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#3 Iowa welcomes #19 Pittsburgh for Friday night dual at Carver

by: Tanner Lafever2 hours agoTannerLafever
Massoma Endene Iowa team
All eyes will be on must-see Massoma Endene this Friday, as he'll wrestle in the dual's marquee match at 197 pounds. (Photo Credit: Ethan McLaughlin/Daily Iowan)

Following its runner-up finish at the National Duals Invitational, the Iowa men’s wrestling team returns to the mat Friday for its first-ever meeting with a certain ACC opponent.

Visiting Iowa City is #19 Pittsburgh (3-0) – where the Panthers will become Iowa’s 121st unique opponent in program history.

Friday night will also mark the fifth consecutive dual against a ranked opponent for the #3 Hawkeyes (4-1) – a reflection of the nation’s toughest schedule that Iowa head coach Tom Brands trumpeted back in October at team media day.

So, which Hawkeyes can fans expect to be on the mat – and who represents the most intriguing matchup(s) from the visiting Panthers?

I’m glad you asked.

Meet the teams

Per this week’s probable lineups, we could be in line for as many as six ranked-vs-ranked bouts in this dual.

Following National Duals, several Hawkeyes made notable leaps up the national rankings.

  • Ryder Block – 149 (unranked to #10)
  • Massoma Endene – 197 (#16 to #8)
  • Dean Peterson 125 – (#10 to #7)

A few others saw minor bumps in either direction:

  • Drake Ayala – 133 (#2 to #3)
  • Nasir Bailey – 141 (#9 to #8 at 141)
  • Jordan Williams – 157 (#11 to #12)
  • Michael Caliendo – 165 (#2 to #3)
  • Angelo Ferrari – 184 (#3 to #1)
  • Ben Kueter – 285 (#5 to #6)

Meanwhile, Patrick Kennedy (#2 at 174) was the lone Hawkeye to remain pat (no pun intended).

Pittsburgh boasts a half dozen ranked wrestlers compared to Iowa’s 10.

The strength of the Panthers is the back half of their lineup, where each of #14 Luca Augustine (174), #4 Mac Stout (197) and #12 Dayton Pitzer (285) reached at least the blood round of NCAAs last March.

How to watch

November 21st (Fri) – vs. #19 Pittsburgh

  • Location: Iowa City, IA (Carver-Hawkeye Arena)
  • Time: 7:30 p.m.
  • TV/streaming: Big Ten Network
  • Radio: AM 800 KXIC, the Hawkeye Radio Network, YouTube

Keep an eye on

The headline matchup of this dual comes at 197 pounds, where the ever-impressive Mo Endene will look to make yet another mark on the Division 1 landscape.

After an undefeated showing at National Duals, the Wartburg transfer gets his first crack at an All-American, as #4 Mac Stout (seventh at NCAAs in 2025) visits Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Endene has already opened the eyes of many to his potential of being an All-American himself, but a win over someone like Stout – the reigning ACC champion – would increase the rhetoric even more.

Elsewhere in the dual, fans could be in store for a pair of rematches from last year’s NCAA Tournament.

At 174, #2 Patrick Kennedy and #14 Luca Augustine wrestled a 7-6 thriller in Cleveland eight months ago.

Kennedy overcame deficits of both 3-0 and 5-2 – scoring the go-ahead takedown in the third period to get the win.

With it, ‘PK’ earned the first All-American honor of his Iowa career, leaving Augustine just short of the same feat.

And at 285, #6 Ben Kueter vs. #12 Dayton Pitzer would represent another blood round rematch from last March.

In their previous meeting, Kueter used a second-period takedown and third-period ride out to secure his first ever spot on the podium.

Of course, we don’t know if we’ll get to see this matchup given Kueter’s current cloudy health status.

The redshirt sophomore made the trip to National Duals last weekend, though he never took the mat. In fact, Kueter didn’t even weigh in on Day 2 according to Iowa head coach Tom Brands.

Also keep in mind that a massive Cy-Hawk showdown awaits on November 30, just nine days after Iowa/Pittsburgh. That could potentially serve as yet another reason to be cautious with Kueter – whom Iowa likely won’t need to win this dual comfortably.

Short time

That’s a wrap for me on this week’s dual – which I’ll be at Carver for to get my first in-person look at the Hawkeyes this season.

For live coverage of Iowa/Pittsburgh you can follow me on social media, or you can always check out my recap afterwards which will be up on the site late Friday evening.

Also, stay tuned for my separate weekend preview piece for the top-ranked Iowa women.

They’ll be headed down to the Missouri Valley Open on Friday/Saturday for one of the biggest, toughest regular season tournaments on the women’s college calendar.

Thank you, guys, as always, for reading – and I’ll catch up with you again real soon.

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