A major Big Ten rivalry is renewed this Friday at 9:00 PM ET, as the top-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in historic Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

That dual should also feature what could be the marquee match of the week in all of collegiate wrestling at 141-pounds. Iowa's #2 Real Woods will attempt to bounce back from an uncharacteristic loss he took last week to Michigan's Sergio Lemley and defeat current #1 Beau Bartlett, who is undefeated on the season. 

How To Watch

This dual will be broadcast on the BTN cable channel. You'll need to have a cable subscription that includes that channel to watch. Or you have to know someone who subscribes to BTN and watch with them. 

If you don't have cable but you do have a fast internet connection, you can subscribe to YouTubeTV, which includes BTN, for one month for about $73. I do not get any referral money if you do this, it's just what I do so I know it works!

You can also attend the dual in person. It's sold out but it looks like you can grab tickets off StubHub for as low as $55. 

What Happened Last Time They Wrestled?

Woods and Bartlett have wrestled each other once collegiately and no other times beyond that - at least that I can find. If you know of other times they've wrestled, let me know!

The time they did wrestle occurred at last year's dual on January 27, 2023 in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College PA. Woods won 4-1. 

You can watch the match in the video below.

What if I don't have time to watch that match and I just want to read what happened?

No problem. Woods shot off the whistle and reached Beau’s legs but Bartlett scrambled free. Woods dropped down on another shot on the restart and finished for two (remember, old rules). Bartlett couldn’t escape and Woods got the ride out. 

In the second period Bartlett chose down and escaped within ten seconds. There were no more scores in the period and Woods led 2-1 with 1:46 of RT going into the third. 

Woods would take a turn underneath and escape quickly to make it 3-1 while preserving 1:35 of RT. Bartlett would try in vain in the final period to even the score but Woods’ defense held up. Real would ultimatley win 4-1 with the RT point.

You can also read Kyle Klingman's live blog from last year. 

Significant Results for Bartlett and Woods

Real Woods' NCAA Resume (year, school, weight, NCAA finish, NCAA seed, record)

• 2019 Stanford 141 Redshirt (15-1)
• 2020 Stanford 141 NQ #3 seed (18-1)
• 2021 Stanford 141 R12 #21 seed (6-3)
• 2022 Stanford 141 6th #4 seed (14-4)
• 2023 Iowa 141 2nd #1 seed (20-1)
• 2024 Iowa 141 ranked #2 (12-1)

Beau Bartlett's NCAA Resume

• 2021 Penn State 149 DNQ (8-3)
• 2022 Penn State 149 R24 #13 seed (15-10)
• 2023 Penn State 141 3rd #6 seed (27-3)
• 2024 Penn State 141 ranked #1 (14-0)

Real Woods' Freestyle Resume (year, weight, event, finish)

• 2019 65kg U20 US Open 3rd

Beau Bartlett's Freestyle Resume

• 2023 65kg Senior Nationals 2nd
• 2023 65kg US Open 4th
• 2022 65kg U23 WTT 5th
• 2021 65kg U20 Worlds 3rd
• 2021 65kg U20 WTT 1st
• 2019 61kg US Open 8th

What This Matchup Means Going Forward

The result of this match will naturally affect both the current rankings and the eventual seeds at the Big Ten Championships. However, you will likely not see much of a change in the rankings, if they change at all. 

A win by Woods would probably vault him back into the top spot in the rankings, however, Bartlett will likely drop no further than back down to number two. A win by Bartlett would likely keep the rankings where they are now, with Beau at #1 and Real at #2.

It will have a bigger impact on Big Ten seeds, though, as Woods already has a loss to Lemley. A loss to Bartlett could drop Woods down to as low as a #4 seed, as Bartlett has beaten both Lemley and the #3 nationally ranked 141-pounder Jesse Mendez. 

If Woods wins then the seeding committee will have a mess on their hands, though they could defer to the rankings which will likely have go Woods>Bartlett>Mendez. 

Who Will Woods and Bartlett Wrestle Next?

Both Bartlett and Woods are slated to hit highly-ranked opponents before Big Tens. 

Iowa has duals against Wisconsin and Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State's #8 Tagen Jamison will be the toughest test of the two, as Wisconsin's Felix Lettini is unranked. Jamison, meanwhile, beat Lemley and split matches with #7 Brock Hardy at the CKLV. Jamison more recently defeated #9 Anthony Echemendia. 

Penn State has three duals on their schedule after the Iowa showdown: Rutgers, Nebraska and Edinboro. Bartlett's expected opponents at 141 will be #16 Mitch Moore, #7 Brock Hardy, and unranked Jacob Brennaman. 

Who Will Win?

I haven't found Vegas odds for this individual matchup, but JD Rader on FRL made it a toss-up, with JD and Ben picking Beau and CP picking Real. 

Suffice it to say that if Woods wrestles Bartlett like he did Lemley he has very little shot at winning. But if Woods wrestles like he did in most other matches this season, it's going to be a heck of a match. 

I'm personally leaning towards Woods, based mostly on last year's results, and will give him the slightest, most minute of edges over Barlett, and am predicting a low-scoring victory, perhaps in overtime. But it also goes without saying that a win by Bartlett would be one of the least surprising things of the season. 

Great, Now I Want More Penn State vs Iowa Content

We got you covered!

• Hawkeye Insider
• Nittany Lion Insider
• Levi Haines vs Jared Franek
• Gabe Arnold (potentially) vs Bernie Truax
• Mitchell Mesenbrink vs Michael Caliendo
• FRL 998 - The PSU vs Iowa episode