Iowa vs. Oklahoma State wrestling: Preview, probable starters, how to watch

On paper, Oklahoma State and Iowa are each favored in five duals. But there's more to these matchups than the rankings. Here are the key storylines and details to know about each of the twenty expected starters on Sunday. 

125 pounds: No. 4 Troy Spratley vs. No. 16 Joey Cruz

Troy Spratley and Joey Cruz have both jumped levels this year. Spratley, a redshirt sophomore from Oklahoma State, moved from a solid Round of 12 athlete last season to a true title contender this year, while Cruz, also a redshirt sophomore for Iowa, served as a backup to teammate Drake Ayala last year and could now compete to win some matches at the national tournament. 

Sparky. l

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling)

Now these two will face off in a true test of their improvement and the skill in a dual where everything is on the line. 

Spratley has a clear advantage with his 16-3 record and earlier season wins over All-American Eddie Ventresca, Caleb Smith and Jore Volk. Cruz, meanwhile, is 10-7 but he has also beaten top-20 athletes in No. 17 Cooper Flynn and No. 18 Nicolar Rivera. 

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Spratley should not dismiss or underestimate Cruz, but if he sees an opening for bonus points, he needs to take it. In a dual that will come down to every match and every point, Spratley will be expected to put his team on his back early and give the Cowboys at least a 3-0 lead. 

133 pounds: No. 21 Reece Witcraft vs. No. 2 Drake Ayala

The 133-pound match is nearly a mirror image of the 125 pound weight class. One athlete — this time Iowa's No. 2 Drake Ayala — will come into the match with the clear advantage on paper, though, again his opponent is scrappy and tough, someone who could slow down Ayala and create intrigue. 

A lot on the line.

See you at the Iowa City Zoo 🦒🦍🐅
Sunday ➡️ 7:30 p.m.

— Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling (@Hawks_Wrestling)

Oklahoma State's starter senior Reece Witcraft and Ayala actually met back in 2022 down at 125 pounds where Witcraft spent two years of his career before ultimately taking over the 133 pound spot left behind by four-time NCAA finalist Daton Fix. Ayala earned the major decision in that match 17-6, and while he has made jumps in his career, so has Ayala. 

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The Hawkeye junior is 14-1 with his lone loss to Stanford's No. 6 Tyler Knox, whereas Witcraft is 9-4 with ranked wins over No. 16 Jacob Van Dee, No. 22 Cleveland Belton and No. 32 Derek Cardinal. This is a match where the edge belongs with Ayala with bonus points being the goal, especially given the fact that the dual is being contested inside Ayala's home of Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but Witcraft is a solid competitor who is expected to qualify for the NCAA tournament and could put up a bigger fight than his rankings suggests. 

141 pounds: No. 5 Tagen Jamison vs. Cullan Schriever

The 141-pound weight class is the weight with the largest rankings disparity between Oklahoma State and Iowa with Oklahoma State fielding No. 5 Tagen Jamison and Iowa expected to wrestle Cullan Schriever, but I actually see this weight as less likely for bonus points than 125 pounds or 133 pounds.

B1G win for the Hawkeyes 🔥 x

— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling)

As long as Iowa's Cullan Schriever can avoid the fall, which is no easy task, he's someone that Iowa can count on to stay out of bonus point trouble and continue to fight against the best athletes in the country. In two of his last three battles against All-American athletes, Schriever lost just four points. He battled Minnesota's Vance VomBaur to a 14-10 loss and competed his way to a 7-3 loss against Beau Bartlett. Those two athletes are title contenders. Schriever held them to a decision. 

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Tagen Jamison is nearly in that title conversation himself. With a 14-3 record and wins over All-American Sam Latona and Brock Hardy, Jamison is looking like the best version of himself this year. He's fast and fun to watch — he's the clear favorite in this bout. The question in this matchup will be bonus points. Schriever was majored against Hardy, but he's done his job for the Hawks in his other bouts and held steady. His goal here will be to do the same: stay gritty and fight to keep the match within seven points. 

149 pounds: No. 18 Carter Young vs. No. 3 Kyle Parco

If each athlete wrestles to his ranking through the first four matches, the Hawks and the Cowboys will split 125, 133 and 141 pounds, with the first and last of those three ending in favor of Oklahoma State. The Hawks, though, will be favored at 149 pounds, much like 133 pounds, with their title-contending middle-weight Kyle Parco expected to take the mat against Carter Young of Oklahoma State. 

Young has been solid in his three years with the Cowboys, qualifying for the national tournament twice before redshirting last year. He's now 10-9 on the year with his best win coming against No. 10 Colin Realbuto of Northern Iowa.

Parco, however, is a tier above right now with four All-American honors to his name and a win this year over No. 4 Ridge Lovett of Nebraska. This match against Young will likely be Parco's moment to shine and his chance to pick up a win, potentially by bonus. Parco does have a loss this year to No. 2 Shayne Van Ness of Penn State in State College, but that is the only blemish on the otherwise perfect record he has accumulated in his final year of eligibility with Iowa. He'll look to finish out his home slate as a Hawk undefeated. 

157 pounds: No. 14 Caleb Fish vs. No. 3 Jacori Teemer

This is fun one. Most of the matches in this dual have a clear favorite, with Iowa holding the heavy advantage in five bouts and Oklahoma State with an obvious edge in the other five. This is the biggest question mark match. 

Oklahoma State senior Caleb Fish, who spent the first four years of his career at Michigan State, is wrestling better than ever and is currently 16-6 on the year with his best win coming by fall against No. 6 Ryder Downey of Northern Iowa 7-4 in overtime. He's also beaten All-American Ed Scott 12-5, No. 7 Joey Blaze by countable medical forfeit and No. 16 former teammate Chase Saldate 13-5. Fish puts points on the board. 

He'll now take on Iowa's No. 3 Jacori Teemer, the Hawkeyes' formerly No. 1-ranked athlete who suffered an injury in the Cy-Hawk dual to Paniro Johnson and has been working his way back ever since. Teemer is 2-1 following his return with a 10-5 win over Sammy Sasso, a 4-1 win over No. 8 Tommy Askey and a 5-2 loss to Tyler Kasak. The loss to Kasak dropped him from No. 1 to No. 3 and proved the returning NCAA finalist isn't invincible. 

Teemer, despite potentially not being at 100% yet, is still favored over Fish, but the nature of his advantage depends on his health. Could Fish beat the version of Teemer that is only 80% healthy? What about 90% healthy? These are the kinds of questions that surround this bout between Oklahoma State's rising middleweight Fish and Iowa's steady veteran Teemer as these two transfer athletes both prepare to wrestle in the first and last Oklahoma State vs. Iowa dual of their careers. 

165 pounds: No. 6 Cameron Amine vs. No. 2 Michael Caliendo

Iowa's Michael Caliendo and Oklahoma State's Cameron Amine present a clash of styles. These two All-Americans, both of whom started their careers at different schools, have met twice in college, both times at the 2024 Big Ten championships, with both wins belonging to Caliendo in sudden victory. Now they'll meet for one final time in dual action with a team victory on the line. 

Amine's previous results suggest that he can compete with Caliendo and push the high-scoring Hawk, but Caliendo has only improved since their last meeting. He's averaged 16.3 points in his last ten duals with his lone loss of the year thus far came by technical fall to No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink. Other than Mesenbrink, Caliendo has dominated everyone in his path, earning a bonus point win against No. 9 Paddy Gallagher and putting up 17 points against All-American Hunter Garvin. Amine has made strides this year too though under the guidance of his new coaching staff, and his bout with Caliendo will show where he's at against the clear No. 2-ranked athlete at the weight. 

174 pounds: No. 3 Dean Hamiti vs. No. 11 Patrick Kennedy OR Nelson Brands

Nine of the ten weights in this dual have one probable starter, with 174 pounds being the lone exception. Iowa's Patrick Kennedy has been the main starter for the Hawks throughout the season, posting a 10-3 record with losses to Lenny Pinto of Nebraska, NCAA champion Levi Haines of Penn State and All-American Carson Kharchla of Ohio State. Nelson Brands, Iowa's second option listed at the weight, earned All-American honors in 2023 before missing out on the 2024 season due to a suspension. He's now 4-1 on the year but has only wrestled just one match this semester: a 21-5 tech fall over Aiden Vanenbush of Nebraska. 

Brands and Kennedy are both fairly comparable options for the Hawks, and both will be significant underdogs against Oklahoma State's dynamic All-American Dean Hamiti. After wrestling the last three seasons down at 165 pounds for Wisconsin, Hamiti transferred to Oklahoma State, bumped up to 174 pounds and has been on a tear. He's 18-0 on the year with 77% bonus and a tech fall over All-American Lenny Wolak of Virginia Tech. His length and speed pose problems for everyone he faces, and while Brands and Kennedy are both strong, positionally sound wrestlers, the pace of Hamiti may be too much. 

184 pounds: No. 3 Dustin Plott vs. No. 8 Gabe Arnold

Much like 174 pounds, the starter at 184 pounds is not clear for Iowa. The Hawkeyes listed Gabe Arnold as a guy; Arnold lost 5-1 to Plott in their lone meeting last year. But the Hawks also have a not-so-secret weapon at 184 pounds in true freshman Angelo Ferrari who can wrestle one more dual as a varsity starter without sacrificing his eligibility. Earlier this year, Iowa head coach Tom Brands said the Ferrari would take all five of those optional duals in his redshirt year, suggesting that he'll be the starter in this bout. While the probables suggest otherwise, don't be surprised to see Ferrari take the mat on Sunday night against the All-American Cowboy. 

Plott will be favored over Arnold or Ferrari and currently holds a 15-2 record with his only losses coming against NCAA champion Parker Keckeisen twice. Ferrari could pose a wild card threat against Plott though. Earlier this year, the true freshman Hawkeye held four-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci to a 3-1 decision, preventing the Nittany Lions from scoring a takedown. Ferrari is flexible, strong and poised — no moment is too big for him. If he gets the nod on Sunday, he'll get another chance against one of the best in the weight just a few weeks after challenging Starocci. 

Arnold is Iowa's expected starter in the postseason, and Arnold is the only one listed on the probables. Regardless of whether Arnold or Ferrari wrestles in this bout, the Hawks will need Carver Magic to pull off an upset, and they will likely not have the luxury of being able to give up bonus points here in a match that pits a senior Cowboy against either a true freshman or redshirt freshman Hawkeye. 

197 pounds: No. 6 Luke Surber vs. No. 1 Stephen Buchanan 

Stephen Buchanan has been a rock for Iowa all year, and the Hawks will need him now more than ever as the team's lone No. 1-ranked wrestler against the Cowboys. Buchanan's job will be to give Iowa as much of a cushion as possible heading into heavyweight where Oklahoma State has the potential to score bonus points. Luke Surber, though, is a tough out. The veteran Cowboy has only improved under the direction of head coach David Taylor and currently sits at No. 6 in the country with an 18-1 record. His only loss came by way of a 4-3 decision to Virginia Tech's Andy Smith.

Buchanan, meanwhile, is 18-0 with one of his statement wins coming by fall last weekend against Nebraska in a match where Iowa, similarly, needed big team points from its leader. Buchanan's ability to step up in that moment and run up the scoreboard is a good sign for Iowa fans ahead of this dual with the Cowboys. He too has improved in his senior season and likely has a national championship in his sights. First though, he'll have to get past a familiar foe in Surber. 

Surber and Buchanan have wrestled twice in their career, with Buchanan taking both wins, one by way of a 6-2 decision and the other by injury default. A win here is not a given for Buchanan, as Surber has beaten a top-ten athlete in No. 7 Stephen Little already this year, but Buchanan does look to be on another level. Sunday will serve as a moment of truth for the veteran Hawk in his new home gym. 

285 pounds: No. 3 Wyatt Hendrickson vs. No. 11 Ben Kueter 

If the dual comes down to heavyweight, Wyatt Hendrickson is exactly who Oklahoma State wants anchoring this team. The Cowboy graduate student is 17-0 on the year with 88% bonus, and he's teched or pinned his last five opponents. Hendrickson is a point-scoring machine, and though he will be wrestling in enemy territory, this big man knows how to put on a show. 

Iowa's Ben Kueter is a solid closer too, but he'll be undersized compared to Hendrickson and lacks the collegiate experience that the Cowboy veteran brings to the table. Kueter is also fresh off a tech fall loss to 2021 Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, a match that highlighted some the disparity between a former national champion and an aspiring All-American. Iowa's goal will have to include a buffer going into heavyweight, ideally a buffer of more than four points. Kueter's goal will be to hold on to that lead, if Iowa has it, in the biggest dual meet of his career.