder of Penn State

Ryder had a high school career record of 160-7 in New York where he was a 3x state champion. At the 2024 U20 World Championships he won a silver medal at the 79 kg weight class. He will redshirt this year, but will be an immediate title contender next season.

174 Gabe Arnold of Iowa

Gabe burst onto the scene last season for the Hawkeyes, Helping them secure a huge dual meet victory over Iowa State when he bumped up in weight and defeated #6 ranked Will Feldkamp. He also captured championship victories at the Soldier Salute and Luther Open. He went 12-1 on the season. Prior to college he was a 2x National Prep Champion as well as an Iowa State champion. Gabe was also a 2023 US Open champion. It will be exciting to watch him the next fw years.

184 Max McEnelly of Minnesota

Max had an incredible high school record of 181-1, while winning 4 state titles. He is also a Fargo National champion and U17 World Bronze Medalist. Last season while wrestling unattached he was a perfect 15-0 and captured tournament titles at  3 different tournaments. Last season his biggest win came against No. 22 Brian Soldano of Rutgers. For perspective, Soldano recently pinned Edmond Ruth.

197 Barr, Josh of Penn State

Josh was a 4x Michigan state champion with a 125-1 career record in high school. Over the summer he competed at the United World Wrestling U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain earning a silver medal at 86 kg. Prior to that outstanding performance overseas, he went a perfect 15-0 while redshirting and wrestling unattached for Penn State during the 2023/2024 season. He looks to fill in at 197 this year and should be an instant all-american contender.

HWT Ben Kueter of Iowa

Possibly the best Iowa athlete ever, I know that’s quite a statement, but this kid won state in Track and Field as well as wrestling and is also a highly touted football player. On the mat he was a perfect 111-0 with 4 state titles, with 74 career pins. In addition to that he was a Junior freestyle world champion and a 2022 U20 world champion. The only knock against Ben is that he is fairly small for a heavyweight.

197 McDanel, Camden of Nebraska

In high school Cam was an Ohio state champion, and a Cadet Fargo National Champion. Since high school he has gone on to win the 2023 US Open, and is also a US Men’s National Freestyle Champion. In addition to that he was the  U20 Pan-Am Champion in 2023 and 2024. He is currently undefeated on the year.

197 Carroll, Christian of Iowa State 

A 2x Indiana state champion in high school, he was also a 2x Super 32 champion, and a 2021 freestyle national champion. Prior to college he was the 2023 US Open freestyle champion. At the 2024 Olympic trials he notched impressive wins over All-Americans Tony Cassioppi, Jacob Warner, and Trey Munoz. So far this season he is a perfect 2-0 and recently defeated #13 Nick Stemmet of Stanford.