NCAA Wrestling: No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 2 Iowa Meet For Historic 100th Dual

NCAA Wrestling: No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 2 Iowa Meet For Historic 100th Dual

NCAA Wrestling: No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 2 Iowa Meet For Historic 100th Dual

This biggest wrestling match this season reinvigorates an old rivalry. The #1 Minnesota Golden Gophers host the second ranked team in the nation, the Iowa Hawkeyes. This dual-meet is the first dual back in the Twin-cities since the Gophers knocked off Penn State in Happy Valley since January 2011. This reborn rivalry will take place Friday night at 6 p.m. CT at the Williams Arena. Minnesota vs. Iowa Friday will mark the 100th installment between these two historic programs.

The Hawkeyes and Gophers both enter Friday’s dual owning a 10-0 record. These two Big Ten teams are battling not only for conference supremacy, but the nation’s top rank. Both teams have reached ten wins with victories over mutual opponents such as Rutgers, Northwestern, Michigan State, Illinois, and Oklahoma State. The Gophers also have wins over Penn State, Michigan, Wyoming, Grand Canyon, and Air force. The Hawkeyes also has wins over Baker, Iowa Central C.C., Cornell College, Ohio State, and their instate rival Iowa State.

The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series against the Gophers with a 70-28-1 advantage. In recent years though, Iowa’s northern rival has taken three out of the four duals between the two teams. On Friday, the Iowa will show up with a team that has seven Top 5 ranked wrestlers in the nation. Their other three wrestlers are also ranked in the nation as they are ranked 15, 8, and 7. Minnesota brings five Top 6 ranked wrestlers and two outside the Top 10 ranked 11, and 17.

Eight of the ten match-ups are expected to be ranked verses ranked wrestler. Three of the matches will involve Top 5 ranked wrestlers. The Gophers #1 ranked wrestler at 133-pounds, Chris Dardanes will square off against Iowa’s No. 5 ranked redshirt sophomore, Cory Clark. At 141-pounds No. 4 Nick Dardanes is set to battle Hawkeyes’ No. 5 Josh Dziewa. The third Top 5 ranked matchup includes two seniors at 174-pounds as Gophers No. 4 Logan Storley will wrestler Hawkeyes’ No. 2 Mike Evans.

This Big Ten Conference matchup has some familiar foes in three expected bouts. Two-time NCAA runner-up No. 1 Dylan Ness, at 157, has a 3-0 all-time lead over No. 15 Michael Kelly. At 174, No. 4 Logan Storley and No. 2 Mike Evans are set to meet for a fourth time. They are split with two wins a piece entering Friday’s dual. At 197, Iowa’s No. 3 Nathan Burak is 0-4 against Gophers No. 6 Scott Schiller, including a major decision in last year’s dual-meet.


Below is the expected match-ups between Minnesota and Iowa:

(Minnesota vs. Iowa)

125- Ethan Lizak vs. No. 5 Thomas Gilman

133- No. 1 Chris Dardanes vs. No. 5 Cory Clark

141- No. 4 Nick Dardanes vs. No. 5 Josh Dziewa

149- Jake Short -or- Seth Lange vs. No. 2 Brandon Sorensen

157- No. 1 Dylan Ness vs. No. 15 Michael Kelly

165- No. 17 Nick Wanzek -or- Brandon Kingsley vs. No. 7 Nick Moore

174- No. 4 Logan Storley vs. No. 2 Mike Evans -or- Alex Meyer

184- No. 11 Brett Pfarr vs. No. 8 Sammy Brooks

197-  No.6 Scott Schiller vs. No. 3 Nathan Burak

HWT- No. 13 Michael Kroells vs. No. 2 Bobby Telford

 

 


Entering Friday these two teams are holding a combined 57-3 record in their last 30 duals. Minnesota has a chance as the slight favorites to start tipping the scales back in their favor. Iowa is presented with an opportunity to regain national supremacy by upsetting their border rivals and climbing back to the No. 1 ranked team in the nation.

The historic 100th meeting between the No. 1 Minnesota Golden Gophers and No.2 Iowa Hawkeyes will be broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network starting at 6 p.m. CT. It will also be streamed online via the BTN2GO app.

Results will also be posted here on MyMMANews.com as well as on our Twitter account @MyMMANews for the latest results.

author avatar
Kyle Carroll
Kyle Carroll is a Long Island, N.Y. native and avid MMA and amateur wrestling fan. He has been a part of the wrestling community for nearly 20 years. Carroll has six years of experience coaching high school wrestling. His father coached high school wrestling over 35 years, passing on his strong knowledge. Carroll has been reporting MMA news since January 2011. The former wrestler’s coverage includes the 2012 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials, 2013 & 2016 NCAA D1 Wrestling Championship, and numerous MMA events (Bellator MMA, King of the Cage, North American Fighting Championship, and Glory).