Match-by-Match Preview for Oklahoma State’s Dual Against Iowa

Gallagher-Iba Arena is sold out, ESPN is televising the dual — Sunday will be a big one.

Oklahoma State hosts rival Iowa at 5 p.m. Sunday with the Cowboys looking to pull off their first win in the series since 2019.

These teams met at National Duals in November, with Iowa winning 18-16, but OSU’s lineup filled with freshmen has had a lot more time on a college mat since then.

Here’s a match-by-match preview of Sunday’s dual to get you ready.

125: Troy Spratley (OSU) vs. Dean Peterson (Iowa)

Spratley gave up a late takedown in the National Duals meeting earlier in the season that gave Peterson the match.

Spratley was up 4-2 late in the third and was in on a leg on the edge of the mat before Peterson somehow scored on a go-behind with about seven seconds left.

Peterson enters this bout at 10-3 ranked sixth nationally, while Spratley is one spot behind in the rankings at 11-3.

133: Jax Forrest OR Ronnie Ramirez (OSU) vs. Drake Ayala (Iowa)

My expectation is that Jax Forrest will make the walk into Gallagher-Iba Arena on Sunday, likely to a massive pop from the Oklahoma State crowd.

Whichever OSU freshman goes, that’ll almost certainly be the Cowboys’ guy in the postseason as both are at the end of their available dates for a redshirt.

Whichever Cowboy goes will be walking into quite the test, as Ayala has made the national final the past two seasons. Ayala has, based on his expectations, had a bit of a rough year this season. He enters this dual at 9-6 but has won five of his past six.

Ayala got Ramirez at national duals (Forrest wasn’t on the team yet). It was Ramirez’s second college match, and the two went into sudden victory, where Ayala scored a match-winning takedown.

Forrest is 8-0, and Ramirez is 7-3. Forrest enters ranked sixth nationally while Ayala sits at No. 9.

141: Sergio Vega (OSU) vs. Nasir Bailey OR Kale Petersen (Iowa)

Nasir Bailey was an All-American at Little Rock in 2024 down at 133 pounds, but he’s been absent from the Hawkeyes’ lineup since their dual against Minnesota on Jan. 30, nursing a hand/finger injury.

In his place, sophomore Kale Petersen has gone 3-2 in duals this season.

Vega wrestled Bailey at National Duals, in what was Vega’s fourth college match. The OSU freshman won that bout 3-0 in sudden victory in a match that somehow ended regulation scoreless.

Vega ranks second nationally and is 14-0 in his freshman season. He, to this point, still hasn’t given up a takedown and has won via bonus points in 50% of his bouts.

149: Casey Swiderski (OSU) vs. Ryder Block (Iowa)

Block got the better of Swiderski at National Duals, winning 5-3.

That was a part of an 0-4 start for Swiderski in an OSU singlet, but he has since rattled off 10 wins in 11 matches. His 10-5 record puts him at No. 9 nationally in Intermat’s rankings.

Block is 9-6 on the year and ranks 18th in that same ranking. He’s won just three of his past eight bouts.

Swiderski has missed the Cowboys’ past two duals, so there’s a chance he doesn’t go here. Freshman Beau Hickman has been filling in. Hickman is 0-2 in duals, losing his first match by a point and going into sudden victory in his second.

157: Landon Robideau (OSU) vs. Jordan Williams OR Victor Voinovich (Iowa)

Iowa has two former Cowboys manning its 157-pound spot, but which will Robideau see on Sunday?

Robideau got Voinovich at National Duals, beating the 2023 OSU national qualifier via a 16-5 major decision.

The 157-pound weight class isn’t for the weak at heart, especially in the Big Ten. Williams is ranked 14th nationally despite being 7-6 this season and is on a four-match losing streak. But those losses have all come against quality competition, and three of those bouts were decided by a combined five points.

Robideau is 13-1 in his freshman season with his only loss coming to reigning national champ Antrell Taylor in tiebreakers. Williams went to sudden victory with Taylor late last month.

165: Dee Lockett (OSU) vs. Mikey Caliendo (Iowa)

This is a rematch the nation will have its eyes on after Lockett beat the reining national runner-up 7-3 at National Duals.

Caliendo is 14-3 and ranks fourth nationally at the weight. He’s a three-time All-American, finishing seventh in 2023 at North Dakota State, fourth in 2024 at Iowa and second last season.

A blue-chip recruit, Lockett ranks second nationally and is 13-0 this season.

This match could be big for national seeding. One could argue it makes little sense for Lockett to wrestle this match (I’d very much still like to see the match) because he already has a win over Caliendo and if he wins Big 12s, he’d almost certainly get the 2 seed at NCAAs. Caliendo, meanwhile, will look to get that win back to try to push into the 3 seed to get on the opposite side of the national bracket of Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink.

174: Alex Facundo (OSU) vs. Patrick Kennedy (Iowa)

Alex Facundo’s trip to National Duals saw him wrestle four guys who at the time ranked in the Top 5 nationally in the 174-pound weight class.

That made for a bit of a rough start for Facundo’s time in an OSU singlet, but after opening 1-3, Facundo now sits at 14-4 and enters Sunday’s dual on a six-match winning streak.

One of those National Duals matches was against Kennedy, with the Hawkeye winning 4-1 in sudden victory.

That was the second time the pair have met in their college careers. Kennedy beat Facundo 2-1 in tiebreakers back in 2023 while Facundo was at Penn State. The two also wrestled at Flo’s Who’s Number One way back in 2020, with Kennedy winning that bout 5-2.

Ranked third nationally, Kennedy is 14-3 this season.

184: Zack Ryder OR Trevor Dopps (OSU) vs. Angelo Ferrari OR Gabe Arnold (Iowa)

Who’s going to wrestle in this match?

Ryder has been out since suffering an injury in OSU’s dual against Northern Iowa. Dopps has filled in for OSU’s past three duals and has gone 0-3 in that stretch.

Angelo Ferrari ranks second nationally at the weight, but he hasn’t wrestled since dropping a bout to Penn State’s Rocco Welsh in tiebreakers back on Jan. 16. Gabe Arnold is an excellent backup to have, though. He’s picked up wins in Iowa’s past three duals and is 13-4 this season.

So there’s some mixing and matching to be had here. Ryder and Ferrari wrestled at National Duals, a bout Ferrari won 4-2.

197: Cody Merrill (OSU) vs. Brody Sampson (Iowa)

Since their National Duals meeting, the Hawkeyes lost their 197-pounder, as Massoma Endene is no longer with the program.

Iowa has been juggling redshirt freshman Brody Sampson and true freshman Harvey Ludington at the weight since, but Ludington is now out of dates should he plan on taking a redshirt.

Sampson is 2-5 this season and enters the weekend on a five-match losing streak with four of those losses coming via bonus points.

Merrill is 12-3 in his redshirt freshman season and is ranked seventh nationally. One of those losses was a 4-3 defeat to Endene at National Duals with Endene scoring a match-winning takedown with about a minute left to wrestle.

It doesn’t sound as if this is going to happen, but there’s a world where if Ferrari is back, Iowa could bump up Arnold to 197, which would probably be the Hawkeyes’ best path to a victory here.

HWT: Konner Doucet (OSU) vs. Ben Kueter (Iowa)

This match didn’t happen at National Duals as Iowa forfeited at heavyweight because Kueter was injured.

The two have wrestled before, though. Back in 2024, Kueter beat Doucet 5-1.

An All-American last season, Kueter has had a strange year. He’s 5-5 but has wrestled a lot of tough competition in the Big Ten.

After sitting behind Hodge Trophy winner Wyatt Hendrickson last season, Doucet is 13-2 in his return to the lineup.