Two Big Ten Duals Tonight

Thursday night Wrestling tonight in the Big Ten is not technically the first conference duals (Iowa wrestled Maryland earlier which actually counted I guess), but the first interesting night of the conference season. 

Michigan will host the woeful Michigan State squad. It'll be interesting to see if Sparty has a pulse, or are they going to continue to look like the team that has been shutout by Central Michigan & Eastern Michigan this month. Maybe they have some fight in them and maybe they don't. It's hard to imagine losing all thirty matches to your in-state competitiors, but it looks like Michigan won't make it easy on them. Not only are the Wolverines a top ten program by all rankings, they appear to be firing their full lineup at them.  Why not if you're Coach McFarland. Twist the knife here and make sure you never lose a recruit for years to come to the other school in your state in the Big Ten. As a Michigan resident who is a huge wrestling fan, it's unfortunate that the rivalry question is not who wins but by how embarrassing it will be. 

Rutgers, fresh off momentum from knocking off Cornell, will enter the unfriendly confines of Carver-Hawkeye Arena to try to shock #2 Iowa. What stands out is that Rutgers should actually be favored in four of the matches (141, 157, 165, & 285). The fire that the Scarlet Knights showed when they beat up Cornell in the Garden was very impressive. They should be fired up here as well. However for Rutgers, if Burak is healthy I don't see where they could get a win in the other six weights. Also 157 & 285 aren't gimmies either. Look for the Hawkeyes to hold their turf and win seven matches, but it should be a fun dual to watch. 

#2 Iowa Hawkeyes 6-0 (1-0) vs #12 Rutgers Scarlet Knights 9-1 (0-0)

125- #2 Thomas Gilman vs #18 Sean McCabe
133- #3 Cory Clark vs #17 Anthony Giraldo
141- Logan Ryan vs #3 Anthony Ashnault
149- #2 Brandon Sorensen vs Tyson Dippery
157- Edwin Cooper or Skyler St. John vs #17 Richie Lewis or John Van Brill
165- Burke Paddock or Patrick Rhoads vs #12 Anthony Perrotti
174- #3 Alex Meyer vs Phillip Bakuckas
184- #8 Sammy Brooks vs Nicholas Gravina
197- #4 Nathan Burak vs Hayden Hrymack
285- Sam Stoll vs #6 Billy Smith