Highlights from the last time Iowa made the trip to Oklahoma State in 2017.

Oklahoma State and Iowa are two of the most storied wrestling programs in NCAA history. 

Each team a long list of champions and All-Americans and will both be looking to add a few names to them come March. But before we get to Pittsburgh these teams will go head-to-head on February 24 adding to their long-standing rivalry.

The Hawkeyes sport a #3 ranking as they look to invade GIA, home of the #4-ranked Cowboys. 

Coming into this year’s battle, Oklahoma State holds the all-time series lead with a 28-22-2 record making this the 53rd meeting between the two teams. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the great dual history between these teams, so let’s go even deeper. 

Coaching History: Brands vs Smith

Since Tom Brands took over he’s coached the Hawkeyes to six wins over Oklahoma State against six losses and one tie. Could this be the year that takes him over .500? The last time they had the chance to do so, Oklahoma State defended their home turf with a 24-11 win in 2017. Then last year Iowa returned the favor to the tune of a 20-12 win at Carver-Hawkeye. 

At the time of writing this, they both have led their teams to unblemished records. The visiting Hawks will look to leave Stillwater with their 13th win of the season as they come in at 12-0. Across the mat, Smith and his Cowboys are searching for win #14 on the year. 

Streaks and Blowouts

The longest win streak in this rivalry for either of these teams was Oklahoma State's nine in a row, starting in December 2000 and ending with the 2009 dual mentioned above. The Cowboys had won three in a row before that to make it 12 out of 13 in the longest run of dominance in this series.

Unsurprisingly, the longest win streak for the Hawkeyes came with Dan Gable at the helm. Between 1977 and 1982, Iowa won six straight by a combined 87 points during the first part of its NCAA-record nine straight championships.

On the Hawkeyes side, their biggest win in GIA was the above-mentioned 30-7 win in January 2015, and their biggest win overall against OSU was 40-6 in February 1985. Oklahoma State's biggest win over Iowa came in 1961, a 25-2 win in Iowa City, while the largest win at home was 24-8 in February 1984.

This year’s matchup

125: #2 Spencer Lee, Iowa vs #4 Nick Piccininni, OSU

133: #3 Austin Desanto, Iowa vs #2 Daton Fix, OSU

141: #18 Max Murin, Iowa vs #14 Kaid Brock, OSU

149: #16 Pat Lugo, Iowa vs #4 Kaden Gfeller, OSU

157: #7 Kaleb Young, Iowa vs Wyatt Sheets, OSU

165: #2 Alex Marinelli, Iowa vs #11 Chandler Rogers, OSU

174: Mitch Bowman or Keegan Shaw, Iowa vs #7 Joe Smith, OSU

184: #14 Cash Wilcke, Iowa vs #9 Jacobe Smith, OSU

197: #4 Jacob Warner, Iowa vs #13 Dakota Geer or Preston Weigel, OSU

285: #8 Sam Stoll, Iowa vs #2 Derek White, OSU

As my man Nomad pointed out, the lineup above for OK. State could look a bit different come time for these two to meet. 

There are some key matches we are all looking forward to seeing starting with 133. Daton Fix was one of the most highly sought after recruits in the country coming out of high school. The redshirt freshman has had a pretty dominant year as he comes in with just one loss on the year. 

Austin DeSanto has become the villain that everyone loves to hate. He’s beaten some of the best guys in the weight class, but has been a magnet for all types of scrunty because his antics that have made a few team point disappear and forcing him to serve a one-match suspension. There will surely be a hostile environment awaiting him at GIA, so we will see if he’s learned his lesson.

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The rematch at 125 is also pretty intriguing. Nick Piccininni was part of Spencer’s trail of devastating defeats at last year’s NCAA tournament. But they’ve both looked like different wrestlers this year. Piccininni is currently perfect on the year at 26-0 while the returning NCAA champion sits at 14-1. Piccininni has a style similar to Sebastian Rivera’s, who is the only person to defeat Lee this year. It will be interesting to see if he attempts to deploy a similar strategy to the one we saw from Rivera in the Midlands finals.

All-in-all there are about eight total matches where we could see a head-to-head bout between ranked guys. From the start  between #2 Lee and #4 Piccininni to the very end between #2 Derek White and #8 Sam Stoll, there will be fireworks. As far as dual meets between historical programs go, this is the Catalina Wine Mixer.