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Earlier today, the Big Ten Conference released its conference dual slate for the 2025-26 season. Because of scheduling conflicts with other sports and broadcast issues, Big Ten schools are typically the last ones to publish schedules. We’re in luck because this schedule release is about a week and a half earlier than last season’s launch (October 8th). Just because the schedule has been released doesn’t mean we have a Big Ten Network lineup, quite yet. Looking at last year, that was released in mid-October, so we have a little bit of time before planning out our individual viewing schedules. After pursuing each schedule and each day and week’s worth of action, we’ve highlighted eight notes about the Big Ten in 2025-26. 1. The Conference Dual Schedule Kicks off on Friday, January 9th The first set of 2026 Big Ten duals take place on January 9th and it will start a huge weekend of action in the conference. We’ll get to the rest of the weekend later, but first, let’s focus on opening night. The headliner is probably Wisconsin heading to Carver-Hawkeye Arena to take on Iowa. Wisconsin starts the preseason ranked #27 in duals, while Iowa comes in at #4. This dual could have some excellent individual matchups, starting at 133 lbs with #2 Drake Ayala and #4 Zan Fugitt. Ayala teched Fugitt in their 2024-25 dual; however, Fugitt narrowed the margin to 6-1 in the NCAA semifinals. Another intriguing matchup takes place at heavyweight in a battle of past U20 world champions, Ben Kueter and Braxton Amos. Both are coming off injuries, but hopefully they’ll each be in the lineup by January. 125 lbs also has a top ten matchup with #9 Nicolar Rivera and #10 Dean Peterson. The pair met once last season, while Peterson was at Rutgers, so we’ll see if he gets over the hump in the always tough Hawkeye lightweight room. The other two duals on opening night are Maryland at Northwestern and Michigan State at Michigan. At this point, you’d have to think that Maryland and Michigan are pretty solid favorites in those two duals. 2. Three Days of Wrestling on the Opening Weekend That first weekend of Big Ten action is a full three-day weekend’s worth of duals. We’ve already gone through Friday’s offering. Saturday is usually light in the Big Ten, but not this time, with #11 Minnesota at #13 Illinois and #15 Rutgers at #1 Penn State. One of the matches I’m looking forward to in Minnesota/Illinois is at 157 lbs. Big Ten runner-up Kannon Webster looks like he’ll move up from 149 lbs for his sophomore year. Minnesota counters with redshirt freshman Charlie Millard. This could be the beginning of a rivalry that we could see for years in duals and deep into the B1G and NCAA Tournaments. The match to watch in Rutgers/Penn State is at 174 lbs with Nebraska transfer Lenny Pinto taking on NCAA champion and world silver medalist Levi Haines. The two met twice last season and Haines won via a seven-point decision and a major. Can Pinto close the gap and pull a huge stunner? We’ll close the weekend with Indiana traveling to Ohio State and the back half of Maryland’s Friday/Sunday road trip. This time they’ll be in action at Wisconsin. Once again, Wisconsin’s Fugitt will be involved in one of the best individual matches. He’ll square off with Maryland’s three-time national qualifier, Braxton Brown. Though Fugitt finished the year as an All-American, Brown was victorious via major decision in their 2025 dual. I imagine the B1G Network will want to make a statement and have at least one televised dual per day, January 9-11th. Stay tuned for the TV schedule. 3. Iowa Hosts Penn State on Friday, January 16th Anytime the Big Ten releases a schedule, you have to check when and where the Iowa/Penn State dual will take place. As expected, the dual heads back to Iowa City. The dual will take place on the second week of Big Ten duals, so each school will only have one conference match under its respective belts. As of now, this dual could feature two #1 vs. #2 matchups - at 165 lbs with Mitchell Mesenbrink and Michael Caliendo. Also at 174 lbs, with Haines and Patrick Kennedy. The 184 lb contest has preseason #2 Rocco Welsh against #3 Angelo Ferrari. Once we get closer to this dual, we’ll have an official preview. Both teams have a couple of slots in their lineup that need to be sorted out by January. 4. Does Ohio State Have the Toughest Conference Schedule? With a loaded, unbalanced conference like the Big Ten, you’re bound to have one school that has a schedule that is slightly more difficult than any of its fellow conference mates. This year, I think that distinction goes to Ohio State. The Buckeyes will face #1 Penn State, #2 Nebraska, #4 Iowa, #8 Michigan, and #11 Minnesota. They’ll also have #26 Indiana, #27 Wisconsin, and #30 Maryland. The Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Penn State matches take place on the road. The Friday/Sunday of January 23rd/25th has the Buckeyes in road duals at Minnesota before traveling to Nebraska. 5. January 30th Might Have the Best Day of Action If I have to single out one day on the Big Ten calendar as being the best to watch wrestling, I’d pick January 30th. You’ll have: Iowa at Minnesota, Maryland at Rutgers, Northwestern at Michigan, Nebraska at Penn State, and Wisconsin at Ohio State. That’s an ice cream headache of wrestling action (In addition to anything else around the country). 6. Nebraska has the Most Difficult Weekend It looks like the single toughest Friday/Sunday in the conference belongs to Nebraska on January 23rd/25th. Luckily, they’re at home, hosting #4 Iowa on Friday, before #5 Ohio State comes to Lincoln. That’s two top-five opponents in three days. Though Nebraska finished above Iowa at the 2025 NCAA Championships, they are still looking to snap a long losing streak to their neighbors. Nebraska has never beaten Iowa since moving to the Big Ten or under Tom Brands’ leadership. The Huskers' last win over Iowa came in 2005 at the National Duals. Both teams have entered the 2025 National Duals Invitational, so they could meet before this dual. Should Nebraska beat Iowa on Friday, they’ll have little time to celebrate, with the Buckeyes looming two days later. Sunday’s dual with Ohio State could feature an NCAA finals rematch at 141 lbs between the Buckeyes Jesse Mendez and Brock Hardy. It could also feature a heavyweight that pits two wrestlers ranked #1 overall in their respective recruiting classes in AJ Ferrari and Nick Feldman. 7. Star Redshirt Freshman Tracker As of now, we’re not too certain about which true freshmen will wrestle in the Big Ten this year. We can project some important matches for the notable redshirt freshmen who will be unleashed in 2025-26. Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari: 1/16: Rocco Welsh (Penn State), 1/23: Silas Allred (Nebraska), 1/30: Max McEnelly (Minnesota), 2/6: Dylan Fishback (Ohio State), 2/13: Brock Mantanona (Michigan) Ohio State’s Ben Davino: 1/23: Chris Cannon (Minnesota), 1/25: Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska), 1/30: Zan Fugitt (Wisconsin), 2/1: Dylan Ragusin (Michigan), 2/6: Drake Ayala (Iowa), 2/13: Blaze/Ono (Penn State), 2/15: Braxton Brown (Maryland) Michigan’s Brock Mantanona: 1/16: Shane Cartagena-Walsh (Rutgers), 1/18: Chris Moore (Illinois), 2/1 Dylan Fishback (Ohio State), 2/6: Rocco Welsh (Penn State), 2/13: Angelo Ferrari (Iowa) Penn State’s Cole Mirasola: 1/10: Hunter Catka (Rutgers), 1/16: Ben Kueter (Iowa), 1/30: AJ Ferrari (Nebraska), 2/6: Taye Ghadiali (Michigan), 2/13: Nick Feldman (Ohio State) 8. Hoosier State Clash Wraps Up the Schedule For the most part, Big Ten action wraps up on Sunday, February 15th. But, there is one dual that will take place the following weekend. That is the battle for supremacy in the state of Indiana on Friday, February 20th, as Purdue travels to Indiana. This will be a fight between two teams that start the preseason in InterMat’s Dual Rankings. Indiana is at #26 and Purdue at #28. It’s virtually a dead heat. By the final weekend of the regular season, I’d expect those rankings to shift one way or the other. That being said, this is the kind of dual where the records and common opponents don’t even matter. I expect it to be very close, no matter who wins. Indiana has taken the last three in this series; however, their first win in that run came by a single point. Purdue’s last victory (2022) was also a one-pointer.