Iowa gets top seed, learns draw at 2025 National Duals Invitational

As of Tuesday evening, the Iowa Hawkeyes are officially your number one seed for the 2025 National Duals Invitational – set for November 15-16 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Iowa was among a quartet of teams seeded for the event – including #2 Nebraska, #3 Ohio State and #4 Oklahoma State – with the rest of the 16-team field being randomly drawn into the bracket.

The news came as part of a live bracket reveal show on FloWrestling – which will air 27/28 duals at this revamped, prize money infused version of an event who’s return college wrestling fans have clamored for years for.

(ESPNU will air the final on Sunday, November 16 per a Monday announcement.)

The full bracket – which features 16 of the top 22 finishers from March’s NCAA Championships (incl. 15 of the top 18) – can be seen below:

As a reminder of the financial incentives behind the event (and its total purse of more than $1 million) – here are the payouts for each of the respective place winners:

• 1^st = $200k
• 2^nd = $150k
• 3^rd = $150k
• 4th = $75k
• 5th = $50k
• 6th = $40k
• 7th = $25k
• 8th = $20k

*All participating teams will receive $20k for attending*

As the #1 seed, Iowa will certainly be aiming for both that top (cash) prize as well as the affirmation that running through a loaded field like this would provide early in the 2025-26 season.

And with the entire bracket now in hand, we can take an early glimpse at who’ll stand in the Hawkeyes’ way beginning on November 15.

Previewing the path ahead

Iowa’s first round opponent will be the Missouri Tigers – a consistent top 10 program over the past decade.

First round foe. pic.twitter.com/IynjpIVkH3

— Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling (@Hawks_Wrestling) October 7, 2025

Entering this latest matchup, Iowa owns a 4-2 all-time record against Missouri.

Interestingly enough, the last time they met was in the 2015 National Dual finals – where the Tigers won 18-12.

This latest Missouri squad looks to be a fresh-faced bunch – through both some freshmen and transfer portal additions.

FloWrestling put out the following graphic for the dual – highlighting what some of the matchups could look like between the two teams:

Before Iowa fans read too much into this, however, it should be noted this is not an official ‘probable lineup’ for the Hawkeyes.

Per an Iowa spokesperson, “teams had to submit a two-deep but not a probable lineup” for the event/seeding purposes.

Aside from the fascination as to how everyone (esp. incoming transfers) will look in a new season – much of which I covered in last week’s early lineup preview – the highlight match could very well be at 184.

There, two powerhouse redshirt freshmen could square off in Angelo Ferrari and Aeoden Sinclair.

Iowa fans know all about Ferrari (the second-ranked recruit in the 2024 class). Meanwhile, Sinclair (#4 in 2024) had a slightly more up-and-down redshirt campaign – splitting time between 184/197 – but followed that up with an excellent summer on the freestyle scene.

Both youngsters could very well be title contenders in a young, exciting 184-pound weight class.

Peek ahead to possible quarterfinal opponents and either Illinois or Little Rock (AR) offers plenty of intrigue.

For the Illini, it’s all about a potential NCAA/Big Ten finals rematch between Drake Ayala and Lucas Byrd at 133.

Can the Iowa senior reverse the fortunes from their previous two different, yet equally devastating outcomes?

As for Little Rock, it’d be a reunion of sorts for likely Hawkeye starters Nasir Bailey and Jordan Williams – both of whom spent last season with the Trojans before transferring to Iowa in late March.

Beyond the quarterfinals we’re really starting to stretch our predictive/hypothetical muscles. So, let’s just say that any of the prospective semifinal opponents (UNI, NC State, Cornell, Oklahoma State) would represent a captivating, high-stakes matchup.

Even so, tournament host Oklahoma State – located just 70 miles westward in Stillwater – carries with it a little extra ‘juice’ were the Cowboys and Hawkeyes to square off in mid-November.

And finally, if Iowa was to reach the championship, it’d be all but guaranteed to meet a foe equally as battle tested as itself.

(Here’s hoping we get the chance to see that realized come Sunday, November 16 at 6:00 p.m.)

Short time

We’ll have plenty more coverage of the National Duals Invitational as the event draws closer. But if any Iowa/wrestling fans are interested in attending in person, tickets are still available at THIS LINK.

I know I personally cannot wait to watch this tournament – both from the perspective of someone who covers the Hawkeyes and as a lover of the sport itself.

Just two weeks into a brand-new season we’ll get to see an incredible collection of teams go head-to-head via (arguably) college wrestling’s most entertaining format – the dual.

I’m not sure it gets much better than that…