It's senior day in Iowa City as the Iowa Hawkeyes host the Michigan Wolverines in the Pioneer Showdown! 

In case anyone is having a senior moment and aren't sure what all that means, we've got a preview to remind you! 

Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena - Iowa City, Iowa

When: Friday, February 13, 2026 - 9:00PM ET

How to Watch: BTN cable channel 

Sponsor: Pioneer

Iowa leads the all-time series 34-27-1. Michigan won the last time the two teams faced off, 24-11, in Ann Arbor on February 2, 2024. Iowa has won 10 of the last 12 meetings. 

Iowa is 10-5 with a 3-3 record in the Big Ten. Michigan is 8-4 with a 4-2 conference record.

Probables

125: #6 Dean Peterson or Joey Cruz, Iowa vs #27 Diego Sotelo, Michigan

133: #8 Drake Ayala, Iowa vs Gauge Botero, Michigan

141: Kale Petersen, Iowa vs Dylan Ragusin, Michigan

149: #13 Ryder Block or Kael Voinovich, Iowa vs #17 Lachlan McNeil, Michigan

157: #15 Jordan Williams or Victor Voinovich, Iowa vs #13 Cam Catrabone, Michigan

165: #3 Michael Caliendo, Iowa vs Justin Gates, Michigan

174: #3 Patrick Kennedy, Iowa vs #7 Brock Mantanona, Michigan

184: Gabe Arnold, Iowa vs #7 Brock Mantanona, Michigan

197: Brody Sampson or Harvey Ludington, Iowa vs #20 Hayden Walters, Michigan

285: #9 Ben Kueter, Iowa vs #5 Taye Ghadiali, Michigan

No ‘or’s’ listed for the Michigan Wolverines in the probables section of the Iowa press release. There are a few ‘or’s’ for the Hawkeyes, as well as notable inclusions and omissions. 

Kale Peterson will once again start at 141, as Nasir Bailey may still be dinged up from his last match. The Voinovich brothers, Kael and Victor, are listed as potential starters at 149 and 157, respectively. Victor is a senior and it is Senior Day, though I’m not sure that will factor into the decision Coach Brands makes at 157. 

Angelo Ferrari is still on the mend with the postseason in mind, so it will be Gabe Arnold again for the Hawkeyes at 184. 

And Harvey Ludington is listed as an ‘or’ at 197. The true freshman has wrestled four varsity dates so far, so he can get the nod on Friday and still maintain his redshirt status. 

Key Matchups

285: Kueter vs Ghadiali

We could see high drama at heavyweight if the fate of the dual meet still hangs in the balance. One of the few possible top ten matchups of the evening will also be the closer if the dual starts at 125. 

Ghadiali comes to Michigan from Campbell University, where he spent five seasons and reached a career high 8th place at NCAAs in 2024. Ghadiali took most of 2024-25 off after getting injured in December of 2024. This season, Ghadiali has been a steady anchor for the Wolverines, registering a 17-2 record (not counting a loss to Yonger Bastida at the All-Star Classic). The native of Warren, Michigan is also on a roll lately, having defeated #3 Nick Feldman and #8 Cole Mirasola in back-to-back bouts. 

Kueter is in his third season in the Hawkeye wrestling room and second season on the varsity squad (he also spent a lot of his true freshman year on the Iowa football field as well). The 2022-23 Iowa Athlete of the Year has a 5-4 record on the year but those losses were to #1 Bastida, #3 Nick Feldman, #4 AJ Ferrari, and #8 Cole Mirasola, with wins over #11 Braxton Amos, #12 Koy Hopke and #16 Dayton Pitzer. Kueter finished 8th last season, while Ghadiali was taking a medical redshirt. 

Kueter has not been able to secure many takedowns against top-ranked heavies this season, so he’ll want to get to his offense early against an explosive 285-pounder like Ghadiali. Taye, meanwhile, has scored the only takedowns in bouts against wrestlers that were victorious against Kueter, so he’ll want to stick with the game plan that has been working for him lately. 

Watch Last week's Ghadiali vs Feldman match:

149: Block vs McNeil

McNeil comes to Michigan by way of North Carolina, where he was a consistent producer in his four years in Chapel Hill, reaching All-American status three times (4th, 6th and 5th from 2023 to 2025 respectively). A loss to Casey Swiderski at the All-Star Classic and to Eligh Rivera at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this season has put a damper on his ranking, but the senior from Toronto, Canada is still a force to be reckoned with. 

Block is the favorite on paper, but there is little separation between these two wrestlers. Block has dropped four of his last six bouts, and is 8-5 on the season. Four of those losses were to top 12 ranked wrestlers, with the only ‘bad’ loss being to #24 Drew Roberts. 

Both wrestlers are as gritty as they get, so expect a brawl to determine this middleweight matchup.

149: Petersen vs Ragusin

Ragusin is coming off a tough overtime loss to Penn State's Nate Desmond, a blue chip true freshman recruit who started the season at 125 and is now spot-starting while teammate Braeden Davis heals up. The sixth year senior is in his final year of eligibility for the Wolverines and is in his first season at 141. Ragusin, an Illinois native, only started his final varsity campaign in the second semester and has yet to find his groove, collecting a 6-4 record that has yet to allow him to break into the national rankings. 

Petersen has a lofty 17-2 record, however, that was earned mainly at open tournaments, with a good number of those wins coming against non-D1 wrestlers. He’s 9-2 against qualifying opponents with his best win being against #24 Caedeyn Ricciardi (whom he also lost to, with both bouts coming at the Soldier Salute). 

Both wrestlers will be competing with something to prove. And with the postseason right around the corner and NCAA qualification bids on the line, the stakes could scarcely be higher. 

184: Arnold vs BrockMan

Arnold isn’t ranked, but that’s because our intrepid rankers are assuming the plan is still to get #2 Angelo Ferrari healthy enough to start at the Big Ten Championships. Arnold has started the last five duals for the Hawkeyes, and in that span, his worst loss was to #8 Dylan Fishback and his best win was against #6 Silas Allred, so it’s a good bet that he’d be ranked around #7 if he was the starter.

And it just so happens that BrockMan, who has wins over Allred and Fishback, is currently ranked #7, setting up a pivotal, and evenly matched, bout in this contest. 

Watch Arnold vs Allred from last week: 

174: Kennedy vs BeauMan

This is the other potential top 10 matchup we could see in this dual. Kennedy has been a rock for the Hawkeyes in his final season of eligibility, although his sole loss on the season was in a decisive match of the Iowa State dual. A recent win over #5 Carson Kharchla, however, shows that Kennedy remains a threat for a high podium placement. 

The same can be said for Beau Mantanona, the older but lighter of the two MantMen in the Wolverine lineup. Beau made the bloodround in 2025 at 165 before moving up to 174. The California native recently dropped a 9-6 bout to Kharchla, showing that he’s right there with the top group of contenders, but also that he’ll need to find another gear to get the win over Kennedy. 

Predictions

Spey's picks:

125: Peterson by decision: Iowa 3, Michigan 0

133: Ayala by major: Iowa 7, Michigan 0

141: Ragusin by decision: Iowa 7, Michigan 3

149: Block by decision: Iowa 10, Michigan 3

157: Catrabone by decision: Iowa 10, Michigan 6

165: Caliendo by major: Iowa 14, Michigan 6

174: Kennedy by decision: Iowa 17, Michigan 6

184: BrockMan by decision: Iowa 17, Michigan 9

197: Walters by decision: Iowa 17, Michigan 12

285: Ghadiali by decision: Iowa 17, Michigan 15

I have it five bouts to five, with Iowa winning with bonus points at 133 and 165. I went conservative and stuck with majors but I could see both Ayala and Caliendo getting tech-falls as well. 

I’m least confident in the picks at 184, 285 and 149, in that order, which means if Michigan’s path to victory involves either winning all three of those bouts or picking up an upset elsewhere. If Williams goes at 157, he also has the ability to make Michigan’s path more difficult, though I would still favor Catrabone, who just nearly defeated #4 PJ Duke in a dual last week.  

Now to check in to see who ChatGPT thinks is going to win. 

MAN vs MACHINE PICK EM CHALLENGE

ChatGPT picks: 

125: Peterson by decision: Iowa 3, Michigan 0

133: Ayala by major: Iowa 7, Michigan 0

141: Ragusin by decision: Iowa 7, Michigan 3

149: Block by decision: Iowa 10, Michigan 3

157: Catrabone by decision: Iowa 10, Michigan 6

165: Caliendo by major: Iowa 14, Michigan 6

174: Kennedy by decision: Iowa 17, Michigan 6

184: Mantanona by major: Iowa 17, Michigan 10

197: Ludington by decision: Iowa 20, Michigan 10

285: Ghadiali by decision: Iowa 20, Michigan 13

So a complete mirror of my picks (I swear I made my picks first!) except for 197. I guess we’ll see who is more correct after that bout!

Let's all find out together on Friday, when I will be live blogging the dual. See you then!