Breaking the Devaney Sport Center attendance record, over 7,900 fans arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska on Friday, Jan. 23 to watch a dual between the No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes and the No. 6 Nebraska Cornhuskers in the anticipated top-ten matchup. The Hawkeyes defeated the Cornhuskers 22-14.
The Iowa Hawkeyes, after their previous week’s loss against the No. 1 Penn State Nittany Lions 3-32, rose to the challenge with victories in highly anticipated ranked matchups including those of Drake Ayala, Ryder Block, and Gabe Arnold. The Hawkeyes are now 9-3 on the 2025-2026 season with losses against No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes, No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones, and No. 1 Penn State Nittany Lions.
Nebraska, coming off of a 20-12 victory against the No. 9 Minnesota Gophers, are now 9-4 on the 2025-2026 season with notable losses to that of No. 2 Ohio State, No. 5 Oklahoma State (2), and now, the No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes.
The dual commenced at 125 pounds with Iowa’s Joey Cruz facing off against Nebraska’s Alan Koehler. Cruz defeated Koehler by a 4-2 decision to start off the dual in favor of the Hawkeyes.
At 133 pounds, Iowa’s No. 10 Drake Ayala upset Nebraska’s No. 8 Jacob Van Dee in a 12-6 decision.
At 141 pounds, Iowa’s Nasir Bailey fell to Nebraska’s No. 3 Brock Hardy in a 1-0 decision. Hardy’s victory led to his placement in Nebraska Wrestling history as the 33rd athlete to have over 100 dual victories.
At 149 pounds, Iowa No. 17 Ryder Block upset Nebraska’s No. 14 Chance Lamer with a third period pin.
With No. 2 Angelo Ferrari out for the dual due to injury, Iowa’s Gabe Arnold stepped in for the 184-pound match and upset Nebraska’s No. 7 Silas Allred by a 4-1 decision.
In the final and most anticipated match-up of the night, Iowa’s No. 8 Ben Kueter and Nebraska’s No. 4 AJ Ferrari faced off at 285 pounds for the first time ever. Ferrari came out on top with a 4-1 victory against Kueter.
The Hawkeyes are set to battle against the No. 9 Minnesota Gophers on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 for Military Appreciation Night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa at 7:00 PM CT.…Read more by Emma Calabro