WHO: #18 Purdue Boilermakers (2-3, 2-3 Big Ten); #11 Ohio State (4-1, 4-1 Big Ten)
WHEN: Sunday, February 7, 2021
WHERE: Holloway Gymnasium (West Lafayette, IN)
START TIME: 10:30 AM Central (Purdue); 1 PM Central (Ohio State)
TV: BTN
ONLINE: FoxSports.com
RADIO: Hawkeye Sports Network (check local listings); TuneIn (maybe)
ANNOUNCERS: Ray Flores and Jim Gibbons (Purdue); Shane Sparks and Tim Johnson (Ohio State)
Last week was supposed to be Iowa's first triangular meet of the season, but Michigan's postponement put the kibosh on that. But we didn't have to wait long for some triangular action -- we're getting it this weekend in West Lafayette, with Iowa taking on Purdue and Ohio State in back-to-back duals (Purdue and Ohio State will also wrestle each other in another dual today).
The big news out of Iowa City regarding these duals is that the Hawkeyes are going to be a bit shorthanded this weekend. Alex Marinelli remains out of action while he's in the COVID protocols and now he's been joined by Tom Brands, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. Brands has been coaching remotely and obviously will not be in West Lafayette matside for the matches today; Terry Brands, Ryan Morningstar, and Bobby Telford will handle the on-site coaching today. We wish Brands and Marinelli both full and speedy recoveries. The good news is that the rest of Iowa's stacked lineup appears to be healthy, so while they're not entering these duals at peak capacity, they're still in pretty good shape.
| WEIGHT | #1 IOWA | #18 PURDUE | #11 OHIO STATE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | #1 Spencer Lee (3-0, SR) | #11 Devin Schroeder (3-2, SR) |
#10 Malik Heinselman (5-0, JR) Brady Koontz (1-4, SO) |
| 133 | #4 Austin DeSanto (3-0, SR) | Jacob Rundell (1-2, FR) |
#21 Jordan Decatur (5-2, SO) Dylan Koontz (0-0, JR) |
| 141 | #1 Jaydin Eierman (3-0, SR) | #26 Parker Filius (1-3, JR) |
Anthony Echemendia (4-0, FR) Dylan D'Emilio (1-3, RS FR) |
| 149 | #5 Max Murin (3-0, JR) | #12 Griffin Parriott (2-0, SR) | #2 Sammy Sasso (5-0, SO) |
| 157 | #5 Kaleb Young (3-0, SR) | #7 Kendall Coleman (4-1, SO) | #26 Elijah Cleary (3-2, SR) |
| 165 |
Joe Kelly (0-1, SO) Bretli Reyna (0-1, FR) |
Gerrit Nijenhuis (3-1, FR) | #6 Ethan Smith (4-1, JR) |
| 174 | #1 Michael Kemerer (2-0, SR) | Emil Soehnlen (1-4, RS FR) | #4 Kaleb Romero (5-0, JR) |
| 184 | #8 Nelson Brands (2-1, SO) | #18 Max Lyon (1-3, SR) | #17 Rocky Jordan (2-3, SO) |
| 197 | #3 Jacob Warner (2-1, JR) | #17 Thomas Penola (5-0, SO) |
#24 Chase Singletary (3-0, JR) Gavin Hoffman (3-2, SO) |
| 285 | #3 Tony Cassioppi (2-1, SO) |
Jamarcus Grant (0-4, SR) Jared Florell (0-0, JR) Dorian Keys (1-3, FR) |
#10 Tate Orndorff (3-2, JR) |
The projected lineups in Iowa's match notes for this event don't list any backups except for Kelly/Reyna at 165; if Iowa does roll out the starters at all other weights, the overall outcome of both of these duals shouldn't be in much doubt. If they wrestle backups, things could get a little more interesting, particularly in the Ohio State dual. But I expect Iowa to field pretty strong lineups in both duals and if that's the case, I expect them to record pretty comfortable victories.
Some quick predictions:
| WEIGHT |
IOWA VS PURDUE OUTCOME |
IOWA VS PURDUE TEAM SCORE |
IOWA VS OHIO ST OUTCOME |
IOWA VS OHIO ST TEAM SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | Lee by fall | IOWA 6-0 | Lee by fall | IOWA 6-0 |
| 133 | DeSanto by tech fall | IOWA 11-0 | DeSanto by tech fall | IOWA 11-0 |
| 141 | Eierman by maj dec | IOWA 15-0 | Eierman by dec | IOWA 14-0 |
| 149 | Murin by dec | IOWA 18-0 | Sasso by dec | IOWA 14-3 |
| 157 | Young by dec | IOWA 21-0 | Young by dec | IOWA 17-3 |
| 165 | Nijenhuis by dec | IOWA 21-3 | Smith by dec | IOWA 17-6 |
| 174 | Kemerer by maj dec | IOWA 25-3 | Kemerer by dec | IOWA 20-6 |
| 184 | Brands by dec | IOWA 28-3 | Brands by dec | IOWA 23-6 |
| 197 | Warner by dec | IOWA 31-3 | Warner by dec | IOWA 26-6 |
| 285 | Cassioppi by fall | IOWA 37-3 | Cassioppi by dec | IOWA 29-6 |
* As usual, I expect Lee and DeSanto to put a lot of points on the board for Iowa early. Purdue does have last year's Big Ten runner-up in Devin Schroeder, but I don't think that means much. Schroeder made the Big Ten finals in a weakened bracket -- and he still got tech fall'd by Spencer. This year Schroeder already has a pair of losses. And Spencer has been as unstoppable as ever. The real intrigue in that match is how long it lasts and if Schroeder can force Spencer to wrestle into the second or (gasp) third periods. DeSanto beat Decatur twice last season, first via 27-12 (!) technical fall at the dual meet and later via 17-3 major decision at the Big Ten Tournament. Expect plenty of points from DeSanto.
* 141 could feature one of the day's more intriguing matchups, between Eierman and OSU's Echemendia, a 21-year old freshman from Cuba who's a decorated freestyle and Greco-Roman competitor. He's undefeated in folkstyle this year, but he also hasn't faced anyone of note. Eierman is a massive step up in competition for him, but he might have the talent to make things interesting -- at least for a bit.
* The real intrigue for these matches comes at the middle weights for the most part, particularly 149, which should have some big-time throwdowns. Murin is set for a match with Purdue's Parriott, a fringe All-American and the type of guy Murin could see in the Big Ten quarterfinals. But the big match is with OSU's 2nd-ranked Sasso. If Murin can pull the upset there, he'll definitely establish himself as a national title contender at this weight.
* One of the other big matches of the day comes at 157 in the Iowa-Purdue dual, where #5 Young is set to face #7 Coleman. They wrestled two razor-tight matches a year ago, with Young beating him with an overtime pin at Midlands and edging him via 4-3 decision at the dual a few weeks later. This is a definite coin-flip match, but another win for Young would really solidify his credentials as a top guy at this weight.
* The absence of Marinelli pretty much rules out any hope for an Iowa shutout in either dual (though a shutout would have been unlikely in the OSU dual even with a healthy Marinelli). Joe Kelly got the call last week and while he was game, I can't pick him to win either match here if he's the man again this week.
* Sueflehn is 1-4 on the season at 174 for Purdue, but three of those four losses were by just a single point each. Suffice to say, I don't expect a similar near-miss against Kemerer, who should cruise here. Kemerer should get a much tougher test in the OSU dual, where a match with #4 Romero looms. Romero looks like one of Kem's toughest opponents at the Big Ten and NCAA level, but we'll have to see what the gap looks like between them; Kemere beat him 6-1 at the dual last year.
* Nelson Brands is in need of a bounce-back performance after his loss last weekend, but neither Lyon nor Jordan figure to make it easy for him. But if Nelson really is a potential All-American at 184 this year, those are guys he needs to beat.
* Warner is set for two opponents that he should beat, but probably in matches that will be closer than we'd prefer to see. It's too hard to predict anything else at the moment.
* Finally, Tony Cassioppi should get to go pin-hunting against Purdue, given that his projected opponents for that match are a combined 1-7. Orndorff should pose more of a threat, but so far this year (and, really, over the course of his career thus far), Cassioppi has looked very good against all non-Steveson and non-Parris opposition in Big Ten competition. I look for that streak to continue.
I'll be posting results in the comments below, but I encourage you to follow along with the action in our Discord server, which you can find here. More information about joining the Discord server is available here.
