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ON THE MAT
The third-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team hosts Indiana on Friday at 7 p.m. (CT) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for youth 18-years-old and younger, and free for UI students and kids five-years-old and younger. To purchase tickets, click HERE.
Iowa travels to Madison, Wisconsin, to face the 16th-ranked Badgers on Sunday at the UW Field House beginning at 2 p.m.
SENIOR NIGHT
The Hawkeyes will recognize seniors Mitch Bowman, Perez Perez, and Sam Stoll following Friday’s dual.
UNDEFEATED IN THE BIG TEN
Iowa is 7-0 in conference duals with two duals remaining on the Big Ten schedule, one on the road and one at home. The Hawkeyes have seven undefeated conference seasons since 2006-07, head coach Tom Brands’ first year. Iowa’s last undefeated conference season was 2015-16.
A weekend sweep would guarantee Iowa at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title. Iowa and Penn State are both 7-0 entering the weekend. The Hawkeyes have won or shared the Big Ten dual championships 10 times since the conference started recognizing a dual meet champion in 1999. Iowa won the title outright in 2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2015, and shared the title in 2003, 2014, and 2016.
THE SERIES — INDIANA
Iowa leads the all-time series against Indiana 38-4-3. The Hawkeyes have won the last 23 meetings, including a 45-0 victory the last time the Hoosiers visited Iowa City in 2016. It marks Iowa’s largest margin of victory in the series.
The Hawkeyes are 20-3-1 all-time in Iowa City against the Hoosiers. Indiana’s last win in the series was in 1968, a 19-13 win at Indiana. Their last win in Iowa City was in 1967 by a score of 23-15.
IOWA VS. WISCONSIN
Iowa leads the all-time series, 77-8-3, including a 38-4-2 all-time record in Madison.
The Hawkeyes have won the last seven meetings and 38 of the last 39 dating back to 1975. Wisconsin’s only win during that time was a 21-14 decision inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Jan. 27, 2007. The Hawkeyes haven’t dropped a dual in Madison since 1945 (L, 18-16). The series dates back to 1923, an 8-6 Iowa win.
DEFEATING RANKED OPPONENTS
Wisconsin is the seventh ranked opponent on Iowa’s dual schedule. The Hawkeyes are 6-0 against the top 25 with wins against No. 8, No. 9, No. 14, No. 16, and two wins against No. 20.
Individually, Hawkeyes are 42-18 in 60 matches against ranked schools.
LIGHT LIFTING
Spencer Lee and Austin DeSanto are a combined 28-2 with 21 bonus point victories. Lee, Iowa’s sophomore 125-pounder, is 14-1 with 12 bonus-point wins (2 major decisions, 6 technical falls, 4 pins). DeSanto, Iowa’s sophomore 133-pounder, is 14-1 with nine bonus-point wins (4 major decisions, 3 technical falls, 2 pins).
MARINELLI GOES FOR 9-0
Sophomore Alex Marinelli is aiming for Iowa’s first 9-0 conference season since Thomas Gilman won all nine conference duals in 2017.
Marinelli is 7-0 in the conference with two major decisions, three falls, and one win by stalling disqualification. He has scored 35 of a possible 42 team points in dual competition. Marinelli is 15-0 all-time in Big Ten duals. He was 8-0 last year.
Since 2007, Tom Brands’ first season as Iowa head coach, a wrestler has navigated a perfect Big Ten regular season 17 times. Since 2014-15, when the conference went to a nine-dual regular season schedule, four Hawkeyes have posted perfect 9-0 records. Gilman did it three times (2015, 2016, 2017), and Alex Meyer, Brandon Sorensen, and Sam Stoll all did it in 2015-16.
ALL-AMERICAN DOMINANCE
Three of Iowa’s four 2018 All-Americans — Spencer Lee (125), Alex Marinelli (165), and Sam Stoll (285) — are a combined 38-2 with 27 wins by bonus points. (Michael Kemerer, Iowa’s fourth 2018 All-American, is out for the season). The group is 11-2 against top 20 wrestlers.
17 STRAIGHT FOR MARINELLI
Sophomore Alex Marinelli has won a career-best 17 matches to open the season. He is 7-0 in the Big Ten and 16-0 overall. He has a team-high 62 points scored in 12 dual matches. He has scored 35 team points out of a possible 42 in seven Big Ten duals. Marinelli’s winning streak is Iowa’s longest since Michael Kemerer won 22 straight to open the 2017-18 season.
WILCKE WITH THE BREAKTHROUGH “W”
Junior Cash Wilcke climbed the national polls following his 5-2 win over Nebraska’s Taylor Venz on Feb. 3. It was Wilcke’s first win in 11 tries against a top-five opponent.
Wilcke is ranked No. 11 at 184 pounds with a record of 15-3. His three losses have been by a combined five points.
HAWKEYES AND CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA
The Hawkeyes are 254-25 all-time at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since moving from the UI Field House in 1983. Iowa is 6-0 at home this season. A win Friday will complete the Hawkeyes 21st undefeated season in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes have recorded 20 undefeated seasons in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the most recent in 2012-13 (9-0).
HOME SWEET HOME
Spencer Lee, Alex Marinelli, and Jacob Warner are undefeated in their careers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Marinelli is 11-0 all-time at Carver. Lee owns a record of 10-0. Warner is undefeated in three home matches.
In Lee’s 10 home wins, he has three pins, four technical falls, and one major decision. Four of the wins are against top 10 opponents.
Among Marinelli’s 11 wins, he has four pins, three technical falls, and one major decision. He is 6-0 this year at home with bonus pints in each match.
Senior Sam Stoll is 23-4 all-time at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Senior Mitch Bowman is 9-5 all-time at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Both wrestlers are expected to make their final home appearances on Friday.
NEXT MAN IN
Sixteen Hawkeyes have at least one dual win, and 21 Hawkeyes have appeared in at least one dual this season.
Alex Marinelli (165) and Cash Wilcke (184) are the only preseason projected starters to start every dual this season. Iowa opened the season with three projected starters on the bench, including redshirt freshman Jacob Warner (197), and All-Americans Michael Kemerer (174) and Sam Stoll (285).
In the absence of projected starters, Carter Happel, Myles Wilson, Connor Corbin, Mitch Bowman, Aaron Costello, Paul Glynn, and Keegan Shaw have picked up wins for Iowa.
On Jan. 25, Shaw became the fifth Hawkeye (including Kemerer) to see his name on top of the depth chart at 174 (Myles Wilson, Mitch Bowman, Jeremiah Moody, Shaw). Iowa has used four wrestlers at 197, though Warner has been the staple since January and is 6-0 in Big Ten duals. Costello and Corbin have picked up wins at heavyweight. Stoll has started the last five duals.
