Third-ranked Iowa heads to #2 Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon
KCJJ Staff
02/22/19
With just one weekend of regular season wrestling left in the season, only three undefeated teams remain in Division I. Two of them will meet on Sunday.
Used to stoking large crowds, the third-ranked Iowa wrestling team will try to quiet one when it travels to #2 Oklahoma State to continue its rivalry with the Cowboys. Iowa 157-pounder Kaleb Young says they’re ready to face to the hostile environment.
“It definitely gets your blood pumping,” Young said. “Whether it’s here at Carver with a lot of fans or an enemy arena with a lot of people there, it’s loud. So, I think it’s pretty cool and I look forward to it.”
The dual will feature four wrestlers ranked second in the nation and a total of four matches pairing top-ten ranked wrestlers. That starts at 125 pounds, Iowa’s second-ranked Spencer Lee takes on the Cowboys’ fourth-ranked Nick Piccininni.
“That’s what we live for, that’s what we train for,” 125-pound sophomore Spencer Lee said of the expected large crowd. “Nothing’s like Carver-Hawkeye Arena but I’ve heard Gallagher-Iba Arena’s pretty good.”
Each team is 14-0 in duals this season and won its conference, though Iowa had to share the Big Ten title with #1 Penn State.
And the specter of the Nittany Lions will hang over this dual, with the postseason up next. Hawkeye head coach Tom Brands admits it’s as much about establishing who is truly chasing Penn State in the postseason as anything else.
“You’re getting ready for opponents that are well-coached and a program that is looking for the same thing that we’re looking for – a breakthrough to really close that gap or to get to the point where they’re a real contender,” Brands said. “I don’t know if we’re a real contender, yet. I know we have the horses to be a real contender and I know we’re getting more consistent.”
Sunday’s dual begins at 2 p.m. and is being streamed on FloWrestling.