The NCAA Wrestling Championships wrapped up less than a month ago, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good time to speculate on what next season’s Hawkeye lineup might look like. 

As the old saying goes, one man’s way-too-early is another man’s right-on-time. 

Nothing will be set in stone, and lineups can and will change throughout the season, but we’ve seen enough transfer dust settled to have at least a decent idea of what the Hawkeyes will be rolling out next fall. 

Projected 2025-26 Lineup

125: Dean Peterson SR, Joey Cruz JR, Leo DeLuca TRFR

133: Drake Ayala SR, Kale Peterson SO

141: Nasir Bailey JR, Ryder Block SO

149: Jordan Williams JR, Victor/Kael Voinovich SR/SO

157: Miguel Estrada SO, Victor/Kael Voinovich SR/SO

165: Michael Caliendo SR 

174: Patrick Kennedy SR, Gabe Arnold SO

184: Angelo Ferrari RSFR, Gabe Arnold SO

197: Harvey Ludington TRFR

285: Ben Kueter SO

Our weight-by-weight projections, with previous NCAA tournament placements listed for the projected starters, are below. 

125: Dean Peterson - R12, R24, R12

Dean Peterson was perhaps a surprise entrant into the transfer portal, but the two-time bloodrounder and New Jersey native has stated that after NCAAs he reached out to Spencer Lee and expressed interest in training with the three-time National Champ to gear up for his final year of eligibility. Shortly after that conversation took place, Peterson announced he was transferring from Rutgers to Iowa. 

Expect junior Joey Cruz to also be an option, as the California native and former Oklahoma Sooner was a 12-13 national qualifier for the Hawkeyes last season. 

Leo DeLuca will likely spend the season in redshirt, but expect him to get some spot starts, as he (and other true freshmen) can wrestle in up to 5 varsity events in a Hawkeye singlet and still retain his redshirt. 

133: Drake Ayala - R12, 2, 2

This is one of the most settled weights for the Hawks. And despite Drake stating that he's a team player and will wrestle whatever weight the coaches ask him, it's hard to imagine the 2025 NCAA 133lb finalists will be changing weights this offseason. Ayala made the NCAA finals at 125 in 2024 before bumping up before the 2025-26 season. 

Watch Drake make the 2025 NCAA finals:

141: Nasir Bailey - 4, R16

An NCAA 133lb fourth-placer in 2024, Nasir Bailey will likely be up at a new weight in 2025-26, as the aforementioned Ayala was a runner-up at a weight where Bailey was stopped in the round of 16. 

Bailey does have a redshirt to use, although it certainly doesn't look like it will take him long to bulk up to 141. Additionally, Ryder Block should not be counted out as an option. 

Or if Ryder Block has grown too large for 141, as one helpful commenter has relayed to me, then pretend that last sentence was written in the next section, and also note that Iowa has Jace Rhodes on an option at 141. 

149: Jordan Williams - R16, R12

Williams spent his first varsity season at Oklahoma State before transferring to Little Rock. He then joined his teammate Nasir Bailey in transferring to Iowa, his third stop in three years. The Oklahoma native won matches in the last two NCAA tournaments and will have two years of eligibility left. Williams was stopped by Sammy Alvarez in 2025, one match shy of making the podium.

Williams will be pushed by one or both of the Voinovich brothers. Older brother Victor made the 2023 NCAA round of 16 for Oklahoma State before transferring to Iowa. Younger brother Kael joined Victor in Iowa City this past season and went 6-5 in D1 competition. 

157: Miguel Estrada - DNS

Estrada went 5-5 in D1 competition for the Hawkeyes, his first season in Iowa City, filling in when Jacori Teemer was not available. Estrada did not start in the postseason and still has a redshirt available. 

It's possible Iowa picks up a transfer here, although Estrada did score a nice win over Illinois' Jason Kraisser in a January dual meet. There are a couple of high-profile 157-pounders in the portal that have not announced their new team yet (as of publication of this article), such as Ethen Miller and Cody Chittum, but neither wrestler so far has been linked to Iowa in the rumor mill.

165: Michael Caliendo - 7, 4, 2

Another very safe bet to be the starter next season for the Hawkeyes. Michael Caliendo returns for his final year of eligibility looking to become a four-time All-American. The Illinois native spent his first varsity season at North Dakota State before coming to Iowa City and making the podium two more times. 

Watch Caliendo make the 2025 NCAA finals:

174: Patrick Kennedy - R16, R12, 4

The big question for the next two weights is: where will Gabe Arnold compete? The Georgia native had an excellent redshirt season at 174 in 2023-24, then moved up and was last season's 184lb starter where he reached the round of 16. Angelo Ferrari's success while redshirting at 184 last season is an argument for Arnold to try his luck back down at 174. The argument for staying at 184 is the fact that Patrick Kennedy has been steadily improving and recently placed fourth at the Philadelphia NCAAs. 

Sometimes programs have that problem, with more All-American caliber wrestlers than they have sports in the lineup. It's a good problem to have, and sometimes they don't get solved until the conference tournaments. It may be another year before Arnold sees the starting Hawkeye lineup, but a lot of other things could happen between now and next March. 

One other curveball, floated by Drake Ayala on the Baschamania podcast would be Caliendo moving down to 157, Kennedy dropping back to 165 and Gabe Arnold slotting into 174. 

We'll be watching and finding out at the same time as everyone else!

184: Angelo Ferrari

Few redshirt freshmen will have a more anticipated first season of varsity competition than Angelo Ferrari. In his redshirt season, the Texan native and blue chip recruit easily won the Grand View Open, then defeated Evan Bockman in the Cy-Hawk dual, and then won the Soldier Salute where he gained a forfeit victory over teammate Gabe Arnold in the finals. 

Ferrari wrestled in two more duals before closing out the season. He gave five-time national champ Carter Starocci in an eye-opening 3-1 loss and then notched a legendary 6-3 sudden victory win over four-time All-American Dustin Plott to ensure the team's win over arch-rival Oklahoma State. Ferrari is expected to contend for a national title next season. 

Watch Ferrari and his teammates celebrate his win over Plott:

197: Harvey Ludington

197 remains one of the biggest questions for the Hawkeye lineup, with no options currently on the roster with a proven All-American track record. Help may be on the way in the form of Harvey Ludington, a New Jersey native and #15 on the Class of 2025 Big Board. 

Will Ludington be ready to go for the Hawks in 2026, or will someone else on the roster step up and allow Ludington to redshirt? Or perhaps we'll see Iowa pick up a late transfer as they did with Stephen Buchanan or Jacori Teemer last year? There aren't a lot of 197-pounders currently in the portal but you never know, lot's of possibilities remain!

285: Ben Keuter - 8

Kueter announced soon after NCAAs that he would have hip surgery and would be skipping football season again to recover. If all goes well (knock on wood) Kueter will be ready to go in November to begin his quest for a second All-American honor in two tries.

There is no one on the Iowa roster at 285 able to match Kueter's output, so if Kueter is not good to go in the fall (knock on wood again!) it's possible the Hawkeyes pick up a later transfer. It's not common, but Owen Trephan showed you could transfer to another school in the second semester and still earn All-American honors. Definitely not impossible!

Projected 2026 NCAA Team Points

These were very back-of-the-envelope projections. I eyeballed the final 2025 rankings, removed the seniors, compared it to Wretlestat's 2025-26 individual rankings and made a quick judgment call, trying to be optimistic but not too optimistic. 

I then consulted the NCAA placement to NCAA points conversion chart and slapped a couple of bonus points to the total for each wrestler. 

125: Peterson, 7th, 7pts

133: Ayala, 2nd, 17pts

141: Bailey, 6th, 10pts

149: Williams, 7th, 7pts

157: Estrada, NQ, 2pts

165: Caliendo, 2nd, 17pts

174: Kennedy, 2nd, 17pts

184: Ferrari, 2nd, 17pts

197: Ludington, NQ, 2pts

285: Kueter, 5th, 12pts

The total projected points for this group is 108, which would be good for a trophy in most seasons and third place in 2025. That would also be an improvement over the 81 points Iowa scored in 2025. 

Only four starters from last year's team are projected to be in this year's lineup. The biggest loss in points will come from 197-pounder 2025 NCAA champ Stephen Buchanan being out of eligibility. 

Will the new additions to the lineup be enough to make a significant improvement over last season? Are these projections too high or too low? Let us know what you think!