Earlier this month, Penn State released its 2023-2024 wrestling dual schedule, headlined by conference matchups against Michigan on Jan. 19, Iowa on Feb. 9, and Nebraska on Feb. 18.
The full Big Ten schedule — including all 14 teams and their respective bouts — is now published as well, so let’s break down a few of the other big matches you won’t want to miss this year:
Jan. 12: Iowa vs. Nebraska
The 2021 NCAA champion Iowa Hawkeyes will kick off their Big Ten dual season in an unusual position: as potential underdogs. With seven ranked wrestlers and a returning national finalist, Iowa's squad is competitive this year, but its first conference opponent of the year — Nebraska — has even more firepower, at least on paper.
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The Huskers, a team that finished last year 12-3, start the season with 10 ranked wrestlers, including a returning national finalist of their own in Ridge Lovett. The Red and White will be favored against the Hawks, right now, at five weights, including Lovett's 149-pound match, as well as 174, 184, 197 and 285 pounds.
Iowa's edge at 125 and 157 pounds, however, is narrow too, as the Hawks are expected to field No. 13 Drake Ayala against Nebraska's No. 14 Caleb Smith at the lightest weight and No. 2 Jared Franek vs. Nebraska's No. 3 Peyton Robb up at 157 pounds.
Of all 10 weights, the most exciting potential matchup in this bout is either Franek vs. Robb or No. 1 Real Woods vs. No. 4 Brock Hardy at 141 pounds, a rematch from last year's NCAA championship where Woods buried Hardy 11-1 less then two weeks after he topped the Husker 2-1 in the conference tournament. If Woods can further separate himself and put up bonus points in his bout, he could be a difference-maker for Iowa in a dual that will provide a lot of insight on where this squad is heading into the heart of the season.
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Iowa, which lost just two Big Ten duals in the last five years, will be tested prior to this Nebraska dual, as the Hawks will wrestle a rising Oregon State program early in the year, on Nov. 19, before battling Iowa State in the Cy-Hawk dualon Sunday, Nov. 26. The team will also meet Penn and Columbia in duals before the holidays. Of all of these teams, though, Nebraska will unquestionably be the toughest.
The Huskers fell to Iowa 34-6 in this bout last year. Don't expect the same kind of blowout this January.
Jan. 26: Michigan vs. Ohio State
The intensity is always high in the Big Ten, but rivalry duals bring their own special kind of fire, and this year's Michigan vs. Ohio State dual will be one for the ages. Both powerhouse programs will bring at least eight ranked wrestlers to the mat when they meet in Columbus, and while Michigan has the slight edge at the moment, as the Wolverines are favored in six matches, the Buckeyes do have the last win in this series.
Ohio State also outplaced Michigan in last year's NCAA tournament by two spots and 12 points, though both rosters look wildly different this year. The Bucks are expected to debut four new faces in the lineup this year, including No. 9 Nic Bouzakis at 133 pounds, No. 19 Bryce Hepner at 165 pounds, No. 22 Seth Shumate at 184 pounds and dynamic heavyweight No. 20 Nick Feldman at 285 pounds.
The Wolverines, similarly, have reloaded their squad, though most of their pickups came from the transfer portal, as they added All-Americans No. 8 Michael DeAugustino, No. 13 Chris Cannon, No. 4 Shane Griffith, and No. 3 Lucas Davison at 125, 133, 165 and 285 pounds, respectively, from Michigan and Stanford. No. 21 Rylan Rogers is also expected to start for the Wolverines at 184 pounds after redshirting for Michigan last season and posting a 13-5 record.
Because of all of these lineup changes, most of the matches slated for this year's dual did not take place in last year's contest, but each match could have significant rankings implications. Ohio State will come into the dual having already wrestled Big Ten opponents Illinois, Maryland and Wisconsin, all of which the Bucks should be favored to win handily. Michigan, on the hand, will have Penn State the week prior to meeting Ohio State, which could complicate the prep for this bout.
These athletes are elite and prepared for anything, though, and with pride and potential conference seeding on the line, this matchup carries high stakes.
Feb. 16: Wisconsin vs. Minnesota
The Wisconsin-Minnesota border battle is a fun match every year, and the Badgers and Gophers will bring a combined 12 ranked wrestlers to their 2024 contest. Three weights will thus involve meetings between ranked athletes, but only one of those weights includes a top-10 matchup, and only one of these weights features two athletes who have a long, rich history of back-and-forth results that always entertain.
That match? No. 5 Eric Barnett of Wisconsin vs. No. 7 Patrick McKee of Minnesota at 125 pounds.
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These two wrestlers have competed against one another nine times in their career, and every match is appointment viewing. Heading into this year, McKee holds the slight 5-4 edge, but Barnett earned the last win.
McKee and Barnett are both title contenders, and watching them compete in this "Border Battle" will be a good test to assess their readiness. McKee is 0-2 against current No. 1-ranked Matt Ramos, while Barnett is 0-1 against the Boilermaker, though all three of these matches have been close. There will be a lot of high-level wrestling happening at this time of year, but McKee vs. Barnett is always a showstopper.
Barnett, a senior, has two All-American honors to his name but missed the podium in 2023 after a 3-2 performance at the NCAA tournament where he lost to Eddie Ventresca and Anthony Noto of Lock Haven. He'll start his season with the Badgers this year on Nov. 5 in a dual against Lindenwood before taking on Iowa State on Nov. 19. Within the Big Ten, Barnett could also see No. 1 Ramos of Purdue on Feb. 4 ahead of his bout against McKee.
A sixth-year senior for Minnesota, McKee finished on the podium twice in his career, taking third and fifth at the national tournament in 2021 and 2022, and he's made a name for himself as the "Comeback Kid," someone with a history of dropping early bouts in tournaments but . He, like Barnett, did not place in last year's tournament after losing to Virginia Tech's Ventresca and Rutgers' Dean Peterson. Now McKee is back for one final run, and he'll do so alongside his Gopher brothers who will all be looking to notch another W against the Badgers, a program that Minnesota holds a 10-2 record against all-time.
In addition to Iowa vs. Nebraska, Michigan vs. Ohio State and Wisconsin vs. Nebraska, the Big Ten Network will be airing a total of 21 other duals this year, and you can see the full schedule .
