What to Watch During This Week's Big Ten Duals

I want to say it’s a big week in the Big Ten conference, but every week seems big. Every week, you can turn towards two or three massive duals. That’s the case again this week. Below, we’ve gone through the B1G schedule for the next three days and hit on the highlights from each of the conference duals. Friday #1 Penn State at #11 Michigan The actual team score in this dual might not be in doubt; however, there are plenty of fun matches along the way. Former Big Ten champion Braeden Davis has taken a couple lumps of late, but is still very dangerous. He’ll have to contend with All-American Dylan Ragusin. The veteran missed the beginning portion of the season with a lingering injury. He had a couple of uncharacteristic losses in his return and is ranked lower than you’d expect. Although both have previously competed at 133 pounds, they do not have a history. 149 lbs will have a clash between a pair of returning AA’s. Shayne Van Ness and Lachlan McNeil met in the 2025 NCAA quarterfinals with Van Ness claiming the 7-2 victory. Since losing twice in Vegas, McNeil has not lost a B1G dual. Van Ness is unbeaten on the year. The Mantanona brothers both will square off with wrestlers ranked #1 in the nation at 174/184 as Beau and Levi Haines meet at 174 and Brock and Rocco tangle at 184 lbs. We mentioned the 184 lb contest earlier this week as a bout that could have some interesting Big Ten seeding implications if Mantanona were able to pull the upset. Like McNeil, the graduate transfer Taye Ghadiali has been solid post Vegas. He’ll get tested by redshirt freshman Cole Mirasola. Ghadiali is fresh off a win over Nick Feldman, while Mirasola lost a 2-1 nailbiter to AJ Ferrari. #7 Minnesota at #15 Rutgers This is the weird dual where neither of the team's strongest wrestlers really match up with either. Based on Rutgers’ probable lineup, it appears that undefeated Joey Olivieri will not return to the Scarlet Knight lineup this week. Had he been available, it could have been a marquee matchup against two-time All-American Vance Vombaur. For a specific match to watch, I’d look at the heavyweights. Minnesota’s Koy Hopke has been very good as a redshirt freshman. That being said, he’s looking to snap a four-match losing streak. Now that streak is against opponents all ranked ninth in the nation or higher - so there’s no bad losses in the bunch. Tonight, he’ll take on former NCAA Round of 12 finisher Hunter Catka, who is not someone to overlook. He’s actually on a four-match winning streak, though his opponents were not the caliber of Hopke’s. #5 Iowa at #2 Ohio State Earlier this year, Ohio State defeated Iowa in the finals of the National Duals Invitational, 27-12. It marked only the fifth time in Buckeye wrestling history that they’ve beaten Iowa. While we learned a lot from the first meeting, there have been some significant changes on both sides since mid-November. The top-ranked 157 lber in the country, Brandon Cannon, was banged up a few weeks ago and isn’t expected to compete. In the NDI dual, Cannon majored Victor Voinovich. In Cannon’s absence, the Buckeye staff likely turns to Landon Desselle. Ohio State could go from earning bonus points at 157 to fighting to avoid them in this matchup. The NDI finals dual featured 197 lbs Massoma Endene, who has since left the Iowa team. This time, Iowa will have to either use redshirt freshman Brody Sampson or true freshman Harvey Ludington. Against Luke Geog, both will be underdogs. We also expect Iowa to be without redshirt freshman star Angelo Ferrari at 184 lbs. He’ll be replaced by Gabe Arnold, which isn’t much of a drop off. The Buckeyes Dylan Fishback is probably still a slight favorite, but not by much. That NDI final score is a big misleading as Iowa forfeited heavyweight. Now, they should have the services of All-American Ben Kueter. Kueter defeated Ohio State’s Nick Feldman three times in 2024-25; however, Feldman appeared hampered by an injury for much of the season. This year, the tables have been turned and Feldman looks much healthier and Kueter sometimes appears to still feel the impact of an offseason surgery. Also watch the 165 and 174 lb contests. Both went into sudden victory in Tulsa and went the Hawkeyes way each time. Saturday #26 Indiana at #25 Wisconsin This is a clash between a pair of teams that sit right next to each other in the rankings and might be overlooked in the Big Ten. Each has quietly gone about their business and ranked up the wins, 11 for Wisconsin and 7 for Indiana. The match to focus on comes at 125 lbs as both teams featured top 20-ranked lightweights. Nicolar Rivera for the Badgers and Jacob Moran for the Hoosiers. Though Rivera was fourth in the conference and Moran was fifth, these two have yet to meet at the collegiate level. The winner of this match might be able to garner a top-five seed at the B1G Championships. Sunday #7 Minnesota at Maryland For the second half of their East Coast swing, Minnesota will take the trip down I95 to meet Maryland on Sunday. The two matches to watch here come at 149 and 197 lbs. At 149 lbs, Minnesota’s Drew Roberts is fresh off his best win of the year, when he knocked off Iowa’s Ryder Block. Transfer Carter Young has been a great pickup for Maryland and has quickly established himself as a high All-American candidate. Over the course of his career, Young has had problems with an opponent from Minnesota (Jake Bergeland) - we’ll see if the Gopher staff has a game plan in mind for him. At 197 lbs, we have Branson John for the Terps and Gavin Nelson for Minnesota. Nelson dealt with a rough patch earlier in the season where he lost five straight duals. He’s come out on the other side with three wins in a row. John is trying to pick himself up out of a tough stretch that’s seen him lose three of four. As of now, it looks like John could be the fifth seed at the B1G Tournament. Should Nelson win, it could make things murky on that front. #5 Iowa at Michigan State The second half of Iowa’s trip through the Mitten has them squaring off with Michigan State on Sunday. Assuming Iowa fields its best lineup, the best chance for a Spartan win comes at 197 lbs. Kael Wisler has already amassed 19 wins on the year and has won three of his last four in-conference. Wisler is looking like he might be headed to nationals for the first time. Iowa should counter with the Sampson/Ludington tandem. #10 Illinois at Purdue The highlight of this dual should be the 165 lb match between unbeaten #4 Joey Blaze and #8 Braeden Scoles. Blaze was the national finalist at 157 lbs last season and Scoles was a bloodround finisher as a redshirt freshman. Without much fanfare, Scoles had won his last-second matches. Blaze is undefeated at the weight, but has only faced one wrestler currently in the top ten. Northwestern at #6 Nebraska Look for Northwestern to try to steal some momentum at the lightweights. 125 is the only weight where Nebraska does not have a ranked wrestler. Coincidentally, Northwestern has one in #24 Dedrick Navarro. At 133 lbs, both wrestlers are ranked, though Nebraska All-American Jacob Van Dee is much higher than Sean Spidle, at #10 compared to #22. The two met last season at the NCAA Tournament and Van Dee prevailed, 9-3. Should the Wildcats be able to win these two matches, they might be able to generate some momentum and make this one interesting.

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