Last week we ‘popped the cork’ on a brand-new season of Iowa wrestling.
Now, the champaign is well and truly flowing as both the Hawkeye men’s and women’s programs head into the second respective competitions of their 2024-25 schedule(s).
For the #2 Iowa women that entails a road trip down to Georgia – where a formidable NAIA foe awaits to host them in both dual and tournament formats.
Meanwhile, the second-ranked Iowa men can christen the newly retrofitted Carver-Hawkeye Arena with a season-opening victory over the 20th-ranked Stanford Cardinal.
Both programs are coming off solid starts a week ago, but as in any sport they’ll be hoping to make significant jumps following their debut outing(s).
That’s enough of a preamble, though.
Let’s get into the weekend preview.
#2 Iowa women @ Eagle Madness Duals (Friday, Nov. 8th – 12:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. CDT start times)
The women’s side of the Iowa wrestling ledger kicks off the action with a pair of duals down in Marietta, Georgia.
First up, NAIA’s 14th-ranked Hastings College (NE) at 12:30 p.m. CDT on Friday afternoon.
That’ll be followed by the headliner of the weekend, a showdown with host Life University – the nation’s second-ranked program in the latest NAIA Coaches’ Poll.
Make no mistake, the Eagles are a formidable foe to Iowa – particularly if the Hawkeyes don’t have some of their big guns available. And just like with Iowa’s own ‘curious’ #2 ranking, I very much expect Life to be heavy national dual/tournament title favorites (at the NAIA level) come later this season.
This meeting marks a rematch of a dual between the two 2024 NWCA National Duals champions held in Carver-Hawkeye Arena back in January. On that day, Iowa ran away with a 35-6 victory, winning 9/10 matches.
But don’t be fooled – three of those losses were hotly contested matches and the Eagles are even better/deeper this season thanks to an excellent crop of transfers/freshmen.
One of those freshmen, #2 Anaya Falcon (110 pounds), won a U20 World Team Trials bracket back in March that had three current Hawkeyes in it. She’s very much a threat to get a win in this dual, as are the Eagles at four-consecutive weights from 131-160.
There, #2 Sarah Savidge (131) and the top-ranked McBryde sisters (138/145/160) all return as NAIA national finalists – including 2024 champion Jamilah (145).
There’s also a question of who Iowa wrestles at 117/124.
Returning national runner up Brianna Gonzalez (117) could solve one of those if she makes her first appearance of the season. Meanwhile, Iowa still awaits the debut of star freshman Karlee Brooks (124), who’s set to return shortly from injury – but not this week.
#2 Iowa women @ Eagle Madness Open (Saturday, Nov. 9th – 9:00 a.m. CDT start)
Following Friday’s duals, Clarissa Chun’s team will return to the mat for Saturday’s open tournament portion of the weekend festivities.
Per a release on Wednesday, a total of 14 Hawkeyes will be competing in the ‘Eagle Madness Open’:
Notable among the entries – for multiple reasons – are #1 Emilie Gonzalez, Emmily Patneaud, #5 Nanea Estrella and #1 Reese Larramendy – all of whom will make their 2024-25 season debuts.
Gonzalez, a returning national champ at 101 pounds, is somewhat surprisingly listed at 110 as opposed to 103 – where she resides on Iowa’s official roster. It could merely be a case of the sophomore getting down to weight early in the season, but still worth monitoring going forward.
Patneaud is a former All-American (fifth place) for McKendree who has descended to 131 to add her name into an increasingly crowded mix for the Hawkeyes.
One weight up from her sees the long-awaited return of Nanea Estrella. The Hawaiian was arguably the top national title contender at 136 a year ago before being lost for the season due to a December injury suffered at Senior Nationals.
And next in the lineup, 2024 NCWWC champ Larramendy begins her season as well.
Between Life’s talented roster, plus fellow ranked NAIA programs – #3 Cumberlands (KY), #14 Hastings (NE) and #17 Lindsey Wilson (KY) – as many as 24 NAIA athletes currently ranked 10th or better at their weight class could be in the field for Iowa to contend with.
Last week was a nice starting point to the season for the Hawkeyes. The task at hand will be even greater this time around thanks to the competition that awaits in Georgia.
#2 Iowa men vs. #20 Stanford (Saturday, Nov. 9th – 1:00 p.m. CDT)
A busy Saturday for Iowa wrestling continues as the second-ranked men’s team opens its home dual slate with its second West Coast foe in as many weeks.
Five days ago, the #2 Hawkeyes (1-0) took down #23 Oregon State on the road. Now they’ll welcome #20 Stanford (2-0) to the presumably not-so-friendly confines of Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Based on the most recent probable lineups, Iowa could roll out its full ‘A-Team’ against the Cardinal:
Tom Brands said earlier this week that top-ranked transfer Jacori Teemer (157) will be in the lineup after not competing out in Corvallis.
There also remains the elusive ‘OR’ connotation next to 125 pounds – where redshirt freshman Kale Petersen could get into the mix any day now as he returns from January knee surgery. Petersen’s main competition – Joey Cruz – dropped a 7-3 decision in his season opener last week.
Either of those two would be in for a stiff test on Saturday against #10 Nico Provo.
We could also see ranked-versus-ranked bouts at 133, 149, 165, 174 and 197.
Arizona State transfer #4 Kyle Parco (149) could renew an old Pac-12 rivalry with #10 Jaden Abas, but the highest profile match on tap is at 165.
There, #2 Michael Caliendo could see Iowa City native (West High School) Hunter Garvin.
The eighth-ranked Garvin has a funky, dangerous style, though Caliendo has seen (and beaten) him before – a 7-4 victory at the 2023 Southern Scuffle.
One final name to note is Stanford freshman Aden Valencia (141). Not only was he the eighth-ranked prospect in the Class of 2024, but he’s also the younger sibling of Iowa women’s wrestler Nyla Valencia – who’s not competing this year due to injury.
Whether Aden wrestles or not this Saturday, it could be a cool home-away-from-home reunion for the Valencia family.
How to watch
We’ll start with the simple answer for viewing this weekend’s Iowa wrestling content first.
The men’s dual between the Hawkeyes and Stanford will be televised live on the Big Ten Network (1:00 p.m. CDT) as well as broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network (YouTube link below):
The women on the other hand, will require a bit of a hodgepodge (though totally worthwhile) viewing approach.
My understanding is that the first of Friday’s ‘Eagle Madness Duals’ – against #14 Hastings (12:30 p.m. CDT) – will be streamed live on the Life Athletics YouTube page.
The second of Friday’s two duals – against #2 Life University – will then be streamed on FloWrestling at 6:00 p.m. CDT (subscription required).
And on Saturday morning, Flo will once again be the place to catch the Hawkeyes with action taking place across three mats for the Eagle Madness Open.
I’ll be honest, up until this morning I had real concerns that the Iowa women might once again be without a streaming option for (most of) this weekend’s events. Thankfully, things seemed to have all worked out in some form or fashion and Iowa fans everywhere should be able to watch the reigning national champions compete.
Short time
That’s about all I’ve got for this Week 2 Iowa wrestling preview.
As of now I plan to recap the two duals for the Hawkeye women later Friday night – then add an update the following day after the completion of the open tournament.
And for the men’s dual against Stanford, I’ll have a separate recap up sometime Saturday evening.
I’ll also be providing regular updates over on Twitter, so you can always check in there for information and/or hit me up with any questions you may have.
Thanks again for reading and enjoy the wrestling this weekend!
