Tom Brands said to understand his team’s rivalry with Oklahoma State is to understand wrestling history.

Brands’ Iowa team, ranked fourth nationally, faces the second-ranked Cowboys in Sunday’s nationally televised dual, the last regular-season opportunity for the Hawkeyes before the Big Ten championships in two weeks.

It’s the 57th meeting between the two programs that have combined to win the two most NCAA national championships — Oklahoma State has 34, Iowa has 24 — and there has always been a heated history between the two programs.

“(Dan) Gable, Randy Lewis, Lee Roy Smith, 1984,” Brands said on Tuesday, going through some of the names and dates of the series, which Oklahoma State leads 29-25-2. “You can keep going. And those are things that are real, they're real, and enough time has gone by where maybe it’s, ‘Let's let bygones be bygones,’ but I'm not sure it really works that way. I think that those pains run deep. They run deep.”

It’s the first time Iowa has wrestled at Oklahoma State’s Gallagher-Iba Arena since 2019. The two teams met in 2022, but the dual was at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

“We're heading into Stillwater, Oklahoma,” Brands said. “It's a historic place. It's a historic coach (Oklahoma State’s John Smith), historic arena. It's a historic rivalry. It's a fun environment. But we have a chance to, you know, catapult ourselves into the postseason.”

“Obviously this rivalry goes back deeper, longer than I was even born,” said Iowa 157-pounder Jared Franek, who faced the Cowboys when he was at North Dakota State. “We treat it the same way. It’s a big dual. We're ready for the good competition, good matchup, top-five team. Every one of us has a good match, a big match. And yeah, I'm excited. But nothing really changes in the approach besides being ready and continuing to make those little improvements. And get ready for March.”

Oklahoma State is 14-0 in duals, while Iowa is 11-2, with losses to #10 Michigan and top-ranked Penn State.

“They’re not having us in for a good dual,” said junior 174-pounder Patrick Kennedy. “They’re having us in to beat us. 

“They’re going to want to take us out in the worst way possible. And so that's what I'm getting ready for.”

It’s another step toward March, Brands said.

“We know that it's historic,” Brands said of the dual. “We know the history of the tradition of two storied programs. Penn State is #1 by a pretty good gap right now. I'm not going to speak for Oklahoma State. But I will speak for us and I’ll kind of speak for them. I don't think either program is content to let that happen. I think we're all after the same turf. We're all after the same turf. And that's a great ingredient for spirited competition.”

Freshman Options

True freshmen Gabe Arnold and Ben Kueter showed up as possible choices at their respective weight classes for Sunday’s meet.

Arnold (3-0) and Kueter (2-1) have each wrestled in three duals this season, meaning Brands can use them against the Cowboys and not lose their redshirt season under the NCAA’s rule that true freshmen can compete in five varsity events and still be able to redshirt.

“The rule is a rule that, you know, I happen to like,” Brands said. “So hey, you’ve got more options at your disposal. Let’s use them.”

Arnold, listed as an option at 184 along with Aiden Riggins, is 12-0 overall and 3-0 in duals, wrestling at 174 and 184. Arnold won first place at the Luther Open, and has dual wins over Oregon State’s Travis Wittlake, Iowa State’s Will Feldkamp and Wisconsin’s Shane Liegel. He wrestled unattached at the Soldier Salute, winning the 174-pound title.

Kueter, a 285-pounder who spent the fall with Iowa’s football team, has defeated Minnesota’s Bennet Tabor and Northwestern’s Jack Jessen while losing to Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet. Kueter and Bradley Hill are listed as possibles at 285.

“We have him as an option,” Brands said of Kueter. “We have Gabe Arnold as an option. We love our freshmen. We love Bradley Hill. We love Aiden Riggins. We love them all.”

Hellerball 

Brands started and ended his press conference by talking about the Hawkeyes’ home baseball season opener against Loras at Duane Banks Field across the street from Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“Hellerball,” Brands said, referring to Iowa baseball coach Rick Heller. “February whatever the date is. 20th? Home opener.”

Brands was wearing an Iowa baseball cap for the press conference.

“This is a team issue, right here,” Brands said.

Brands brought up the game to end the press conference.

“Hellerball. Opening day,” he said, as he simulated swinging a baseball bat. “Go Hawks. Boom.”