#4 Iowa will welcome #1 Penn State to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday night in the most highly anticipated dual of the weekend. Wrestling starts at 7:00 pm (ET) on the Big Ten Network, but before the action goes down, check out a full preview for this rivalry dual in the article below. 

Probable lineups:

125: #2 Luke Lilledahl, Penn State vs #7 Dean Peterson, Iowa

133: #6 Marcus Blaze, Penn State vs #11 Drake Ayala, Iowa

141: #8 Braeden Davis, Penn State vs #15 Nasir Bailey, Iowa

149: #1 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State vs #10 Ryder Block, Iowa

157: #2 PJ Duke Penn, State vs #11 Jordan Williams, Iowa

165: #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State vs #3 Michael Caliendo, Iowa

174: #1 Levi Haines Penn, State vs #3 Patrick Kennedy, Iowa

184: #4 Rocco Welsh, Penn State vs #1 Angelo Ferrari, Iowa

197: #1 Josh Barr, Penn State vs Harvey Ludington/Gabe Arnold/Brody Sampson

285: #12 Cole Mirasola, Penn State vs #5 Ben Kueter, Iowa

125: #2 Luke Lilledahl, Penn State vs #7 Dean Peterson, Iowa

Lilledahl and Peterson will meet for the second time in their college careers on Friday night. Peterson won their meeting last year in a one takedown, 4-1 decision. I expect a similar close match in this meeting and would be surprised if we see either wrestler light up the scoreboard. 

Both wrestlers have had similar seasons, with Lilledahl boasting a 9-1 record and Peterson with a 7-1 record. Lilledahl’s lone loss was to his teammate Nate Desmond, but he boasts ranked wins over #32 Ayden Smith, #13 Nico Provo, #19 Ezekiel Witt, and #27 Conrad Hendriksen. Peterson suffered a loss to #5 Nic Bouzakis at the National Duals Inviational but holds ranked wins over #15 Spencer Moore, #8 Troy Spratley, #27 Tyler Chappell, #25 Cooper Flynn, and #30 Bridger Ricks. Though Peterson won the last match, we haven’t seen him wrestle in over a month. Is Peterson healthy? Will there be any mat rust? Because of those questions, I give a slight edge to Lilledahl in their meeting on Friday. 

Prediction: Lilledahl wins by decision

Team score prediction: Penn State 3, Iowa 0

Peterson's win over Lilledahl:

133: #6 Marcus Blaze, Penn State vs #11 Drake Ayala, Iowa

Marcus Blaze is living up to all of the hype so far this season and is currently 11-0 with all of his wins coming by bonus points. Ayala will be by far the most credentialed wrestler Blaze has faced yet, but Ayala has struggled to start the year. The Hawkeye is currently 4-4 and coming off his most recent loss to #10 Zan Fugitt. Because of the way things are trending for both wrestlers, Marcus Blaze should be considered a favorite in this matchup, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he pushes for a major decision.

Prediction: Blaze wins by decision

Team score prediction: Penn State 6, Iowa 0

Marcus Blaze's win over Tyler Knox:

141: #8 Braeden Davis, Penn State vs #15 Nasir Bailey, Iowa

Braeden Davis is fresh off having his redshirt pulled and will step into his first big match of the season against Nasir Bailey. These two have wrestled only once in their college career - last season in December, where Davis won a close, 1-0 match. Bailey has struggled to make the move up to 141 pounds, dropping matches to Jesse Mendez, Sergio Vega, Anthony Echemendia, and Isaiah Powe. Those results, plus the past head-to-head matchup, give me the confidence to pick Davis on Friday.

Prediction: Davis wins by decision

Team score prediction: Penn State 9, Iowa 0

149: #1 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State vs #10 Ryder Block, Iowa

Shayne Van Ness has been rolling this year with an 11-0 record with 9 bonus point wins. He’s wrestling as good as ever and looks like the clear favorite to win an NCAA title this year. Block has been a positive surprise for the Hawkeyes with ranked wins over #24 Kade Brown, #8 Casey Swiderski, and #18 Josh Edmond. However, his recent loss to #13 Joseph Zargo shows he’s still a tier behind the best guys at 149. With that in mind, I expect Van Ness to win this one handily.

Prediction: Van Ness wins by major decision

Team score prediction: Penn State 13, Iowa 0

157: #2 PJ Duke Penn, State vs #11 Jordan Williams, Iowa

Similar to his teammate Maruc Blaze, PJ Duke has met all of the expectations this year that he carried with him to college. Duke is 10-0 on the year with 8 bonus point victories and ranked wins over #9 Daniel Cardenas, #12 Logan Rozynsyki, and #29 Kaleb Burgess. Williams has been solid, but his major decision losses to #8 Vince Zerban and #10 Kannon Webster lead me to believe Duke will win this match by bonus.

Prediction: Duke wins by major decision

Team score prediction: Penn State 17, Iowa 0

Duke's win over Daniel Cardenas:

165: #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State vs #3 Michael Caliendo, Iowa

Mitchell Mesenbrink is currently 6-0 in his career against Michael Caliendo, and Mesenbrink has won three of those matches by bonus points - 2 techs and 1 major. Even with that dominance, it’s worth noting that Caliendo was able to hold the last two results to regular decisions - 8-2 at 2025 NCAAs and 4-1 at 2025 Big Tens. Still, Mesenbrink is a huge favorite in this matchup, and I’m predicting bonus points for him on Friday night. 

Prediction: Mesenbrink wins by major decision

Team score prediction: Penn State 21, Iowa 0

174: #1 Levi Haines Penn, State vs #3 Patrick Kennedy, Iowa

Haines and Kennedy have wrestled three times in their college careers, with Haines winning every match - 10-3, 10-3, and 11-3. With their history, and the fact that Haines has jumped levels in the past year, I expect Haines to win this match by bonus.

Prediction: Haines wins by major decision

Team score prediction: Penn State 25, Iowa 0

Haines' win over Kennedy at the 2025 Big Ten Championships:

184: #4 Rocco Welsh, Penn State vs #1 Angelo Ferrari, Iowa

The matchup at 184 pounds is the most highly anticipated of the dual between two title contenders. Ferrari and Welsh are both undefeated on the year, but Ferrari has wrestled a significantly more challenging schedule with ranked wins over #13 Isaac Dean, #6 Dylan Fishback, #10 Zack Ryder, #20 Chris Moore, and #2 Aeoden Sinclair. Even more impressive, Ferrari has yet to concede a takedown this season. Welsh has been impressive in his own right with a 10-0 record and 7 bonus point victories. 

With how challenging it is to score on both of these wrestlers, I’d be surprised if we see more than one takedown in this match. In fact, I think there’s a high probability that this one goes to overtime tied at 1. For me, this is about as close to a toss-up match as they come and is incredibly challenging to predict. I’m picking Ferrari to come out on top, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Welsh wins. 

Prediction: Ferrari wins by decision

Team score prediction: Penn State 25, Iowa 3

Ferrari's win over #2 Aeoden Sinclair:

197: #1 Josh Barr, Penn State vs Harvey Ludington/Gabe Arnold/Brody Sampson

Back from injury, Josh Barr has been an absolute wrecking ball and is 8-0 with a 100% bonus rate - 2 pins, 5 techs, and one major. It’s also worth noting that Barr’s only major decision was over two-time All-American Stephen Little. With Iowa fresh off losing #4 Massoma Endene, it’s not clear who the Hawkeyes will send out against Barr. Gabe Arnold might be the best option here, but he’ll be giving up significant size to Barr if he takes the mat at 197. I don’t think the Hawkeyes have anyone capable of keeping Barr from securing a bonus point win.

Prediction: Barr wins by tech fall

Team score prediction: Penn State 30, Iowa 3

285: #12 Cole Mirasola, Penn State vs #5 Ben Kueter, Iowa

Heavyweight is the only weight of this dual where Iowa is the clear favorite. Kueter, a returning All-American, has wrestled a limited schedule and is 3-1 with ranked wins over Dayton Pitzer and Braxton Amos, with his only loss coming against Yonger Bastida. Mirasola is 9-2 with losses to #10 Christian Carroll and #7 Nathan Taylor and ranked wins over #19 Hunter Catka, #27 Nate Schon, #17 Brady Colbert, and #21 Juan Mora. This is a big opportunity for Mirasola to step into the next tier of heavyweight contenders, but I’m picking Kueter to win a close one on Friday night. 

Prediction: Kueter wins by decision

Final team score prediction: Penn State 29, Iowa 6

Does Iowa Have A Path To Victory Against Penn State?

While I have Penn State winning 8 of the 10 matches, this dual could be much closer. I picked Penn State to win the first three weights, but wouldn’t be surprised if Iowa wrestlers won at 125, 133, or 141. Still, even if the Hawkeyes won all of those matches, I don’t think they have the firepower to keep up with the imminent bonus points coming from the Nittany Lions. Regardless of how every match plays out, it should be an incredible dual from start to finish.