ON THE MAT
The University of Iowa wrestling team opens the 2023- 24 season Saturday, facing California Baptist at 8 p.m. (CT) in Riverside, California.
FOLLOW ALONG LIVE
• Saturday’s dual will be streamed online by FloWrestling and available on YouTube.
• Saturday’s radio broadcast will streamed on hawkeyesports.com via YouTube. Chad Beatty and Jeremiah Moody will call the action for Hawkeye Sports Properties, a property of Learfield.
• Follow Iowa wrestling on social media via X (@ Hawks_Wrestling), Facebook/iowahawkeyewrestling and Instagram (@iowahawkeyewrestling).
No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes Probable Lineup vs. California Baptist
| Wt. | Rank^ | Name | Year | Hometown/High School | Record |
| 125 | 13/7/11 | Drake Ayala | So. | Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge | 0-0 |
| 133 | 14/13/11 | Brody Teske | Sr. | Duncombe, Iowa/Fort Dodge | 0-0 |
| 141 | 2/1/1 | Real Woods | R-Sr. | Albuquerque, N.M./Montini Catholic (Ill.) | 0-0 |
| 149 | 10/12/10 | Victor Voinovich III | So. | Brecksville, Ohio/Brecksville | 0-0 |
| 157 | 2/3/2 | Jared Franek | Grad. | Harwood, N.D./West Fargo | 0-0 |
| 165 | 5/5/05 | Michael Caliendo | So. | Geneva, Ill./Batavia | 0-0 |
| 174 | Aiden Riggins | R-Fr. | Janesville, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock | 0-0 | |
| 184 | Brennan Swafford | Grad. | Mediapolis, Iowa/Mediapolis | 0-0 | |
| 197 | Zach Glazier | Sr. | Albert Lea, Minn./Albert Lea | 0-0 | |
| 285 | Bradley Hill | R-Fr. | Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf | 0-0 |
^ WIN/Intermat/Flo
NO. 2 IN PRESEASON POLL
The Hawkeyes are ranked second in the preseason NWCA Coaches’ poll and by FLO. Iowa is ranked eighth by Intermat and WIN.
• Iowa finished second at the 2023 NCAA Championships with 82.5 points with six All-Americans. The Hawkeyes were also second at the Big Ten Championships with 134.5 points.
HAWKEYE FIRST-TIMERS
Three Hawkeyes in the probable lineup could make their Iowa debuts on Saturday. Michael Caliendo, Jared Franek and Victor Voinovich III will wrestle in an Iowa singlet for the first time.
ALL-AMERICANS
The Hawkeyes have six past All-Americans on the 2023-24 roster in Real Woods (141), Jared Franek (157), Michael Caliendo (165), Nelson Brands (174), Abe Assad (184) and Tony Cassioppi (285).
• Iowa has crowned at least one All-American in 52 consecutive tournaments, dating back to 1972.
NEWCOMERS
The Hawkeyes have 10 newcomers on the 2023-24 roster, including four transfers.
• Jared Franek was an All-American and Big 12 Champion at North Dakota State (2023). He finished fourth at 157 last season.
• Michael Caliendo was an All-American at North Dakota State a season ago. He finished seventh at 165 pounds.
• Victor Voinovich III was an NCAA qualifier for Oklahoma State at 149 pounds in 2023 after redshirting in 2022.
• Joey Cruz went 2-2 for Oklahoma before missing the remainder of the season with an ankle injury.
ARNOLD WINS PAN AMERICAN GOLD
Iowa freshman Gabe Arnold won a U20 Pan American gold medal at 79 kg in July.
• Arnold dominated en route to the top of the podium, outscoring his opponents, 33-0.
• Redshirt freshman Bradley Hill won by tech. fall, lost by criteria and won by tech. fall on his way to earning a silver medal at 125 kg.
WHEN IN ROME
Junior Patrick Kennedy and seniors Abe Assad and Real Woods earned medals at the Sassari City Matteo Pellicone Memorial in Rome, Italy, on June 9-10.
• Kennedy won a gold medal, competing at 74 kg, while Assad and Woods both earned silver medals.
WORLD TEAM TRIALS
Six University of Iowa wrestlers placed at the 2023 U23 and U20 World Team Trials.
• Gabe Arnold was runner-up at 79 kg, Aiden Riggins was fifth at 74 kg, Jace Rhodes was sixth at 61 kg and Bradley Hill finished seventh at 125 kg in the U20 Division. In the U23 bracket, Cullan Schriever (61 kg) and Caleb Rathjen (70 kg) both finished third.
TV TIME
Nine Iowa duals will be televised during the 2023-24 season. The Hawkeyes will have seven duals televised on BTN, one on FS1 and one on ESPN.
• Iowa’s BTN appearances include home duals against Minnesota (7 p.m., CT), Purdue (7 p.m.), Penn State (8 p.m.) and Wisconsin ( 1 p.m.) and road duals at Nebraska (6 p.m.), Illinois (8 p.m.) and Michigan (7:30 p.m.)
• The Hawkeyes’ away dual against Iowa State will be televised on ESPN and the road dual against Oklahoma State will be televised on FS1.
LIVE ON ESPN
Iowa’s dual against Iowa State on Nov. 26 at 2 p.m. (CT) will be the first ever regular season dual meet televised on the main ESPN network.
A LOOK BACK
Iowa finished the 2022- 23 season with a 15-1 overall and a 7-1 Big Ten mark. The Hawkeyes placed second at both the Big Ten and NCAA Championships. Iowa crowned two Big Ten champions and had six All-Americans.
START TIME ANNOUNCED
The start time for Iowa’s Jan. 28 dual against Northwestern has been set for 2 p.m. (CT).
HAWKEYE WRESTLING HISTORY
The Hawkeyes have won 24 national titles and 37 Big Ten titles. Iowa’s 55 NCAA Champions have won a total of 85 NCAA individual titles, crowning seven three-time and 16 two-time champions.
• The Hawkeyes’ 118 Big Ten champions have combined for 210 conference titles. There have been nine four-time, 18 three-time and 31 two-time Big Ten champions from Iowa.
• Iowa’s 163 All-Americans have earned All-America status 363 times, including three five-time, 25 four-time, 38 three-time and 41 two-time honorees.
ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN
Fourteen Hawkeyes were among the 45 University of Iowa student-athletes named to the 2022-23 Big Ten Winter Academic All-Conference Team. The 14 honorees are tied for the second most in program history
• To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, students must be on a varsity team, as verified by being on the official squad list as of March 1 for winter sports, who have been enrolled fulltime at the institution for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
• Iowa wrestling’s Academic All-Big Ten honorees include Drake Ayala, Drew Bennett, Nelson Brands, Tony Cassioppi, Zach Glazier, Joe Kelly, Patrick Kennedy, Charles Matthews, Max Murin, Cullan Schriever, Leif Schroeder, Cobe Siebrecht, Brennan Swafford and Jacob Warner.
NCAA TROPHIES
The Hawkeyes earned a team trophy at the NCAA Championships for the 14th time in the last 15 championships. Iowa has won 14 team trophies in head coach Tom Brands’ 16 seasons. (The 2020 season, in which Iowa was favored, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
• Iowa has won 48 team NCAA trophies in program history and have 68 top 10 finishes. The Hawkeyes have been the NCAA runner-up seven times.
HAWKEYES AND CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA
Iowa is 127-13 (.907) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since Tom Brands took over the program prior to 2006-07. The Hawkeyes are 277-26 (.914) all-time at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since moving from the UI Field House in 1983. Iowa went 8-0 in Carver this season.
CHASING THE HAWKEYES
Gary Kurdelmeier led Iowa to its first NCAA Championship in 1975, and in the 49 years since, the Hawkeyes have accumulated 24 team titles, more than any other school — Penn State (11), Oklahoma State (7), Minnesota (3), Iowa State (2), Ohio State (1) and Arizona State (1).
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return home for a dual with Oregon State on Nov. 19. The dual is scheduled for noon (CT) and will be streamed live on B1G+.
